In association with MotorEasy
Most and least reliable SUVs 2025 - What Car? reliability survey
There are plenty of SUVs to choose from, but they're not all as dependable as their rugged looks imply. So, here we reveal the top 10 performers from our latest Reliability Survey...
While the farthest most SUVs ever venture off road is the pavement outside the school gates, they can still have a pretty tough time coping with family life. So you need to be confident that the one you choose won't leave you and your loved ones stranded at the roadside.
That’s where the annual What Car? Reliability Survey, conducted in association with MotorEasy, comes in. We asked more than 32,000 readers if their cars had suffered any faults over the past year, how long those issues kept their cars off the road, and how much they were charged for repairs.
The good news is that many SUVs are as rugged as they look, especially the used Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia EV3, which both gained our highest 100% reliability rating. However, others have proved rather troublesome and expensive to live with.
As well as this round-up, you'll find information on the best and worst SUVs in five different articles: small SUVs, family SUVs, large SUVs, luxury cars and seven-seaters. Here we reveal the most dependable models, based on data for cars aged up to five years old. Reliability information for older models is in our Most reliable used cars feature.
The 2026 What Car? Reliability Survey is live, tell us about your car now
The 10 most reliable SUVs
=1. Hyundai Santa Fe (2018-2024)
Reliability rating 100%
Most common faults: none
Average repair cost: £0
Typical time off road: n/a
Results in the seven-seater category were disappointing this year. Only cars in the electric SUV category posted a lower average score, so a seven-seater that manages an unblemished 100% rating deserves a lot of praise. The Santa Fe not only does just this, but it’s also the second Hyundai model to gain a perfect score this year, alongside the much cheaper Hyundai i10 small car.
The Santa Fe’s perfect score means no owners had any issues or breakdowns in their cars in the previous 24 months, so none had to contend with unwanted repair bills.
Owner’s view: “The build quality and reliability of my Santa Fe are both exemplary.”
=1. Kia EV3 (2024-present)
Reliability rating 100%
Most common faults: None
Average repair cost: n/a
Typical time off road: n/a
The EV3 is the first Kia model to attain a perfect 100% reliability rating in our survey. It’s the brand’s most affordable pure electric model, yet it outperforms many larger, more expensive electric SUVs – including the £75,000 BMW iX – when it comes to durability and build quality.
With no participating owners reporting a single fault with their cars, the EV3 also outscores its direct rival, the Hyundai Kona Electric, whose 24% fault rate puts it in ninth place in this class.
Owner’s view: “The EV3 was just what I’ve been looking for in an electric car, and it’s been totally dependable so far.”
3. Vauxhall Grandland (2024-present)
Reliability rating 99.6%
Most common faults: non-engine electrics 4%
Average repair cost: £0
Typical time off road: 37% one day or less, 42% more than a week
The second-generation Grandland is looking far more robust than its predecessor, with a minimal fault rate of just 4%, compared with 19% for the 2018-2024 model.
Unspecified non-engine electrical gremlins were the only issues reported by owners. All cars remained driveable, and all problems were dealt with in a day or less. That’s better than the previous Grandland’s record; only 37% of those were fixed in a day and 42% took more than a week to put right. Adding to satisfaction among owners of the latest model, Vauxhall took care of all repair bills.
Owner’s view: “I love everything about my Grandland, especially the build quality, which is top-notch.”
4. Toyota RAV4 PHEV (2019-present)
Reliability rating 99.2%
Most common faults: sat-nav/infotainment system 6%, 12-volt battery 3%
Average repair cost: 100% £0
Typical time off road: 67% one day or less, 33% one day to a week
The RAV4 is a regular feature at the top of our annual reliability charts, and it’s great to see that its durability isn’t tailing off as it ages. The 12-volt battery and infotainment system were the only areas to cause upset among the 12% of plug-in hybrid owners who told us their car had suffered a reliability issue.
Most faults were minor, though, and two-thirds of cars were put right in a day or less, with the rest rectified in less than a week. Best of all, Toyota covered the cost of all work required, so no owners were left out of pocket.
Reliability rating 99.0%
Most common faults: Bodywork 2%, gearbox/clutch 1%, non-engine electrics 1%, sat-nav/infotainment system 1%
Average repair cost: £0
Typical time off road: 33% a day or less, 67% one day to a week
The T-Roc’s almost perfect reliability rating is all the more impressive when you consider that it’s been on sale since 2018, and many of the examples in our survey are four or five years old, so they’re outside their new car warranty period.
