In association with MotorEasy
2024 What Car? Reliability Survey: Britain's most and least reliable cars
In our annual Reliability Survey, we ask readers to rate the dependability of cars aged up to five years old. Here are the latest results based on the experiences of nearly 30,000 owners...
There are thousands more electric vehicles (EVs) on UK roads now than this time last year, but are they the most dependable cars you can buy? After all, EVs are far less complex than hybrid cars and require less maintenance than petrol or diesel-engined models, so they ought to come out on top, right?
To answer this and other related questions, the annual What Car? Reliability Survey asks thousands of motorists to tell us if their cars have let them down during the past 24 months.
The latest survey, conducted in association with MotorEasy, has gathered data from 29,967 car owners. As well as telling us if their cars had suffered any faults, they also told us how much each issue cost to fix and how long it kept their cars off the road. Cost and inconvenience are the two biggest headaches of dealing with a faulty car, so we used responses on these issues to create a unique reliability rating for each car and brand.
We've split our results into different car and SUV categories, with a page dedicated to each one. So, if, for example, you want to find out the most reliable electric car, you can use our most reliable electric cars page. Or if you're curious to know what the least reliable small SUV is, we have a page for that car class, too.
We only focus on cars up to five years old because that covers the minimum three-year new car warranty as well as another two years where faults are less likely to be fixed for free.
The 2025 What Car? Reliability Survey is live, tell us about your car now
To read the reliability data for other car classes follow these links:
Most reliable car brands (2024)
Most reliable small cars (2024)
Most reliable family cars (2023)
Most reliable executive cars (2024)
Most reliable luxury cars (2023)
Most reliable small SUVs (2024)
Most reliable family SUVs (2023)
Most reliable large SUVs (2023)
Most reliable seven-seaters (2023)
Most reliable electric cars (2023)
Most reliable electric SUVs (2023)
Most reliable sports cars (2023)
Most reliable diesel cars (2023)
Most reliable petrol cars (2023)
Most reliable hybrid cars (2023)
Are cars getting more reliable?
We've seen an improvement in reliability over the past seven years – the percentage of cars aged up to five years old going wrong has dropped from 27% in 2018 to 22% in 2024.
True, the percentage of cars being fixed for free by manufacturers has dropped a little from 87% in 2020 to 82% this year, but that still means the majority of newer cars don't land owners with hefty repair bills.
That's especially pleasing when you consider that there has been a significant shift in the new car market over the past few years, with a huge increase in the number of complicated hybrid and cutting-edge pure electric models being offered by existing brands and some newer ones.
What are the most reliable cars and brands?
When it comes to reliability, a car’s brand is a better indicator of its durability than its fuel type. Mini claims the top spot this year, with a near-faultless score for all five of the diesel, electric and petrol models reported on in our survey. The shining stars were the Countryman, which gained 99.7%, making it the highest-scoring SUV overall, and the Mini Electric, which was the best EV with a rating of 98.4%.
Former winner Lexus was just 0.4% behind Mini.The ES claimed the top spot in the executive class, while the 2014-2021 NX was the best family SUV and the 2016-2022 RX the top luxury car.The NX and Toyota Aygo X were also the only models to achieve a full 100% reliability rating.
Suzuki wasn’t far behind the top two brands, with the 2017-2024 Swift and current Vitara scoring 95.7% and 97.7% respectively. Brands to make it into the top 10 for the first time include Citroën, Dacia and Renault. Credit also goes to Tesla for turning round the reliability of its cars; the Model Y the highest scoring electric SUV in the latest survey.
Meanwhile, Cupra and Volkswagen appear to be starting to recover from the spate of electronic glitches that marred their scores last year, but Audi and Seat haven’t improved their ratings as much.
While Land Rover is still in the bottom half of the chart, it’s heartening to see it out of the bottom three. MG now occupies the bottom place, due to a high fault rate and slow repairs. Its overall score was also not helped by the large proportion of MG 4 owners who faced large repair bills.
Also propping up the bottom of the chart are Alfa Romeo and Vauxhall. Many Giulia and Stelvio owners said their cars had spent lengthy stints in workshops, and the Giulia could also be costly to repair.
Vauxhall’s Corsa Electric and Mokka Electric were its lowest scorers; both were in the bottom three in their respective classes.
How the research was carried out
The What Car? Reliability Survey 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.
