MOST RELIABLE
1 Mazda 3 (2014-2019) What went wrong? Non-engine electrics 5%
Big brother to the 2, the Mazda 3 is the epitome of dependability. Only 5% of cars suffered any sort of glitch and all issues were sorted out in a day or less. Even better news for owners is that none of them had to pay more than £50 to get their cars fixed.
2 Honda Civic (2012-2017)
Civic owners can rest assured they won’t have to spend too much time in service departments. Diesels were slightly more prone to problems than petrols (9% versus 6%), but all of the affected cars could still be driven and were put right swiftly. The only downside is that 75% of owners had to pay bills of £751 to £1500.
3 Hyundai i30 (2012-2017)
Although 18% of i30s went wrong, the most common issues were minor bodywork niggles. Some 43% of the faulty cars were fixed for free, and the same percentage were back on the road in a day or less. Big repair bills aren’t a concern, either, with no owner paying out more than £300 for the work.
Owners told us more than half (53%) of petrol Astras of this generation had gone wrong; diesels weren’t as bad, with a 30% fault rate. Although a third of issues were remedied on the same day, repairers landed 20% of owners with bills ranging from £751 to £1500.
2 Volkswagen Golf diesel (2009-2013) Almost half (47%) of older Golf diesels went wrong, according to our survey respondents, with steering issues being the main bugbear, accounting for 21% of faults. Only 10% of cars spent more than a week in the garage, but 25% of owners were faced with bills of £501 or more; some paid at least £1500.
3 Ford Focus diesel (2011-2018) Diesel Focus models are more fault-prone than petrols, with 36% going wrong (versus 23%). Major areas were cited as faulty, too, including the fuel system, gearbox/clutch, steering and suspension. Four out of five cars could still be driven, but 30% took more than a week to put right and 36% cost more than £500.