Warranty Direct's used car warranty statistics show that the post 2006 facelift Mercedes W211 E-Class is the most reliable used car by a European manufacturer.

Just one in 10 breaks down on average each year.

Warranty Direct analysed around 20,000 live policies on cars by European manufacturers aged 3 to 6 years for its Reliability Index website (www.reliabilityindex.com).

At the other end of the reliability scale, 85% of Land Rover Discovery 3 models covered by Warranty Direct recorded a fault in the last 12 months, followed by the Bentley Continental GT, of which 78% needed attention.

Skoda builds the second most reliable used car by a European manufacturer, the Fabia from 2007. Only 15% need repairs each year. Next most reliable is the Smart ForTwo fdrom 2007 and the Volvo C70 from 2006.  

The most costly single claim among the bottom 10 cars was £10,120 for a BMW 7-Series fault, but a small number of cars typically cost far less. Over the last 12 months even the largest claim for a Skoda Fabia was only £180.

10 most reliable used cars by European manufacturers

Warranty Direct managing director, Duncan McClure Fisher, said: “It is very interesting to see the Mercedes at the top of the pile for European cars. It’s big and it’s packed with technology, which is not usually the recipe for a reliable car, but it’s proved to be excellent.

“With the imminent opening of the Paris Motor Show, we thought it’d be a good moment to discover which European marque makes the most and least reliable cars.

“Running a car is more expensive than ever, particularly when it moves into its fourth and fifth year and most cars leave the protection of a manufacturer warranty. If you do your research though and buy the right car or at least protect yourself with a warranty, you’re in a much better position.”

10 least reliable used cars by European manufacturers

Warranty Direct cover starts from as little as £15 a month. For more information or for a quote, go to www.warrantydirect.co.uk.

**Incident rate is the claim rate, meaning the percentage of those vehicles that required a claim each year.

***Reason for fault and the percentage of the total faults that that part of the car contributed. For example, 42% of the Land Rover Discovery’s faults were due to axle and suspension issues.

****A slight problem with the stats is that 2003-2009 Renault Scenics and Grand Scenics have been separated. If they were lumped together the average incident rate would be 40% and avarage cost of repair £1,809.79, so they would be in neither table.