In association with MotorEasy
What Car? Reliability Survey: Most and least reliable family cars
In our annual Reliability Survey, we ask readers to rate the dependability of cars aged up to five years old. Here we list the most and least reliable family cars in the UK...
Family hatchbacks are the bread and butter of the car world. They remain popular with private buyers and company car drivers alike, despite the rise in demand for SUVs.
That means there are plenty of used examples to choose from, but as our Reliability Survey data shows, not all family cars will provide problem-free motoring. In fact, this class had the one of the lowest average score of all the classes in this year's survey, with a score of 91.1% for cars aged up to five years old.
For this story, we've pulled out all the data is for family cars aged up to five years old.
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Most reliable family cars
1. Skoda Octavia petrol (2013-2020)
Reliability rating 99.3%
What went wrong? Fuel system 6%
Petrol versions of the previous-generation Octavia gain a near-perfect reliability rating. This makes it a much better bet than the latest version (see below), with just 6% suffering glitches. All issues were inconsequential, too, because they didn’t cause any breakdowns and were put right in less than a day. Plus, all work was done for free.
Owner’s view: “I love my Octavia’s dependability; it never lets me down.”
2. Mercedes A-Class hybrid (2018-present)
Reliability rating 98.7%
Hybrid versions of the A-Class go wrong less often than petrols (11% versus 21%), and when they do, they’re quicker and cheaper to fix. All faulty hybrids were fixed for free in a day or less, whereas some petrol cars cost up to £300 and took more than a week to put right.
3. BMW 1 Series (2019-p2024)
Reliability rating 98.6%
Don’t discount the 1 Series because it’s BMW’s cheapest model; the recently replaced version of it is also the brand's most dependable. Only 8% of owners encountered hiccups, with mainly non-engine electrical gremlins. All cars remained driveable, and two-thirds were fixed in less than a week. Eighty-three percent of repairs were done gratis; 17% of owners paid up to £100.
4. Honda Civic (2022-present)
Reliability rating 97.6%
The latest Honda Civic has suffered with far fewer faults than its predecessor, according to owners: 8% of new models went wrong, compared with 27 of previous generation examples. Issues with the steering system were the only area they highlighted. Although Honda covered the cost of all repairs, all faulty cars were off the road for more than a week.
5. Hyundai Ioniq hybrid (2016-2022)
Reliability rating 96.5%
Hybrid versions of the Ioniq appear to be more robust than electric ones: 20% of Ioniq hybrids went wrong, but 47% of electric models had a problem. The bodywork, brake system and sat-nav/infotainment system were the main headaches for hybrid owners. The good news is that 75% of cars were fixed in a day or less, Hyundai paid for 88% of repairs, and those who had to pay weren't asked for more than £200 each.
Reliability rating 96.4%
Electrical and bodywork issues and problems with the 12-volt battery were the main bugbears of the 15% of Corolla owners who told us their car had gone wrong. They told us that 84% of cars were fixed for free and none of the remaining bills exceeded £200. The primary disappointment is that nearly a third of cars were rendered undriveable by faults and 28% were out of action for more than a week.
7. Citroen C4 (2020-present)
Reliability rating 96.2%
Electrical issues, including problems with the air-con and sat-nav/infotainment system were the main headaches for Citroen C4 owners. Seventeen percent of the C4s reported on went wrong and half of them took more than a week to put right. No owners were left out of pocket, though, as all remedial work was done for free.
8. Kia XCeed (2019-present)
Reliability rating 95.6%
Bodywork issues were the main complaint from the 21% of XCeed owners who reported a fault with their car. There were also some concerns about the 12-volt battery and sat-nav/infotainment system. All cars were fixed in less than a week, a third of them were rectified in a day or less. While Kia paid for the work on 67% of cars, the remaining owners were asked for up to £200 to get their cars fixed.
Reliability rating 95.5%
The bodywork was the only area that gave Clubman owners any cause for concern, with 15% of them saying they'd had problems. While all cars were fixed in less than a week, two thirds of them in a day or less, Mini wasn't up there with the best brands for covering the cost of repairs. Mini paid for 33% of remedial work, but owners whose cars weren't fixed for free were asked to pay between £50 and £500.
10. Ford Focus petrol (2018-present)
Reliability rating 94.9%
Pick a petrol model if you're after a reliable Focus: petrol models have a 9% fault rate compared with 33% for diesels. Problem areas included the 12-volt battery, bodywork and non-engine electrical systems including the sat-nav/infotainment system. All faulty cars could still be driven, but 53% spent more than a week in the workshop. At least all remedial work was done for free.