Despite this, Volkswagen paid for all remedial work on the 4% of faulty cars we were told about, with bodywork problems being the most frequently cited, followed by gearbox and electrical faults. A third of cars were sorted in a day or less and the rest were back on the road in less than a week. All affected cars could still be driven.
6. Porsche Macan (2014-present)
Reliability rating 99.0%
Most common faults: gearbox 1%, non-engine electrics 1%
Average repair cost: 100% £0
Typical time off road: 50% a day or less, 25% one day to a week, 25% more than a week
Our data covers the diesel and petrol-engined versions of the Macan (but not the latest Macan Electric), and models of both fuel types are proving remarkably resilient up to the age of five.
A mere 5% of the Macans reported on suffered any issues, and their failings were restricted to the non-engine electrical systems and the gearbox. Most problems were quick to rectify, too; half of the affected cars were fixed in a day or less, 25% took up to a week to repair and 25% took more than a week. All of the remedial work was paid for by Porsche.
Reliability rating 99.0%
Most common faults: brakes 1%, non-engine electrics 1%
Average repair cost: 100% £0
Typical time off road: 50% more than a week, 25% one day or less, 25% one day to a week
The second-generation Kia Niro is competitively priced, generously equipped and thrifty on fuel. It's also impressively reliable in hybrid and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) form. Owners of these two fuel types told us their cars hardly put a foot wrong: only 6% of their cars had any issues. In contrast, 30% of the Niro Electric models we were told about suffered a glitch.
However, things were slow to put right when they did go awry, with four out of five cars taking more than a week to fix. At least Kia covered the cost of all remedial work, so nobody had any unexpected bills.
8. Toyota RAV4 Hybrid (2019-2024)
Reliability rating 98.9%
Most common faults: 12-volt battery 4%, electric battery pack 1%
Average repair cost: 100% £0
Typical time off road: 60% one day or less, 40% one day to a week
The fifth-generation RAV4 was available as a hybrid and plug-in hybrid when it went on sale in 2019, but the hybrid was dropped from the line-up at the end of 2024. It's still a great option if you're looking for a dependable family SUV.
Although hybrid versions of the RAV4 aren't rated quite as highly as the plug-in hybrid versions, they still set an excellent standard for other family SUVs to aspire to. In fact, the fault rate for hybrid models is 5%, which is lower than that for PHEVs (12%), but cars that did go wrong were slower to fix - 40% spent up to a week in the workshop. The good news is that all faults were fixed at no cost to owners.
Reliability rating 98.7%
Most common faults: bodywork 3%, non-engine electrics 3%
Average repair cost: £0
Typical time off road: 33% one day or less, 33% one day to a week, 33% more than a week
The Kona Hybrid is a consistently strong performer for reliability; it came third in the small SUV category last year and its score has dropped by only 0.3% since then. A fault rate of 8% is far lower than those for the petrol and electric versions of the Kona.
The bodywork and non-engine electrics were the only areas of concern for owners, and all defects were rectified by Hyundai at no charge. A third of the faulty cars were put right in less than a day, while another third took less than a week, but the rest took longer than that to repair.
10. Audi Q2 (2016-present)
Reliability rating 98.5%
Most common faults: Engine 5%
Average repair cost: £0
Typical time off road: 50% less than a day, 25% one day to a week, 25% more than a week
There's plenty to like about the Q2 because it offers all the desirability of larger SUVs from Audi, but has a far more affordable price tag. It's also the highest scoring model for reliability in the brand's line up, and has a far better rating than many of the larger models.
Only 10% of the Q2s we were told about went wrong, and the only area to give any trouble was the engine. Even though older examples will be outside their three-year new car warranty, Audi paid for all fixes to be done. The only downside is that a quarter of cars with issues were in the garage for more than a week.
Reliability rating 55.2%
Most common faults: 12-volt battery 12%, engine 12%, fuel system 6%, non-engine electrics 6%, air-con 3%, bodywork 3%, brakes 3%, engine electrics 3%, exhaust 3%, gearbox/clutch 3%, steering 3%, suspension 3%
Average repair cost: 30% £0, 60% more than £1500
Typical time off road: 27% one day to a week, 64% more than a week
A combination of slow repairs and some huge repair bills have dragged the petrol Juke to the bottom of the chart for small SUVs. In fact, its 55.2% reliability rating is the lowest of all the cars included – in any category – in this year’s survey.
