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What Car? Reliability Survey: Most and least reliable car brands
Revealed: the car manufacturers most and least likely to keep you out of trouble, according to the experiences of readers who took part in our latest Reliability Survey
One of the best places to start when you’re looking for a new car is to check out the brand’s record for reliability. If you have a number of models in mind from different car makers, finding out which is likely to have more flaws will help you narrow down your list.
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The What Car? Reliability Survey, conducted in association with MotorEasy, is a great source of information because it rates 30 different car brands, and 225 different models for dependability.
Based on the experiences of readers who own a car made in the last five years, Suzuki is the most reliable car brand, closely followed by Honda and Mini. At the other end of the chart sit Land Rover, Audi, Jaguar and Volkswagen, while Land Rover is considered the least reliable car company.
Here, we share the best and worst car companies for reliability, according to our latest Reliability Survey. Each score is based not only on the number of individual faults owners encountered, but also the time dealers spent resolving the issue and how much any repairs cost.
Claire Evans
Updated: 11 October 2026
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The most reliable car brands in the UK
1. Suzuki
Reliability rating 97.8%
After seven years of being a bridesmaid, Suzuki has returned to the top of our league table. Its rating signifies that almost all of the cars its owners told us about have an exemplary reliability record.
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The best of them was the previous-generation Swift, one of only two models to gain a perfect score this year, while the Vitara wasn’t far behind with a score of 97.6. The trio of high-achievers is rounded off by the S-Cross, which gained 93.4%.
As well as the highest score in this year’s survey, Suzuki also had the lowest percentage of fault per vehicle reported on. Only 10% of the examples we were told about had any issues, and non-engine electrics and bodywork were the most common causes for concern.
Demonstrating that most issues were minor, all the affected cars could still be driven, and half of them were fixed in a day or less. All work was carried out for free.
2. Honda
Reliability rating 95.8%
Last year's winner, Honda, claims second place this year, thanks to its combination of swift action by its dealerships and a pretty low overall fault rate of 15%.
Impressively, 60% of the flaws reported to us by owners were remedied in a day or less and three-quarters of problems were put right in less than a week. The only slight concern is that the car maker only covered the cost of 78% of repairs, leaving some owners with bills of up to £500.
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That said, all five Honda models in our survey performed extremely well. The Z-RV gained the highest score of all - 98.6%, making it the fourth best family SUV overall in a class containing 61 models. The perennially robust Jazz was close behind it with a rating of 97.1%, followed by the H-RV and Civic. Only the 2018-2023 C-RV dipped slightly below the 95% mark on 94.4%.
3. Mini
Reliability rating 95.4%
Mini is also a previous winner of the What Car? Reliability Survey, and it maintained its top three position this year, aided by the Countryman family SUV, which was one of only two models to gain a perfect 100% rating this year.
This year’s other noteworthy Mini model was the 2014-2024 Mini hatchback, which gained an almost perfect rating of 99.4%. The small petrol-engined model is the third highest-ranked small hatchback, in part because a mere 4% of the examples we were told about had any glitches.
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Mini dealers were slower than Honda agents at getting things put right: only 26% of cars were repaired in a day or less and 34% were off the road for more than a week. However, the car maker took care of 88% of the associated bills, and only a small percentage of owners had to pay up to £500 to get faults fixed.
4. Alfa Romeo
Reliability rating 94.0%
Alfa Romeo and reliability aren’t words seen together too often, but the Italian car maker has upped its game this year and made it into the top 10 for the first time.
To be fair, 20% of the cars reported on had problems, but the majority of them were electrical issues that were fixed fairly swiftly by service departments. A quarter of problems were fixed in a day or less and nearly two-thirds of issues were rectified in less than a week.
It also helps that Alfa took care of 89% of bills, and the costs for the remaining owners were all below £300 per fault.
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The Giulia is the brand’s glowing star, with a reliability rating of 97.9% and a fault rate of only 8%. The Stelvio fares pretty well, too, with a score of 90.3%, although owners told us 30% of their cars had problems. The Tonale lets the side down though with a rating of 85.4% and a fault rate of 47%.
5. Tesla
Reliability rating 93.8%
Tesla has edged its way up our brand chart over the years - it ranked 30th out of 32 brands in 2017, but made it to seventh place last year, and has now improved again.
This year’s jump is due to a combination of swift repairs and car-maker covered repairs. Half of the faults we were told about were sorted out in less than a day, and only 10% of cars took longer than a week to fix. In addition, 81% of issues were fixed for free, and most of those that weren’t were cheap - only 7% of owners told us they’d had to pay more than £500 to get things put right.
