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Best and worst older cars for reliability: best brands
We name the most dependable (and most troublesome) used cars from six to 15 years old, based on owners’ experiences...
What Car? says…
Suzuki claims the top spot as the most dependable brand for cars aged six to 15 years old, with models that suffered very few faults and were cheap to repair. In fact, the Suzuki Vitara is one of just three models to rack up a perfect reliability rating of 100%.
Long-term reliability stalwarts Lexus and Toyota aren’t far behind, though. The petrol-engined Toyota Yaris and a veritable fleet of hybrid models remain relatively trouble-free as the years roll by. The Lexus RX and Lexus NX appear in the bottom three of their category only because the overall standard of electric and hybrid models is so high – they’re far from being unreliable.
Honda and Kia complete the top five thanks to the enduring robustness of models such as the CHonda Civic and Kia Sportage. Other outstanding performances at model level come from the Ford Mondeo and previous-generation Nissan Leaf, both of which managed a fault-free year, according to owners.
At the other end of the spectrum, Land Rover takes the wooden spoon as the least dependable brand, with many models performing poorly. That said, the Range Rover and long-discontinued Freelander buck this trend, posting much higher scores.
All responses counted towards each brand’s score, so although we didn’t have enough feedback for any Citroën, Peugeot or Renault models to be ranked individually, the scores of the poorer performers from those brands combined to bring their overall ratings down.
Reliability by brand for cars aged six to 15 years old
| Rank | Brand | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Suzuki | 97.0% |
| 2. | Lexus | 93.6% |
| 3. | Toyota | 92.4% |
| 4. | Honda | 92.0% |
| 5. | Kia | 90.6% |
| 6. | Mitsubishi | 89.0% |
| 7. | Mazda | 88.6% |
| 8. | Hyundai | 86.5% |
| 9. | Dacia | 85.8% |
| 10. | Porsche | 85.3% |
| 11. | Skoda | 84.1% |
| 12. | Volvo | 83.7% |
| 13. | Audi | 83.3% |
| 14. | BMW | 83.1% |
| 15. | Seat | 80.1% |
| 16. | Ford | 79.0% |
| 17. | Mini | 77.5% |
| 18. | Mercedes | 77.4% |
| 19. | Volkswagen | 77.1% |
| 20. | Vauxhall | 76.7% |
| 21. | Nissan | 76.4% |
| 22. | Fiat | 76.3% |
| 23. | Jaguar | 74.9% |
| 24. | Renault | 74.8% |
| 25. | Peugeot | 73.5% |
| 26. | Citroën | 71.8% |
| 27 | Land Rover | 65.3% |
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