Although only 24% of petrol Juke owners said their car had gone wrong, 64% of those said their cars were out of action for more than a week, and 60% had to pay more than £1500 per fault for repairs; only 30% of problems were fixed for free. The engine and 12-volt battery were the biggest headaches, followed by fuel system and non-engine electrical glitches.
2. Volkswagen Tiguan (2024-present)
Reliability rating 64.2%
Most common faults: sat-nav/infotainment system 31%, brakes 19%, non-engine electrics 19%, bodywork 13%
Average repair cost: 100% £0
Typical time off road: 41% more than a week, 28% less than a day
Some new models have flawless reliability records, but that’s far from the case with the latest generation of the Tiguan. It has the highest fault rate of any car in this year’s survey; 81% of the cars we were told about had some sort of problem.
The infotainment system accounted for 31% of issues, and the braking system and non-engine electrics each accounted for another 19%. Fixes were frequently slow, too; 41% of afflicted cars were off the road for more than a week and only 28% were in and out of the workshop on the same day. However, Volkswagen did cover the cost of all repairs.
3. Kia Sportage (2016-2021)
Reliability rating 72.9%
Most common faults: engine 21%, gearbox/clutch 21%, non-engine electrics 17%, brakes 13%
Average repair cost: 90% £0, 5% £101-£200, 5% £1500 or more
Typical time off road: 50% more than a week, 18% a day or less
The Kia Sportage is one of the cars that has boosted the Korean firm's sales over the past few years, and it has accounted for a large chunk of its overall sales. The fourth generation of this family SUV makes a great used buy because it is attractively styled, practical, cheap to buy, and many will still be covered by some of Kia's splendid seven-year-from-new warranty.
That may be a good thing if you choose a diesel Sportage because some models with this type of engine suffered a high percentage of faults and were slow to be repaired. Diesel Sportage owners told us 56% of their diesel Sportages went wrong, compared with only 20% of petrol models. Half of faulty cars were in the garage for more than a week, and 5% of bills exceeded £1500; 90% of cars were fixed for free.
To read the reliability data for other car classes follow these links:
Most and least reliable cars overall (2025)
Most reliable car brands (2025)
Most reliable small cars (2025)
Most reliable family cars (2024)
Most reliable executive cars (2025)
Most reliable luxury cars (2024)
Most reliable small SUVs (2025)
Most reliable family SUVs (2025)
Most reliable large SUVs (2024)
Most reliable seven-seaters (2025)
Most reliable electric SUVs (2025)
Most reliable sports cars (2024)
Most reliable diesel cars (2024)
Most reliable petrol cars (2025)
Most reliable hybrid cars (2025)
How the research was carried out
The annual What Car? Reliability Survey, conducted in association with MotorEasy, polls thousands of car owners about the reliability of their cars. The latest survey gained 29,967 responses and that enabled us to report on 199 models (up to five years old) from 31 different car brands.
All car owners are asked to tell us if their car suffered any faults over the previous 24 months. For every car that has suffered a fault, we ask in what area the issue occurred, plus how much it cost to repair and how long it spent in the workshop. This information is used to create a reliability rating for each model and brand where we have a large enough response rate.
To gain a better insight into the areas that are causing problems, we also ask owners to let us know what part of the car was faulty. For all cars we have 14 different fault areas: air-con, battery, bodywork, brakes, engine or motor, engine or motor electrics, exhaust, fuel system, gearbox/clutch, interior trim, non-engine or motor electrics, sat-nav/infotainment, steering and suspension systems. On top of this, we've added two new categories for electric cars: charging and drive battery issues, and difficulties with electric motors.
About the report author
Claire Evans has spent more than 30 years working as a motoring journalist, and has spent much of that time working on consumer issues. In the 1990s, she was the advice columnist for Carweek magazine, helping car owners with all sorts of automotive issues.
She also worked on the motoring desk for Which? for six years, overseeing the running of the charity's annual used car reliability survey.
Claire launched the What Car? Reliability Survey in 2017, and since then has used the data collected each year to help thousands of buyers choose the most reliable new cars and SUVs, as well as the most dependable used cars.
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