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The Model Y is the fifth highest scoring model in our electric SUV chart, and the Model 3 is the sixth best in our electric car table. The Model Y achieved a reliability rating of 95.2% and 17% fault rate, and the Model 3 gained 93.3% but had a higher rate of problems - 24%.
6. Vauxhall
Reliability rating 93.6%
Vauxhall is another brand that’s on the up for reliability, aided by the strong performance of the petrol-engined Corsa and Mokka. The current petrol Corsa chalked up a strong score of 97.3% and only 12% of the cars reported on had any issues. The Mokka achieved a rating of 95.3%, with a 14% fault rate.
Overall, 17% of the Vauxhall models we heard about went wrong, mostly with electrical issues, although there were some bodywork and engine problems reported, too. Getting things put right could be a slow process, though: 44% of faulty cars took more than a week to fix.
However, the car maker took care of 86% of the necessary work, and only 3% of owners told us they’d had to pay more than £1500 to get a fault remedied.
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7. Kia
Reliability rating 93.5%
A regular feature in our top 10s for reliability, Kia stands out for low repair costs and a fairly low fault rate. Owners told us that 19% of their cars had issues, mostly with the electrics and bodywork, but three-quarters of the affected cars could still be driven. Kia stumped up for 85% of rectification work and only 2% of faults cost more than £1500 to sort out. It’s a shame that 44% of cars were off the road for more than a week, though.
Hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of the current Niro and previous generation Niro were the stars of the brand’s line up, both scoring more than 99% for reliability. The older model scored slightly better than the newer one, making it the second best family SUV overall for dependability.
The only model that didn’t show exemplary robustness was the EV6, which was troubled by a high percentage of problems.
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8. Peugeot
Reliability rating 92.8%
The French car brand has jumped up three places in the past year, with strong performances from some models. The previous generation 3008 family SUV was the star of its range, gaining a score of 96.5% and a fault rate of 12%. The 2008 may be smaller, but it’s almost as durable - it scored 95.2% and only 14% of the examples we were told about had any defects.
At brand level, 20% of the Peugeots in our survey had a problem and 89% were fixed for free.
Not all Peugeot models were pillars of dependability, though. The e-3008’s score of 86.7% reflects the fact that 34% of the cars we heard about went wrong and just over half of them were out of action for more than a week. The 2017-2024 5008 is the weakest link in the line up, with a rating of 79.3% and a 32% fault rate.
9. MG
Reliability rating 92.0%
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The brand that has improved the most this year is MG. It has jumped from last place in 2025 to ninth, as a result of implementing significant improvements in the way it supplies parts to its dealers and how well and how quickly it fixes cars that go wrong.
Although 22% of the MGs in our survey had a flaw, most faulty cars could still be driven and 89% of them were fixed for free.
The brand’s newest models are its shining stars. The pure electric S5 EV was the highest rated family SUV overall, with a score of 98.3%. Other high achievers included the current and previous generation ZS, and the recently discontinued HS and MG 5. The latest HS isn’t looking as robust, with a score of 88.3%.
10. Mazda
Reliability rating 91.6%
This Japanese car brand has jumped five places to make it back into the top 10 this year. Its dealers covered the cost of 87% of remedial work and got nearly three-quarters of faulty vehicles back on the road in under a week.
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Two recently replaced models were its peak performers: the previous generation CX-5 gained a rating of 95.3% and the used Mazda 2 notched up 94.6%. Only 13% of the CX-5s reported on had any glitches, and 17 % of the 2s went wrong.
The brand’s overall fault rate was higher than this at 22%, though, because 52% of CX-60 owners reported an issue and 39% of MX-30 drivers said their car had gone wrong.
Least reliable car brands
1. Land Rover
Reliability rating 84.9%
Although some Land Rover models are looking very sturdy, others put in very poor performances, and that’s relegated the brand to the bottom of our league this year.
Owners told us that 28% of their Land Rovers had flaws, mostly with electrical systems and the bodywork, and that 75% of them took more than a week to resolve. While 85% of work was carried out for free, 7% of owners reported faults that cost more than £1500 to remedy.
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The Discovery Sport was the worst model in the line up and the second lowest scoring seven seater in our survey, with a score of 68.2%. The Evoque wasn’t much better with a rating of 76.4% that put it at the bottom of the small SUV class.
