The most (and least) reliable cars revealed: Is your model on the list?

By FREDA LEWIS-STEMPEL, SENIOR MOTORING REPORTER

Drivers have revealed which carmakers produce the most and least reliable vehicles in a huge survey of tens of thousands of motorists – and it’s bad news for a Chinese SUV sales sensation.

With Britons facing the highest diesel prices in UK history and rising petrol prices due to the Iran conflict, the last thing motorists need is for their car to break the bank in repair bills.

Luckily, those shopping for a new car can turn to surveys where buyers give their honest, and sometimes hard-earned, feedback on how dependable their car is – and if they’d recommend it to their fellow drivers based on their own experiences.

This year’s What Car? Reliability Survey is one of the biggest car polls in the country, garnering feedback from 39,332 owners over the past two years.

With it now more important than ever to choose a dependable car, the What Car? survey provides insight into 225 models from 30 brands across 16 fault categories.

It asks owners in detail about everything from the number and nature of faults to the cost of repairs and the time the repairs took – and this is what motorists had to say about their car models…

The Jaecoo 7 might be a Chinese sales sensation but new owners have yet to be impressed with its dependability – it scores 71.9% putting it in 6th place

The Jaecoo 7 might be a Chinese sales sensation, and the most viral car of 2025 to 2026, but its reliability record isn’t as shiny as its sales figures.

The ‘Temu Range Rover’ – as social media mums dubbed the Chinese SUV due to it looking like the Range Rover Velar but costing half the price – placed sixth on What Car?’s unreliable list due to faults and slow repairs.

Reported faults varied from non-engine electrics to infotainment to batteries and even bodywork.

Thirty per cent of the Jaecoo 7 owners who contacted What Car? reported their SUV had gone wrong, with nearly two-thirds of those issues taking more than a week to solve.

Jaecoo didn’t pay for any of the repairs either, despite the new cars being within warranty.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport is one of Land Rover’s models that hasn’t seen an improvement in its reliability record, this year achieving a score of 68.2%

Land Rover models can come with a reliability record that’s rather blighted, but some have changed this discourse recently.

The Disco Sport is not one of those models, with it landing in the top five unreliable cars list this year, after being the second-least reliable seven-seater in last year’s survey.

In total, 38 per cent of the cars reported had issues, with 69 per cent of those affected being out of action for more than a week.

While 74 per cent of bills were paid for by Land Rover, the ones that weren’t were hefty, costing some owners as much as £1,500.

The Volkswagen ID.4 is the only EV to feature in the top six unreliable cars ranking with a score of 66.9%

The only EV to be placed in the top five least reliable list, the VW ID.4 has electric problems that are often slow and expensive to fix.

Owners reported issues with 43 per cent of ID.4s, and 28 per cent of those were due to non-motor electrical components and the infotainment system.

Two-thirds of the EVs took more than a week in the garage to put right.

Other family EVs like the MG S5 were fixed in a day or less.

The Mercedes GLE might be a luxury SUV but it proves to be quite unreliable with a score of 63.7%

Despite its luxury badge, the Mercedes GLE caused a lot of owners problems.

A third of GLE drivers said that their cars had been subject to a wide range of issues – from the engine to electrical systems.

Some owners who had to pay (only 71 per cent of repairs were done for free, with some examples outside the warranty) were forced to shell out over £1,500. And only 43 per cent of faulty cars were fixed in less than a week.

Renault’s Arkana didn’t turn out to be very dependable according to owners with a reliability score of only 58.5%

Renault Arkana owners had a headache with their cars’ electrical issues, with 47 per cent saying the electrics went wrong.

The coupé SUV also had air-con, engine, and electrical problems for 12 per cent of people.

Seventy-eight per cent of Arkanas were off the road for more than a week, with only 17 per cent being fixed within a one-day to one-week period.

The Volkswagen Tiguan is the least reliable car as reported to What car? with a score of just 55.3%

In bad news for Volkswagen’s reliability record, this is the second VW model in What Car?’s top five unreliable list – and takes the unwanted crown as the most unreliable car for 2026.

With just a 55.3 per cent reliability record, the Tiguan is the lowest-ranked model overall – as it was last year, too.

A massive 75 per cent of Tiguans What Car? was told about had some kind of failure, half of which were to do with non-engine electrics.

Other issues ranged from the 12-volt battery to the infotainment, and 44 per cent of problems took more than a week to fix.

However, the silver lining is that Volkswagen paid for 90 per cent of repairs, and no one paid more than £100 for a fault.

The Lexus ES (last gen) comes in joint 6th for reliability with a score of 99.3%

Although there’s a new electric Lexus ES now on the market, the old combustion ES is a very solid car if you’re thinking of buying second-hand.

Just 6 per cent of ES models What Car? was told about had a problem, and the only problem recorded was the infotainment system.

And these issues were fixed within a day or less – and no owner was charged for the work done.

The Kia Niro hybrid and PHEV achieves a score of 99.3% with only 4% of owners reporting faults

The first-generation Niro is slightly more reliable than the second-generation, but both are exceptionally reliable cars.

All respondents said their issues were fixed by Kia’s seven-year warranty, with no one forced to pay a penny.

Only 4 per cent of Niro owners who responded had faults with their cars, and the issues were confined to bodywork.

All affected vehicles were fixed in less than a week.

The Mini hatchback may have been replaced but its 99.4% reliability score continues to impress

The past Mini is more reliable than the Mini Cooper with a 10 per cent higher reliability rating.

Just 4 per cent of Mini hatchbacks had a problem, and these problems were to do with non-engine electrical issues or steering problems.

All of the cars could still be driven, though, and all were fixed for free. The only downside was that they were out of action for more than a week.

Just 3% of 4 Series owners had a complaint with their car, and the only gripes were bodywork, giving it a 99.6% reliability rating

As a luxury coupé or convertible, depending on which option you own, the BMW 4 Series does a great job at being a dependable wagon.

Just 3 per cent of 4 Series owners had a complaint with their car, and the only gripes were bodywork.

All cars could still be driven, and all issues were fixed in a day or less. And no one was left out of pocket, either.

The Toyota Aygo X fell just short of the 100% reliability perfect score with a total of 99.7%

At the cheaper end of the spectrum, the Toyota Aygo X is very dependable indeed. And it scored the same as last year.

Three per cent of Aygo Xs suffered a problem, according to the owners who spoke to What Car?, and the only area of concern was the bodywork.

All affected cars could still be driven, and Toyota sorted all problems for free. Plus, all work was sorted in a day or less.

The Suzuki Swift was one of only two cars to achieve a 100% reliability rating placing it in joint first place

The Suzuki Swift might not deliver glamour or a great drive, but it does deliver 100 per cent dependability.

Despite some Swifts surveyed being out of their warranty, the small petrol hatchback still scored 100 per cent reliability – one of only two models to do so.

Not a single owner said they’d had any unexpected issues with their Swift car – a huge relief.

It also helped Suzuki claim top spot on the brand reliability scale – a first since 2018.

The new Countryman is bigger than before, so it now falls into the small SUV sector.

Despite its bigger size, the Countryman has proved itself to be a very reliable car, as it is the only other car, along with the Swift, that gained a perfect rating in the What Car? reliability survey.

Every owner who reported on their Countryman said it had suffered no faults.

Owner’s comment: ‘It’s the best car I’ve ever had. It has been simply faultless in terms of reliability.’