How reliable is your car? - Honda to Jeep

HONDA 1st
2005 position 1st
Claims per 100 vehicles 5.2
Average age 5 years
Average mileage 48,265
Average repair cost £175
Average repair time1.75 hours

Problem areas
Honda has a reputation for reliability, and it has achieved first place in our survey. It also builds the two most reliable individual cars: the Accord ('99-'03) is on top of the pile, with just 2.8% requiring warranty work. About 80% of faults were down to the suspension, with the remainder due to electrical problems.

The Civic ('96-'01), the second most reliable car, also had suspension woes, but electrical issues caused the same number of problems. No Honda the survey suffered from brake, engine or cooling system faults. Honda had the second lowest average repair bill and a low average repair time.

Best model Accord ('00-'03)
Worst model Civic ('96-'01)

Verdict *****
In a repeat of last year's result, Honda is the clear winner. It appears Honda owners can sleep easy at night.

JAGUAR 15th
2005 position 23rd
Claims per 100 vehicles 32.81
Average age 4.4 years
Average mileage 45,850
Average repair cost £457
Average repair time2.8 hours

Problem areas
Just under half of Jaguars suffered axle and suspension problems, but the X-type was worst hit. All models were affected by electrical and cooling systems glitches.

The XK8 was the worst single model - 46% returned to the garage for work - and produced the largest claim for a Jag, £4867. However, in the XK8's defence, it was the oldest car on Jag's fleet, with an average age of 6.2 years and an average mileage of 55,000 miles.

The £457 average repair charge for Jaguars is also one of the highest in our survey, but the average repair time of 2.8 hours is not unreasonable.

Best model X-type ('01-)
Worst model XK8 ('02-'06)

Verdict **
New models look a safer bet: the older the design, the less reliable.

JEEP 24th
2005 position na
Claims per 100 vehicles 42.3
Average age 5.8 years
Average mileage 58,062
Average repair cost £486
Average repair time3.9 hours

Problem areas
Owning a Jeep can be expensive. It's not the most unreliable make - 42 out of every 100 owners has made a claim - but when things go wrong, it takes a lot of time and money to fix. The average repair bill works out at £486 and the average repair time is just under four hours.

The Cherokee ('93-) suffers mostly from axle and suspension woes, which make up nearly 60% of claims. Other than that, the remaining problems concerned the electrics. However, in their defence, the Jeeps in our survey had led a harder life than most, with the highest average mileage at over 58,000.

Best model Cherokee ('93-)
Worst model na (one model in survey)

Verdict *
Buy a Jeep and it could spend more time off the road than you anticipated.

Click here for a manufacturers' reliability table.