Japanese Carmakers Outperform European Brands For Reliability

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Thu, 28 Jul 2011

Honda has been named the most reliable car manufacturer in the UK following new research by warranty experts Warranty Direct.

Cars made by the Japanese firm were found to have only a nine percent chance of developing a fault over a 12 month period – six per cent less then second-placed Toyota .

Third place in the list of reliable car makers went to Suzuki, closely followed by Lexus, Mitsubishi, Mazda and Subaru – highlighting the strength of Japanese brands.

The only non-Japanese firms ranked in the top ten were Korean makers Hyundai and Kia, while Nissan completed the list.

The unwanted title of the world’s least reliable car manufacturer went to Land Rover, whose cars were found to have an alarming 55 per cent chance of going wrong. Not far behind were Alfa Romeo and Renault with 46 per cent and 45 per cent of their cars going wrong respectively.

For the study, Warranty Direct looked at cars aged between three and eight years old and assessed both reliability and average cost of repair. Fiat was the least expensive to fix at an average of £241.63 per repair, while Porsche proved to be the most costly for repairs, at an average of £689.99.

Duncan McClure Fisher, managing director at Warranty Direct, said: "Car buying is a tricky business, but all most people want is hassle-free motoring.

"Finding a car that can be relied upon is one factor, and maintenance is another – even the most trustworthy vehicles need some TLC to keep going."