Honda has practically swept the board in this year’s Which? Car reliability survey, the biggest-ever owner satisfaction survey in the UK with almost 100,000 cars rated.
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The automaker’s Jazz (Fit) was the most reliable new car, with a reliability rating of 96%. More than 1,300 owners confirmed it rarely let them down – cementing its reputation as the number one for dependable motoring.
Honda also either won or shared honours in the medium car (the previous generation Honda Civic), large car (Honda Accord), MPV (Honda FR-V) and off-roader (previous generation Honda CR-V) categories.
There was just one surprise from Honda – the latest Civic had a poor reliability rating of only 82% with owners reporting problems with the fuel system, steering and suspension.
The least reliable new car in the Which? Car survey was the Land Rover Discovery 3 with an error-prone rating of 79%.
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By GlobalDataOther notable disappointments were the VW Passat, the Peugeot 307 and Renault Megane, all with 82%.
Which? Car – the UK counterpart of the annual Consumer Reports survey in the US – also included a manufacturer league table, showing the year’s brand reliability winners and losers.
Unsurprisingly, Honda was top with an overall reliability index of 86%. Toyota, just one point behind, was another extremely reliable brand.
Behind the two Japanese giants, half a dozen Far Eastern makes vied for third place: Daihatsu, Hyundai, Lexus, Mazda, Subaru and Suzuki all scored 82%.
Land Rover was rooted firmly at the bottom of the reliability table on 68%, just behind Renault and Fiat.
Richard Headland, editor of Which? Car, said: “Congratulations to Honda, which has topped the reliability table in most mainstream categories. Honda is setting the benchmark in car reliability and it’s up to other manufacturers to raise their standards to match. Several Far Eastern car makers are hot on its heels, but European manufacturers still have some catching up to do.”
The Which? Car survey was sent last January to 490,000 Which? members. The 93,365 responses gave information on 99,360 cars up to eight years old over the past 12 months. Information was collected on breakdowns (which left motorists unable to proceed), faults (which needed repair or replacement outside of normal servicing and wear), and niggles (which didn’t inhibit the car’s use, but may have needed sorting by the dealer).
The model reliability rating was for new cars up to two years old, using a reliability index which combined breakdowns, faults and niggles. Breakdowns attract a 50% weighting, while faults and niggles got 25% each. The average score for new cars was 88%.
