Stalwarts and surprises among the results of Driver Power 2019
DRIVER Power, the UK’s largest car satisfaction survey, returned in April, with thousands of readers giving us the lowdown on what life is really like with the cars you can buy today. The title of best new car to own went to the Toyota Prius, which had fantastic scores across the board, but won particular favour with its affordable running costs, smooth powertrain and comfortable ride.
Second was another Toyota in the shape of the
Lexus IS. The hybrid compact executive saloon impressed with its smooth drivetrains, well designed interior and unimpeachable reliability. A surprise third-place finish went to the Alfa Romeo Giulia. Owners reported that the executive saloon is so good to drive that they could forgive its slightly below-par exterior build quality and limited interior storage.
Moving on to class winners, Auto Express readers chose the Kia Picanto as the best city car, giving it high scores for style, build quality, reliability and safety. In a double win for Kia, the Rio was rated as the best supermini; you ranked it as the cheapest car to service in the whole survey.
The Fiat 500 won best premium small car, with an impressive 10th-place overall score for driving pleasure. Our ultimate winner – the Prius – was top of its compact family car class, while the Mazda 6 came out as the best family car.
The Citroen C4 Picasso’s clever interior helped it win best MPV, while the title of best small SUV went to the SEAT Arona. The best mid-size SUV was the Peugeot 3008, while the best large SUV was the immensely practical Kia Sorento.
The premium mid-size and large SUV categories saw victories for the Volvo XC60 and Lexus RX respectively. Lexus also picked up best executive car with its GS and best compact executive car with its second-place-overall IS.
Finally, the Hyundai Ioniq was the best electric car, the Mazda MX-5 was the best roadster and the Lexus RC won best sports car.