The UK’s most and least reliable new and used cars have been revealed in the 2021 What Car? Reliability Survey from Britain’s leading new car buying platform and consumer champion.
Feedback from more than 16,000 car owners was analysed to find the country’s most dependable 178 models and 30 brands aged up to five years old. A record six models achieved 100%: the current versions of the Audi TT, Mazda CX-3, Mini Convertible and Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross, and the previous-generation Dacia Sandero and Honda HR-V.
At brand level, Lexus and Dacia models were hailed as the most dependable for new and used buyers, while Fiat and Land Rover achieved the lowest scores.
Lexus gained an overall rating of 98.7% and none of its vehicles scored lower than 98.4%. Budget brand Dacia also impressed with a 97.3% overall rating, demonstrating that you don’t have to break the bank to buy a dependable model.
In contrast, Fiat had the least reliable cars, gaining an 82.0% rating from owners, while Land Rover and Ford were second and third worst for reliability.
Hybrids were rated as the most durable type of car, with an average class reliability score of 96.9%. The best performing hybrid was the Lexus NX (2014 – present), which managed a 99.8% score, while hybrid variants of the BMW X5 (2018 – present) were rated least reliable, with 89.7%.