Least reliable family cars
1. Volkswagen Golf diesel (2020-present)
Reliability rating 70.4%
What went wrong? Gearbox/clutch 11%, sat-nav/infotainment 11%, non-engine electrics 11%, air-con 8%, bodywork 8%, brakes 5%, engine 5%, 12-volt battery 3%, engine electrics 3%, exhaust 3%, fuel system 3%
The current Golf has been plagued by issues with infotainment and other electrical systems, with diesels also suffering gearbox glitches. 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.
Owner's comment: "A lot of the electrical technology has been very unreliable and took several updates to work properly."
Reliability rating 74.2%
What went wrong? Sat-nav/infotainment 44%, non-engine electrics 22%, bodywork and interior trim 11%, engine electrics 7%, gearbox/clutch 7%, battery 4%
A high fault rate puts the Leon in the bottom three: 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.
3. Skoda Octavia (2020-present)
Reliability rating 80.3%
Issues with non-engine electrical systems, in particular sat-nav/infotainment, blighted the latest Octavia, accounting for 52% of all reported faults. Overall, 35% of cars had a problem; most could still be driven, but 52% were out of action for more than a week. Skoda stumped up for 97% of repairs, though.
Reliability of family cars aged up to five years old
| Rank | Make and model | Score |
| 1 | Skoda Octavia petrol 2013-2020 | 99.3% |
| 2 | Mercedes A-Class hybrid 2018-present | 98.7% |
| 3 | BMW 1 Series 2019-2024 | 98.6% |
| 4 | Honda Civic 2022-present | 97.6% |
| 5 | Hyundai Ioniq hybrid 2016-2022 | 96.5% |
| 6 | Toyota Corolla 2018-present | 96.4% |
| 7 | Citroen C4 2020-present | 96.2% |
| 8 | Kia XCeed 2019-present | 95.6% |
| 9 | MIini Clubman 2015-2024 | 95.5% |
| 10 | Ford Focus petrol 2018-present | 94.9% |
| 11 | Kia Ceed 2018-present | 94.6% |
| 12 | BMW 2 Series 2014-present | 94.4% |
| 13 | Volkswagen Golf petrol 2013-2020 | 91.8% |
| 14 | Honda Civic 2017-2022 | 91.6% |
| 15 | Mercedes A-Class petrol 2018-present | 91.6% |
| 16 | Skoda Scala petrol 2019-present | 90.5% |
| 17 | Ford Focus diesel 2018-present | 89.7% |
| 18 | Audi A3 2013-2020 | 88.5% |
| 19 | Seat Leon 2013-2020 | 87.3% |
| 20 | Audi A3 2020-present | 87.2% |
| 21 | Vauxhall Astra 2015-2022 | 86.5% |
| 22 | Mazda 3 2019-present | 85.4% |
| 23 | Volkswagen Golf 2020-present | 84.1% |
| 24 | Skoda Octavia 2020-present | 80.3% |
| 25 | Seat Leon 2020-present | 74.2% |
| 26 | Volkswagen Golf diesel 2020-present | 70.4% |
To read the reliability data for other car classes follow these links:
Most reliable cars (2024)
Most reliable car brands (2024)
Most reliable small cars (2024)
Most reliable executive cars (2024)
Most reliable luxury cars (2024)
Most reliable small SUVs (2024)
Most reliable family SUVs (2024)
Most reliable large SUVs (2024)
Most reliable seven-seaters (2024)
Most reliable electric cars (2024)
Most reliable electric SUVs (2023)
Most reliable sports cars (2024)
Most reliable diesel cars (2023)
Most reliable petrol cars (2023)
Most reliable hybrid cars (2024)
How the research was carried out
The latest survey, compiled in association with MotorEasy, contains data from 29,967 car owners, and reveals the reliability ratings for 199 models from 31 different brands. Each rating is based on two crucial factors relating to every car that suffered a fault: how much each fault cost the car owner in repair bills, and how long the car was stuck in the workshop getting fixed.
To add extra depth to our ratings, we also asked car owners to tell us which component on their vehicle went wrong, asking them to choose from 14 different 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, suspension systems. This year we also added two specific categories for electric cars: charging and drive battery issues, to help us to build a better picture of EV ownership.
About the report author
Claire Evans has been a motoring journalist for more than 30 years, and has focussed on consumer issues for much of that time. She was the 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.