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 various categories: 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.
Furthermore, specific categories for EVs, including charging and drive battery issues, as well as difficulties with electric motors, helped us to build a better picture of EV ownership.
This year, we have data for 199 models (up to five years old) from 31 brands. Where we have a large enough sample size, we separate diesel, electric, hybrid and petrol versions.
The top 10 most reliable cars
=1. Lexus NX (2014-2021)
Reliability rating 100%
The previous-generation Lexus NX is your best bet if you want a fault-free family SUV. Not only is it the top scorer in this class, but it also outperforms the latest NX, which scores 97.6% and lies in fifth place. No NX owners reported any issues with their cars, and that meant no time off the road for repairs and no unexpected repair bills.
2014-2021 BMW 1 Series used buying guide
=1. Toyota Aygo X (2021-present)
Reliability rating 100%
Toyota’s tiniest and most affordable car has outdone its bigger siblings with a perfect reliability rating of 100%, making it the top scoring small car in our survey. This indicates that not one of the Aygo Xs in our survey had any glitches at all. That means not a single Aygo X owner has needed to seek assistance from dealers at all in the previous 24 months.
3. Mini Countryman (2017-2024)
Reliability rating 99.7%
The Countryman isn’t only the most dependable small SUV you can buy; it’s also the most reliable Mini model in the survey. Owners told us just 2% of their cars had any issues and these were restricted to niggles with the bodywork. With all these foibles sorted out at no cost and in less than a week, the Countryman has kept its owners extremely happy.
2017-2024 Mini Countryman used buying guide
4. Audi Q2 (2016-present)
Reliability rating 99.5%
Almost all of the Audi Q2s in our survey behaved impeccably, according to owners. Only 3% reported any issues, all of which concerned engine faults that prevented the affected cars from being driven. Although all the faults took more than a week to put right, they were corrected at no cost to owners.
Reliability rating 99.3%
This version of the Picanto may no longer be on sale new, but it’s well worth considering as a bulletproof city car. A mere 6% of examples aged up to five years old had any issues, and only with the gearbox/clutch. Kia covered all repair costs, too, and its workshops resolved all problems in a day or less.
2017-2024 Kia Picanto used buying guide
=5. Lexus ES (2018-present)
Reliability rating 99.3%
The ES is the most dependable executive car, and it outclasses all its premium German rivals when it comes to dependability. Only 4% of ES owners reported issues, and only with the sat-nav/infotainment systems. Lexus covered the cost of all remedial work, and the only real inconvenience was that owners had to wait between one and seven days to get their cars back.
=5. Porsche 718 Boxster / Cayman (2016-present)
Reliability rating 99.3%
The 718 Boxster and Cayman together are the best convertible / coupe you can buy if you want a bulletproof fun car. Only 6% of Porsche’s mid-engined roadsters and its coupé siblings had any glitches, and the only area of concern was the bodywork. Getting things fixed was easy, too, with all work completed in a day or less, and Porsche covered the cost of all the work required.
Porsche 718 Boxster / Cayman review
=5. Skoda Octavia petrol (2013-2020)
Reliability rating 99.3%
Petrol versions of the previous-generation Octavia gain a near-perfect reliability rating, putting it at the top of the chart for dependable family cars. This makes it a much better bet than the latest version (see below), with just 6% suffering any glitches. All issues were inconsequential, too, because they didn’t cause any breakdowns and were put right in less than a day. All work was done for free.
2013-2020 Skoda Octavia petrol used buying guide
=9. Mini Convertible (2016-2024)
Reliability rating 99.2%
Only 7% of Mini Convertibles exhibited faults, and the sat-nav/infotainment system was the only area that gave owners any grief. All of the affected cars were put right in a day or less, and Mini covered the cost of all remedial work, ensuring that disruption was kept to a minimum for owners.
Mini Convertible used buying guide
=9. Tesla Model Y (2021-present)
Reliability rating 99.2%
Tesla has really turned round the reliability of its cars over the past few years and the Model Y is testament to this. Not only is it the highest scoring electric SUV, it’s also the best electric car overall for reliability. Only 4% of the examples we heard about went wrong, and all were fixed for free. Three-quarters of cars were fixed the same day, and the rest were back on the road in less than a week.
