Honda tops reliability tables

• Honda, Mazda and Nissan 'most reliable'
• Renault Espace 'least reliable'
• Smaller sample size to What Car? Reliability Survey

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• What Car? Reliability Survey

Want to know which are the 10 most reliable cars between three and five years old and which are the 10 most likely to break down?

Warranty Direct has pored over 26,000 of its policies covering cars registered between 2000 and 2002 to identify the most- and least-reliable models you can buy.

Honda's soon-to-be-replaced Civic emerges as the most reliable model, with a 6% failure rate. It is followed closely by two other Japanese cars – the previous-generation Mazda MX-5 and the last Nissan Micra.

At the opposite end of the spectrum the old Renault Espace is the least-reliable model and failed nearly 12 times as often as the Civic. The previous Jeep Cherokee and Saab 9-5 round off the worst three models.

Top 10 most reliable cars between three and five years old and average repair bill
1 Honda Civic ('99-'05), 6% failure rate, £339 average repair bill
2 Mazda MX-5 ('98-'05), 7% failure rate, £256 average repair bill
3 Nissan Micra ('98-'02), 8% failure rate, £93 average repair bill
4 Jaguar X-type ('01- ), 9% failure rate, £924 average repair bill
5 Vauxhall Corsa ('00- ), 11% failure rate, £347 average repair bill
6 Lexus IS200 ('00-'05), 11% failure rate, £298 average repair bill
7 Volvo /V40 ('96-'04), 14% failure rate, £169 average repair bill
8 Skoda Octavia ('98-'04), 16% failure rate, £158 average repair bill
9 Mercedes SLK ('96-'04), 16% failure rate, £455 average repair bill
10 Audi A4 ('01- ), 17% failure rate, £220 average repair bill

10 least reliable cars between three and five-years-old and average repair bill
1 Renault Espace ('97-'02), 71% failure rate, £374 average repair bill
2 Jeep Cherokee ('93-'01), 55% failure rate, £474 average repair bill
3 Saab 9-5 ('97-'01), 55% failure rate, £308 average repair bill
4 Ford Galaxy ('00- ), 54% failure rate, £332 average repair bill
5 Volvo C70 ('97-'02), 54% failure rate, £271 average repair bill
6 Audi TT ('99- ), 51% failure rate, £453 average repair bill
7 Jaguar XJ8 ('97-'03), 50% failure rate, £282 average repair bill
8 Vauxhall Frontera ('98-'03), 46% failure rate, £692 average repair bill
9 Volvo V70 ('00- ), 46% failure rate, £411 average repair bill
10 Renault Laguna ('00-'04), 43% failure rate, £326 average repair bill

• Results differ from the What Car? Reliability Survey, produced in association with Warranty Direct, because a smaller sample size is used. Click here to see the What Car? Reliability Survey which looks at 31,000 policies.