Most and least reliable used petrol cars

There are plenty of reasons for picking a petrol-engined used car over a diesel one. For starters, they're cheaper to fill up, yet improvements in fuel economy mean they're unlikely to drink fuel much faster than their diesel equivalents.

A petrol-engined model is also a better bet if you travel into a city centre regularly, because it's less likely to be eligible for a low emission zone fee.

The rules for regional clean air zones and London's ultra low emission zone are that drivers of most diesels registered before September 2015 and petrols sold before January 2006 must pay to enter the zone.

Dependability is another important reason to plump for a petrol. According to the latest What Car? Reliability Survey only 22% of petrol-engined cars suffered a fault, compared with 50% of diesels.

The survey – compiled in association with MotorEasy – can help you identify the best and worst petrol models to live with. We asked nearly 25,000 car owners to tell us how reliable their cars had been.

Here's our round-up of the 14 most reliable petrol models aged between six and 20 years old, and the six you may want to avoid.

• Read more: Most reliable used cars and SUVs >>

Reliability rating 92.8%

Petrol CR-Vs uphold Honda's strong reputation Honda has for dependability. They are far more robust than their diesel counterparts, with just 9% of petrol CR-Vs going round, compared with 34% of diesels. The areas of concern were the air-con, gearbox/clutch and sat-nav/infotainment system.

Half of faulty cars were fixed in a day or less, but a third took more than a week to put right. In spite of their advancing years, Honda covered the cost of a third of repairs, leaving the remaining owners with bills ranging from less than £50 to a maximum of £750.

Read our review of the current Honda CR-V

Reliability rating 92.8%

The i10 is affordable to run, cheap to own and quick to fix. Hyundai owners told us a third of i10s were fixed for free and no bills topped £300. They also said four out of five cars were back on the road in less than a week.

Overall, 21% of i10s had an issue with their brakes, gearbox/clutch or non-engine electrics.

Read our review of the current Hyundai i10

Reliability rating 93.3%

BMW is one of the most reliable premium brands, and petrol and diesel previous-generation 3 Series models are both ageing well, although the petrols have fewer faults than the diesels: 13% compared with 16%. The air-con, the engine and non-engine electrical systems were the main bugbears.

Although no cars were fixed for free, two-thirds cost less than £200, and the rest cost more than £1500. A third of cars were out of the workshop in a day or less, but the rest spent more than a week there.

Read our review of the current BMW 3 Series

Reliability rating 93.3%

Citroën has upped its game on reliability in the past year or so, and the C1 is helping it to improve. Only 12% of C1s had any problems, with owners reporting issues with the battery, brakes and engine.

Two-thirds of cars were fixed in less than a week, and the same percentage cost less than £100 to put right. The most expensive repair bills were up to £500.

Read our review of the 2014-2022 Citroën C1

Reliability rating 93.3%

It's a shame you can't buy the Citigo new any more because it's an affordable and robust city car. Problems with the electrics were the only thing to dent the ownership experience for the 13% of owners who reported a fault.

All cars were repaired in less than seven days, but no work was carried out gratis – bills ranged from £201 to £500.

Read our review of the 2012-2020 Skoda Citigo

Reliability rating 94.3%

The Jazz has been a long-term feature at the top of reliability charts, and this older model is still upholding the rock-solid reputation of the Honda brand. Only 14% of the cars reported on went wrong, and the air-con, battery, bodywork and brakes were the main culprits.

Two-thirds of cars were fixed in a day or less and Honda covered the cost of 7% of repairs. Most owners paid less than £750 and only 7% paid more than £1500.

Read our review of the current Honda Jazz

Reliability rating 95.5%

Issues with engine electrics were the only headache for the 8% of Mazda 2 owners whose cars had a glitch. Although 50% of faulty cars couldn't be driven, all problems were resolved in less than a week.

Repair costs were reasonable too: owners paid out between £201 and £500 to get each fault fixed (no cars were fixed for free).

Read our review of the current Mazda 2

Reliability rating 96.2%

Petrol Civics are far less likely to go wrong than diesels: only 6% of the petrol models in our survey had a fault, compared with 14% of diesels. The main problem areas were the bodywork, brakes and gearbox/clutch.

Honda is generally good at looking after customers when things go wrong, and it covered the cost of 25% of repairs, leaving the remaining owners with bills of £201 to £500. All cars remained driveable and were fixed in less than a week.

Read our review of the current Honda Civic

Reliability rating 96.8%

The MX-5 has long been one of our favourite sports cars because it's great fun to drive and hugely dependable. A mere 5% of the MX-5s reported on had a problem and the only area concerned was non-engine electrical systems.

Although faults made all cars undriveable, all were repaired and back on the road in less than a week. Bills ranged from £301 to £500.

