Hybrid, EVs most reliable of all
An annual reliability survey by British magazine ‘What Car?’ shows electrified vehicles are the most reliable, writes
United Kingdom consumer website and magazine What Car? has revealed Britain’s most and least reliable new and used cars with the release of its 2019 Reliability survey, and while Land Rover and Renault owners will have nothing to cheer (or be particularly surprised) about, Toyota hybrid owners will be able to feel rather smug.
Reader feedback from more than 18,000 drivers is used to find the UK’s most dependable cars, from brand new models to those up to five years old, and hybrid cars from Japanese brands topped the reliability charts, with the Lexus CT (2011 – present) and Toyota Yaris Hybrid (2011 – present) receiving a 100 per cent reliability rating from owners, indicating they suffered no faults over the previous 12 months.
The only other car to match this achievement was the Kia Soul (2014 – 2019).
Although electric vehicles and hybrids have the best average reliability rating (96.1 per cent) of the 10 car classes in the survey, not all electric cars are as dependable, with the Renault Zoe (2013 – present) scoring a lowly 82.3 per cent, with close to half (44 per cent) of Zoe owners saying their car had suffered a fault.
The worst vehicle class for reliability was the luxury SUV class at 86.5 per cent, with the Range Rover (2013 – present) and Range Rover Velar (2017 – present) proving the least bulletproof – almost half of Velar owners (48 per cent) said their car experienced a fault in the past year, while 35 per cent of Range Rover owners had needed to visit a garage, with battery issues being the most common cause.
Lexus was found to be the most reliable brand overall, with a 99.3 per cent reliability rating, followed by Toyota and Suzuki.
Japanese and South Korean brands dominated the top 10 brand reliability rankings, occupying seven of the places. The worst brand for reliability was Land Rover, with an 81.3 per cent rating, just below the other usual suspects, Renault and Jeep.
The What Car? survey asked owners whether their car had gone wrong in the past 12 months, how long repairs took and how much they had to pay to get their vehicle back on the road.
Of the 18,119 responses, 26 per cent had experienced at least one fault, with the most common a nonelectrical engine fault.
Diesel drivers were more likely to have visited a garage than owners of other types of car, with diesels accounting for 58 per cent of all faults.