In contrast, the Range Rover Sport was the highest scoring luxury vehicle with a score of 96.6%, and the full-fat Range Rover gained third place in this category with a rating of 93.8%.
We’d advise you to choose carefully if you want a dependable Land Rover.
2. Audi
Reliability rating 85.0%
This German brand’s score has been dragged down this year by the disappointing durability of some models. Plug-in hybrid versions of the A3 Sportback suffered a higher than average proportion of problems resulting in it being the lowest rated family model, and the recently-replaced Q5 was one of the lowest scoring premium SUVs.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Q2 is the best scoring small SUV of all, with an impressive 98.5% reliability rating, and the A1 is one of the best small hatchbacks, gaining 96.4%.
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Overall, 33% of Audi owners told us their cars had suffered some sort of issue, and Audi only covered the cost of 78% of repairs to these cars, leaving 6% of drivers with bills in excess of £1000 per fault. However, 28% of issues were sorted out in a day or less, and four out of five cars with faults could still be driven.
3. Jaguar
Reliability rating 85.8%
Although Jaguar isn’t selling any new vehicles at present, until the Type 01 arrives in 2027, its existing models are still on the road, not all of them are proving robust. The Jaguar I-Pace only mustered a score of 84.2%, with a third of the cars reported on having a defect.
The F-Pace sits in the middle of our premium SUV chart with a score of 95.0%, and the XF is the fourth-best executive model with a score of 96.2%.
The car maker was better than many at taking care of repair bills, paying for 89% of remedial work. That did leave 7% of owners with bills that topped £1500, though. Twenty-eight percent of the cars we heard about had at least one issue, and while 25% were fixed in a day or less 53% were out of action for more than a week.
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4. Volkswagen
Reliability rating 85.9%
While many Volkswagen models are pretty sturdy, the Tiguan and ID.4 have let the side down in the latest survey. The latest Tiguan is the lowest scoring model in the whole survey for the second year in a row, thanks to 75% of the examples we were told about having some sort of issue. The ID.4 is the lowest rated electric SUV because it struggled with a high proportion of electrical issues.
The Polo and 2018-2026 T-Roc put in much stronger performances, both gaining ratings above 90%.
At brand level, 28% of Volkswagen models went wrong, and although the car paid for 84% of bills, that left a small percentage of owners with bills of more than £1000. While 25% of cars with problems were fixed in a day or less, 48% were in the garage for more than a week.
5. Fiat / Abarth
Reliability rating 86.0%
Fiat has raised its game a little when it comes to dependability, moving up from third from the bottom to fifth from last. In total, 23% of the cars we were told about had an issue, with the 12-volt battery, brakes, gearbox and non-engine electrics the main causes of complaint.
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The car maker only paid for 53% of faults to be fixed, leaving 7% of owners with bills of more than £1000. Although a third of defects were sorted out in a day or less, 47% of cars were off the road for more than a week.
At model level, the 500e looks good on 91.5%, its petrol sibling is middling on 90.5% and the 600 lingers below these on 84.9%
6. Cupra
Reliability rating 87.3%
Seat’s sporty brand has slumped from 13th place last year to sixth from bottom. Its 29% overall fault rate isn’t great, and many of the issues we heard about were with the infotainment and other electrical systems.
Getting things put right wasn’t too onerous for some owners - 36% of problems were resolved in a day or less, but 37% took more than a week to fix. While Cupra stumped up for 85% of repair bills, that meant 8% of owners had to find more than £1000 to get things put right.
The Born is faring fairly well with a reliability rating of 91.7%, but the Formentor is struggling on a score of 82.3%.
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7. Nissan
Reliability rating 87.8%
Nissan appears to be working hard to improve the reliability of its cars - the Japanese brand has moved up five places since last year when it was the second lowest scoring car maker.
The 2018-2024 Leaf is its highest achieving model, its score of 95.9% making it the second most dependable electric car in this year’s survey. However, the previous generation (2014-2021) Qashqai brings things down with its rating of 74.9%. At least the latest Qashqai looks better, with a score of 89.4%.
Overall, 26% of Nissan owners reported a fault, with electrical issues the main gripe. The brand took care of 79% of the costs associated with fixing problems, but that left 6% of owners with bills topping £1000 per fault. Just under a third of defects were fixed in a day or less, but 44% of them took longer than a week to put right.
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8. Renault
Reliability rating 88.1%
Electrical issues were the main headache for Renault owners, who told us that 26% of their cars had suffered a fault. The good news is that 90% of bills were taken care of by the car maker, and only a small percentage of owners had to pay up to £750 to get their cars fixed. Not so good is the time taken to fix issues - 43%of cars were out of action for more than a week and only 29% were repaired in a day or less.