Read our review of the current Mazda MX-5

Reliability rating 96.9%

The Up shares the same underpinnings as the Skoda Citigo and it's even more dependable than its sibling. Although 17% of Ups had a fault, all cars could still be driven and were out of the workshop in less than a week.

Issues were split between a number of areas, including the air-con, brakes, bodywork, electrics and gearbox/clutch. The good news is that 38% of cars were fixed for free and no bills topped £500.

Read our review of the current VW Up

Reliability rating 98.1%

Issues with the 12-volt battery were the only blight on the ownership experience of Swift owners, who told us 6% of their cars had a problem.

Suzuki models are often cheap to own, and the Swift follows this trend with owners only paying between £51 and £100 to get their cars fixed. The only fly in the ointment was that 50% of cars were in the garage for more than a week.

Read our review of the current Suzuki Swift

Reliability rating 98.6%

The petrol Yaris is by far the best bet if you're after an older small Toyota hatchback. Only 5% of petrol cars went wrong, compared with 33% of diesels and 23% of hybrid models. The suspension was the only area to have any issues.

All cars could still be driven, and all were put right in a day or less. Even better, half of repair bills were less than £50 and the rest were below £300.

Read our review of the current Toyota Yaris

Reliability rating 99.3%

Only minor electrical issues dampened the ownership experience for Mazda 3 owners, and they affected only 4% of the cars reported on. Mazda fixed all cars in a day or less and bills were minimal – none topped £50.

Read our review of the current Mazda 3

Reliability rating 100%

The third-generation Jazz combines the low running costs of a hatchback small car with the practicality of a little MPV – and it's also faultlessly reliable. Owners told us that not one of their Jazzes broke down or suffered a problem in the previous 24 months, meaning there were no unexpected repair bills.

Read our review of the current Honda Jazz

Reliability rating 71.5%

Newer Minis generally do well for reliability, but this generation is plagued by problems, especially in petrol form: 48% went wrong, compared with 30% of diesels. The engine and its electrical systems were the biggest cause for concern, accounting for 37% of all issues.

Thankfully, repair bills were mostly low: 75% of cars cost less than £200 to fix, and only 4% cost more than £1500. Some cars were slow to repair: 42% were out of action for more than a week.

Read our review of the current Mini 3-Door Hatch

Reliability rating 71.2%

It's unusual for a petrol model to have more problems than its diesel sibling, but this is the case with the Octavia: 47% of petrol models went wrong compared with 33% of diesels. The battery, engine, non-engine electrics and suspension were the main bugbears.

Skoda covered the cost of only 9% of repairs, but most bills were less than £300, and just 9% of owners had to find more than £1500. On a positive note, two-thirds of cars were back on the road in a day or less, and only 9% spent more than a week in the garage.

Read our review of the current Skoda Octavia

Reliability rating 66.4%

Nissan doesn't have a strong reputation for building the most dependable cars, and the Micra is one of its weaker models. Owners told us that 47% of their cars had problems – 29% with the suspension and 24% with the engine and its electrical systems.

Only 8% of cars were off the road for more than a week. Sixty percent cost less than £300 to fix, but the other 40% cost between £301 and £1000.

Read our review of the latest Nissan Micra

Reliability rating 64.4%

Peteol Qashqais are proving less dependable than the diesels: 43% had a problem, compared with 30% of diesels. The engine and its electrics were the most common cause of grief, followed by the air-con and battery.

On a positive note, 80% of cars could still be driven, and 50% were repaired in a day or less. Nissan paid for 29% of remedial work, but most owners had bills of up to £500 and 11% had to stump up more than £1500.

Read our review of the latest Nissan Qashqai

Reliability rating 54.9%

If you want a previous-generation C-Class, you're best off with a hybrid model because while 25% of those went wrong, there were problems with 44% of diesels and 46% of petrols. The 12-volt battery and suspension were the most common gripes of petrol C-Class owners, followed by issues with the electrics and exhaust.

Nearly a third of cars were in the workshop for more than a week and, although Mercedes paid for 14% of repairs, that left 60% of owners with bills of up to £500 and 24% having to find up to £1000.

Read our review of the latest Mercedes C-Class

Reliability rating 50.5%

Vauxhall sits fairly close to the bottom of our older car brand reliability chart, and the Astra is one reason why. Diesel Astras had a fair amount of problems (29% went wrong), but petrol cars were even worse, with 44% suffering a fault.

The air-con and engine were the most commonly cited problem areas, but owners also reported issues with the battery, bodywork, electrics, exhaust, gearbox/clutch and suspension.

Most cars could still be driven, but only a third of faults were rectified in a day or less – the rest took up to a week. Thankfully, 70% of bills were less than £300, but 12% of owners had to find between £1000 and £1500 to get their cars put right.

Read our review of the latest Vauxhall Astra

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Read the full results of our latest Reliability Survey >>