The most and least reliable used cars revealed
New research has revealed the UK's best and worst used cars for reliability based on post-manufacturer warranty claims and repair costs.
The report by MotorEasy focuses on cars that are outside of their manufacturer warranty period, looking at three years’ worth of data that covers 53,226 warranties and car repairs.
The aftermarket warranty provider analysed almost 10,000 repair claims from 353 UK car models over three years, 2018-2020. It then filtered the results by models with an average repairs cost of £100 or more to provide a snapshot of the most and least reliable cars.
The Ford C-MAX is ranked as the best used car for all-round reliability. With 128,365 models on the road and 1284 faults reported over three years, the research suggests that C-MAX owners are the least likely to experience a mechanical breakdown. The Mercedes-Benz GLA takes second place while the BMW 4 Series is ranked third.
Vehicle | Number of UK models | Projected faults | Ranking |
Ford C-MAX | 128,365 | 1284 | 1 |
Mercedes-Benz GLA |
76,164 |
914 | 2 |
BMW 4 Series | 100,263 | 1203 | 3 |
Honda CR-V | 221,449 | 2879 | 4 |
Mitsubishi Outlander |
74,200 |
1039 | 5 |
Jeep Grand Cherokee | 15,767 | 237 | 6 |
Porsche Cayman |
14,260 |
228 | 7 |
Nissan Juke | 290,032 | 4931 | 8 |
Toyota RAV4 | 139,888 | 2518 | 9 |
Mazda MX-5 | 97,487 | 1755 | 10 |
According to the data, the Toyota GT86 is the least reliable car, with over one-third of owners making a claim on their MotorEasy warranty policy. The Maserati Quattroporte was rated as the second-worst car for reliability while the Fiat Punto completes the bottom three.
Kia also appears twice in the 10 least reliable cars, although it is important to note that these vehicles may be older than others models in the list due to the fact that every Kia in the UK is sold with a seven-year warranty as standard.
Vehicle | Number of UK models | Projected faults | Ranking |
Toyota GT86 | 6724 | 2690 | 353 |
Maserati Quattroporte | 1362 | 422 | 352 |
Fiat Punto | 15,957 | 4628 | 351 |
Mercedes-Benz G-Class | 821 | 164 | 350 |
SEAT Exeo | 7383 | 1477 | 349 |
Lexus LS | 3952 | 790 | 348 |
Kia Sedona | 10,246 | 1844 | 347 |
Ford Tourneo Connect | 10,511 | 1682 | 346 |
Kia Picanto | 186,210 | 27,932 | 345 |
Ford Ranger | 113,268 | 16,990 | 344 |
Suzuki came out on top when it came to carmakers with the lowest warranty repair costs. On average, a Suzuki repair is £106. Dacia and MG took second and third places with average repairs being a respective £132 and £157
Subaru has the highest repair cost with the data putting the average cost of a warranty fix at £3541. BMW is the second worst (£1080), while Land Rover was third at £983.
Neil Littman on 6 May 2021
Where is the full list published?Neil
Victor Ahiaba on 6 May 2021
Interesting. Very interesting. At least, we know where to turn now.Victor Ahiaba on 6 May 2021
I was looking for that too. At least, to know where my car stands in the group. Perhaps, that part will be for sale.
Edited by Victor Ahiaba on 06/05/2021 at 23:01
Paul Jenkinz on 7 May 2021
im most surprised seeing a lexus in the listNickNike on 7 May 2021
If this only analyses 10,000 claims, isn't that too small a number to represent the millions of cars on the road?DLDLDL on 7 May 2021
So Toyota, Ford and Mercedes all have vehicles in the top 10 and the bottom 10 - what are we to make of that?Is it that modern motor manufacturers (who have an emphasis on consistency of quality in design and manufacturing) do occasionally produce a car that is "very reliable" or "very unreliable" - or is there some other factor involved?
Is the sample representative? (We already have a disclaimer regarding Kia - a perverse result of giving a 7 year warranty!) High volume vehicles also seem to be under-represented.
What type of owner takes out "aftermarket warranty"? Risk adverse owners? What type of owner incurs a claim?
We don't know. This strikes me as a lot of data with very little information.
With so much sharing of design and components is looking at "cars" an appropriate means of analysis? Or should we look at Platforms, Engines, and Transmissions - as separate items? What is it about the "SEAT Exeo" (for example) that makes it "unreliable". Is it the platform ("chassis") - in which case do similar VAG models share problems? Or is it the Engine - which one and again are those problems unique to that engine mounted across the VAG group? Same questions with Transmissions. Or is it something to do with the specific combination - such as the quality of workmanship in a specific assembly plant?