The French car maker’s stand-out model was the Scenic E-Tech electric family SUV - its rating of 97.5% put it close to the top of the electric SUV class. At the other end of the spectrum, the 2013-2024 Zoe only gained 79.7% placing it at the bottom of the electric car category.
9. Ford
Reliability rating 88.4%
One in four of the Ford models we heard about had a glitch, and the 12-volt battery was the main culprit. The car company only took care of 70% of repair bills, leaving some owners to find more than £1000 to put things right. While 39% of remedial work was completed in a day or less, 34% took more than a week.
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The Explorer electric SUV had a high incidence of issues dragging its score down to 87.2%, and the 2018-2026 Focus looks even worse with a rating of 85.6%. The now-discontinued Fiesta is a much better bet, with a score of 95.5%, and the Mustang Mach-E also looks promising on 93.8%.
10. Mercedes
Reliability rating 88.6%
In 10th place, Mercedes looks like a better bet than Audi if you’re after a dependable car, but it is two places below its other main rival BMW. Just over a quarter (26%) of the examples in our survey had a flaw, and the electrics and interior trim were the most common causes of concern.
Mercedes took care of 84% of faults, but 5% of owners had to shell out £1000 or more. Around a third of problems were put right in a day or less, but a similar amount took more than a week to get sorted.
The GLE was the biggest letdown with a rating of 63.7%, and the 2016-2024 E-Class was the star of the range with a score of 98.7%.
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Brand reliability for cars aged up to five years old
RankBrandRating1Suzuki97.8%2Honda95.8%3Mini95.4%4Alfa Romeo94.0%5Tesla93.8%6Vauxhall93.6%7Kia93.5%8Peugeot92.8%9MG92.0%10Mazda91.6%11Dacia91.2%12Lexus 90.7%13Skoda90.6%=14Citroen90.3%=14Hyundai 90.3%16Porsche 89.9%17Toyota 89.7%18Seat 89.6%19BMW89.5%20Volvo 88.7%21Mercedes88.6%22Ford88.4%23Renault88.1%24Nissan 87.8%25Cupra87.3%26Fiat/Abarth86.0%27Volkswagen85.9%28Jaguar85.8%29Audi 85.0%30Land Rover84.9%
How the survey was conducted
The What Car? Reliability Survey, conducted in association with MotorEasy, is open to everyone who visits whatcar.com or subscribes to What Car? magazine. Responses were received from car owners around the UK.
We ask them to tell us if their car had suffered a fault in the previous 24 months, and if so what area of the car was affected. We then ask them to expand on this by telling us how much they had to pay to get the fault fixed and how long their car was in the workshop.
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We use the information to create a unique reliability rating for each model and brand where we have a large enough response rate. These two factors are more important than how many faults a car suffered, because they determine how much inconvenience and expense a problem caused.
To gain an in-depth understanding of what goes wrong, we asked owners to describe issues in 16 categories: 12-volt battery, air-con/cooling system, EV battery (electric vehicles and hybrids), bodywork, brakes, engine/electric motor, engine or motor electrics, exhaust, fuel/charging system, gearbox/clutch, interior trim, non-engine or motor electrics, sat-nav/infotainment, steering, suspension and other.
The minimum sample size at brand level is 70 responses, and at model level it is 15. While models with fewer than 15 responses are not reported on, all the responses are used to create the brand rating.
To read the reliability data for other car classes follow these links:
Most reliable car brands (2025)
Most reliable small cars (2025)
Most reliable family cars (2025)
Most reliable executive cars (2025)
Most reliable luxury cars (2025)
Most reliable small SUVs (2025)
Most reliable family SUVs (2025)
Most reliable large SUVs (2025)
Most reliable seven-seaters (2025)
Most reliable electric cars (2025)
Most reliable electric SUVs (2025)
Most reliable sports cars (2025)
Most reliable diesel cars (2025)
Most reliable petrol cars (2025)
Most reliable hybrid cars (2025)
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About the author
Claire Evans has been a motoring journalist for more than 30 years with a focus on consumer issues for much of that time. She was the advice columnist for Carweek magazine in the 1990s, and also spent six years working on motoring content for Which?.
Claire launched the What Car? Reliability Survey in 2017, and since then has helped thousands of buyers choose the most reliable new cars and SUVs, as well as the most dependable used cars.
Read more: Most and least reliable car models >>
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