Which Rates KIA Picanto UK's Most Reliable Car

The Kia Picanto is Britain's most reliable new car says Which? Car. The UK's largest reliability survey* looked at over 26,000 new cars, and found the least dependable was a 4x4, the Land Rover Discovery 3.

The Kia Picanto is the most dependable car of 2010, clocking up very few faults and earning a reliability score of 98.1%**. 

The Mazda3 is in second place with 97.6%. Its safety and performance are first class too, making it a Which? Best Buy. A supermini, the Daihatsu Sirion, and the Honda Insight, a petrol-electric hybrid, are equal third with 97%. (Top and bottom 10 cars below).

'Japanese' name cars dominate, with seven cars in the top 10. Toyota retains its excellent reliability rating overall in spite of its recall woes earlier this year. Star performer is the iQ (5th, 96.1%) with very few cars suffering any problems at all, while the Prius (7th, 95.4%) also proves to be highly dependable.

Bottom of the table is the Land Rover Discovery 3 (67.8%), the only car in the survey to dip below 70%. The Land Rover Range Rover Sport (75.8%) also makes the bottom 10, showing the company's rugged 4x4s aren't quite as tough as their image.

Other big car losers include the Hyundai Santa Fe (75.0%), which at least comes with a decent five year warranty; Jaguar S-type (76%); Citroën C4 Grand Picasso (77.4%), the least reliable people carrier; Volvo S80 (77.6%); and Ford S-Max (77.6%).

*Between December 2009 and March 2010, Which? Car received information from 64,467 Which? members about 66,699 cars up to eight years old, creating a comprehensive whole-life picture. The data is split into two categories: 'new' cars aged up to three years old, and 'older' cars aged between four and eight years old. There were 26,480 'new' cars and 40,219 'old' cars.

**Survey questions encompassed all aspects of motoring. Reliability is scrutinised by splitting problems into three categories: breakdowns, faults and niggles, with the highest priority given to breakdowns as these are the most inconvenient. Each car's reliability score is based on this information.

Most reliable new cars                                     Least reliable new cars        

1 Kia Picanto                                98.1%        137 Volvo S80                                77.6%        

2 Mazda3                                97.6%        137 Ford S-Max                              77.6%        

3 Daihatsu Sirion                        97.0%        139 Citroën C4 Grand Picasso        77.4%        

3 Honda Insight                        97.0%        140 Ford Focus CC                        77.2%        

5 Honda Jazz                                96.2%        141 Jaguar S-type^                        76.0%        

6 Toyota iQ                                96.1%        142 Volkswagen Eos                        75.7%        

7 Toyota Prius                        95.4%        143 Land Rover Range Rover Sport        75.8%        

8 Volkswagen Golf Plus                93.3%        144 Renault Mégane CC^                75.7%        

8 Mercedes-Benz SLK                        93.3%        145 Hyundai Santa Fe                75.0%        

10 Mazda2                                93.2%        146 BMW 3 Series convertible^        73.9%        

        147 Land Rover Discovery 3^        67.8%        

Although some models have been in production for many years, the scores above only

relate to cars from new up to three years old. ^These models are now discontinued.

Which? Car Autumn 2010, priced at £4.99, is on sale at Sainsbury's, Tesco, WHSmith,

Martin McColl and other leading independent newsagents.