There is room for a lot more useful analysis; instead of which they seem to have stopped once they have enough click-bait for a press release? Or is that unfair?
Falkirk Bairn on 7 May 2021
The repair insurer is only looking at it has insured with them.Below is my last 26 years history of car ownership
I have had several brand new cars cars since 1995
Honda Civic 1995 to 2003 - 93K No repairs other than consumables + servicing
Mazda Xedos 1998 to 2014 - one repair under manufacturer warranty. Under £1,000 on repairs in 16 years - mostly age related - rubber bushes, brake calipers,
Honda Civic - 2001 - 2007, 90K - Couple of minor electrical problems say £300, fan speed & light on dashboard fixed by replacing sensor
Nissan X-trail - 2007 - 2012 Zero repairs in 50K
Honda C-rv 2012 - present zero until last September - front spring cracked, Also needed exhaust and new drop link bushes.
I know it s not a large sample but there is a trend of reliability - I do not insure my cars against repairs - buy a good make, have it serviced on the button & generally look after my cars.
masiv on 7 May 2021
I have had a mix of Toyota, Lexus, and Honda for the past 25 years and have never broken down or had to replace anything other than wear and tear items. All but two of them were outside manufacturers warranty.
VINCENT MILLARD on 7 May 2021
It's all subjective, as most used Cars either have a Manufacture's 7 Year Warranty or Folks don't Bother spending all that extra Money on expensive Warranty's. I don't and my Car is now 5 Years old and has never broken down, even if it did it's Cheap to Repair being an MG6!
So, made in the UK (last of the MGs out of Birmingham), Cheap to run, Reliable and low cost spares! Who would have imagined?
Engineer Andy on 7 May 2021
TBH this looks like an unreliable 'survey', given it appears to be done based solely on the NUMBER of claims, not the cost of claims vs the value (including original price) of the car.aethelwulf on 7 May 2021
Rubbish survey as most are. experience counts. Driving for 64 years now. My Piccanto great 7 years one fault brake light switch fixed by dealer free. Year 8 ABS sensor went £450. It would not be worth paying for a warranty for that . I still have car and it is fine. Service it myself cheaply . Great value over 11 years now,My other car Ford Mondeo 2L petrol estate bought 1 year old. Still have it 16 years old. What went wrong? Front springs . NS 5 years I fixed it £35 year 6 OS garage charged £193.
So avoid garages buy a good car and keep it till it wears out or you will pay enormous depreciation charges.
John of Gloster on 8 May 2021
New research has revealed the UK's .....etc.Any new car I've owned I have never arranged additional cover once the warranty it came with expires. I have never had an unreliable car. There again I check things as recommended by ALL manufacturers. Other car owners accuse me of being "lucky" with my cars and their reliability. Over the years several folks I know are often "unlucky" with their cars. There are valid reasons for this.
My view, there are many more unreliable car users and owners than unreliable cars.
Engineer Andy on 10 May 2021
Indeed - I recall a former (young) colleague of mine some years ago bemoaning why his tyres and especially brakes only lasted about 10k/1year.
He then proceeded to tell me that he loved giving the car a lot of welly when accelerating, driving fast generally and planting on the anchors at the last moment when braking.
Rather like the people who don't bother getting their car serviced at all or by a competent mechanic as per the manufacturer's guidelines moaning why their car breaks down so often after doing that for many years.
Or like another former colleague who knew that his BMW diesel was losing oil (including via oil spots on his driveway and in the work car park), but only (finally) did something about it after the car decided 'enough was enough' as he started out to work and deposited most of what remained on his driveway in one go, ruining both driveway and engine and costing hime several £0000 to fix instead of perhaps a few £000 at most.
D'Oh!
Edited by Engineer Andy on 13/05/2021 at 10:35
Sam White57 on 9 May 2021
Had a good used seat leon with back to back 3 yr warranties, for six years until it developed gearbox issues at 130k mls..But no garage would accept my warranty ?
The warranty company told me to take it to Halfords Autocentre, but they didn't do gearbox repairs....
Catch-22 verbal statement to me from Halfords, Newport Road Cardiff.....
they said they would install my repaired gearbox ,but would not remove it for repair first..!! ?
Bilboman on 11 May 2021
My Toyota dealer (in Spain) has just offered me 10 years' worth of warranty on my Auris on the condition I continue get it serviced there every year (which I intended to do anyway). In September as it reaches 5 years old and the existing warranty expires, I will get a further 12 months, and so on until the car reaches 10.Spanish car insurance policies also includes roadside recovery as standard.
I don't expect to make a claim on either.
madf on 6 June 2021
So:
Only 3 year old cars - at oldest.
Most cars have a three year warranty.
Pants
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