Japanese car brands ‘are the most reliable’

Four out of the top five most dependable cars are from Japanese manufacturers, according to reliability rankings released by What Car?

The Toyota Yaris hatchback and the Suzuki SX4 S-Cross jointly claim the top spot, both achieving perfect scores.

Suzuki is the overall top brand for reliability among cars up to four years old, followed by Lexus and Toyota.

Most reliable cars in the What Car? Reliability Survey 2018:

Position	Make	Reliability Ranking*
=1	Toyota Yaris (2011 – Present)	100.0%
=1	Suzuki Sx4 S-Cross (2013 – Present)	100.0%
3	Nissan Leaf (2011 – 2017)	99.7%
4	Toyota RAV 4X4 (2013 – 2018)	99.6%
5	BMW 3 Series (2005 – 2014)	99.5%

The What Car? Reliability Survey 2018 reveals ratings for 159 models spanning 31 brands. Overall, around 30% of the 18,284 survey respondents with cars less than four years old said their car had suffered at least one fault in the past 12 months.

Most reliable cars (1 – 4 years old) by brand in the What Car? Reliability Survey 2018:

Rank	Make	Score
1	Suzuki	97.7%
2	Lexus	97.5%
3	Toyota	96.8%
=4	Kia	95.8%
=4	Mitsubishi	95.8%
=4	Subaru	95.8%
7	Skoda	95.6%
8	Alfa Romeo	95.5%
9	Hyundai	95.4%
10	Seat	95.2%
=11	Vauxhall	94.6%
=11	Mazda	94.6%
13	Dacia	94.1%
14	Fiat	94.0%
15	Honda	93.8%
16	BMW	93.4%
17	Volkswagen	92.9%
18	Ford	92.7%
19	Renault	91.7%
=20	Audi	91.5%
=20	Volvo	91.5%
22	Mini	91.2%
23	Porsche	90.9%
24	Peugeot	89.4%
25	Citroen	88.1%
26	Mercedes-Benz	88.0%
27	Nissan	87.1%
28	Jaguar	84.9%
29	Jeep	82.7%
30	Land Rover	76.5%
31	Tesla	57.3%

“Reliability is a huge consideration for any prospective car buyer, as your car is likely to be your second biggest monthly expense after mortgage or rent payments,” said Steve Huntingford, editor of What Car?.

“You want your car to last and you don’t want to have to fork out huge amounts to fix faults and keep it running.

“Our annual survey has shown that it is Japanese used cars that continue to dominate the top of the reliability rankings, both for car model and brand rankings.”