2021-present Tesla Model Y review
The 10 most unreliable cars
1. Nissan Juke (2019-present)
Reliability rating 50.0%
The Nissan Juke is not only the lowest scoring small SUV in the survey, it’s the worst model overall. Nearly a third (31%) of the Jukes reported on went wrong, with 80% of these rendered undriveable, some for more than a week. Nissan only covered the cost of remedial work in 35% of cases; 52% of owners paid more than £1500 per fault.
Reliability rating 63.8%
With issues in almost all of our fault categories, 30% of the cars reported on went wrong. MG only paid for repairs in 55% of cases, leaving 39% of owners with bills of £1000 or more. Repairs weren’t always swift, either; 68% of affected cars took more than a week to put right.
The problem areas included non-motor electrics, interior trim, bodywork, motor, sat-nav/ infotainment, battery/charging system, gearbox/clutch and motor electrics.
3. Vauxhall Mokka Electric (2020-present)
Reliability rating 65.6%
Fifty-five percent of the Mokka Electrics we heard about went wrong. Although a third of problems were sorted out in a day or less, 56% of broken cars were out of action for more than a week. Vauxhall paid for the work on 92% of cars, but 8% of owners had bills that topped £1500. No wonder it was the lowest scoring small SUV. The 12-volt battery accounted for 30% of problems and there were also lots of issues reported with the dat-nav/infotainment system and aircon.
Vauxhall Mokka Electric review
4. Kia Sportage diesel (2016-2021)
Reliability rating 66.2%
Diesel Sportage models suffered a high percentage of faults and were slow to be repaired, pushing them into the bottom place for family SUVs. 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 8% of bills exceeded £1500; 83% of cars were fixed for free.Twenty-four percent of problems were with the engine, and 20% were with the gearbox/clutch.
Reliability rating 68.8%
This is the least dependable model in the current Mazda line-up; 62% of owners had glitches with their cars. A third had suspension issues, a similar proportion had electrical faults and 24% had steering problems. Owners told us 43% of faulty cars took more than a week to fix. At least Mazda covered all repair costs.
6. MG ZS Electric (2019-present)
Reliability rating 69.3%
Forty-three percent of the MG ZS EVs in our survey had problems, and 82% of broken cars were in the workshop for more than a week. On top of that, 10% of owners faced bills of more than £1000 to get things put right. Air-con and the 12-volt battery were the main culprits, but there were also issues with the drive battery/charging.
7. Volkswagen Golf diesel (2020-present)
Reliability rating 70.4%
The current Golf has been plagued by issues with infotainment and other electrical systems, with diesels also suffering gearbox glitches, putting them firmly at the bottom of the family car class. Thirty percent went wrong, a third taking at least a week to fix. Only 41% were fixed for free; 11% of owners faced bills of £1000 or more. The main problem areas were the gearbox/clutch and sat-nav/infotainment system.
8. Vauxhall Corsa Electric (2019-present)
Reliability rating 72.2%
The electric Corsa is more fault-prone than its petrol sibling, with 25% of owners reporting issues, mainly with the air-con, drive battery/charging and non-motor electrics. Half took more than a week to fix. Repairs were free for 61% of owners; most of the rest didn’t pay more than £500.
Reliability rating 78.3%
The previous Evoque is the lowest-scoring model in the Land Rover line-up with a 35% fault rate. Issues with the engine electrics and suspension each accounted for 15% of faults. Two-thirds of cars were off the road for more than a week, and while 86% of cars were fixed for free, the rest cost more than £1500.
Range Rover Evoque used buying guide
10. Seat Leon (2020-present)
Reliability rating 74.2%
A high fault rate puts the Leon in the bottom three for family cars: 58% of the cars reported on went wrong, most with sat-nav/ infotainment problems. These were slow to resolve, with 62% of cars sitting in workshops for more than a week. However, Seat covered the cost of 97% of fixes, easing some of the pain.
About the report author
Claire Evans has been a motoring journalist for more than 30 years, much of that time spent specialising in consumer issues. She was a troubleshooting advice columnist for Carweek magazine in the 1990s, helping car owners with faulty cars get the right level of reparation from car makers.
She also spent six years working on motoring content for Which?, and it is here she oversaw the running of the charity's annual used car reliability survey.
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. The survey data is also shared with car makers, who use it to find out more about issues with models and the areas where they could provide better customer service.
Next: Most and least reliable car brands >>
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