Japanese cars top the list of the most reliable used cars in the UK

According to a recent poll, Japanese vehicles are thought to be the most reliable vehicles on the road. A recent survey by What Car magazine has discovered that Honda, Toyota and Lexus are the three most reliable car manufacturers, with Subaru and Suzuki placed fourth and fifth respectively. South Korean car manufacturers, Mazda and Mitsubishi were placed fifth and sixth.

By contrast, the popular Land Rover vehicles are the least reliable vehicle surveyed. Other luxury car brands, Audi, Jaguar and Mercedes were placed in the bottom ten of the least reliable car manufacturers.

It’s clear to see that any motorist considering purchasing either a new or reliable car would make a wise decision choosing a vehicle from one of Asia’s large car brands. Reliability is paramount to motorists, especially during these tough economic times.

Statistics gathered by What Car? Magazine have outlined that of over 50,000 Warranty Direct policies those that own a Honda have a miniscule 10% chance of suffering a breakdown. Of those vehicle manufacturers not of Asian origin, Skoda vehicles have proven the most reliable. The Skoda Yeti has a history of strong reliability, and even finishes at the top of the build quality scale, proving just how well those vehicles hold together after a significant period of use.

What Car? Magazine and Warranties Direct use the survey to produce an annual index of car reliability taking into account the frequency of faults and the cost of repairing them. However, some car manufacturers have hit back at the findings.

Bentley claims that the survey conducted by Warranty Direct is not an accurate reflection of the experienced of owning a Bentley and does not include any comparable premium luxury sector brands as a benchmark.

Considering the hand built nature of Bentley’s, and the high quality of the materials used when manufacturing each vehicle, the cost of ownership cannot be compared to other cars in the survey. It should also be noted that car manufactures such as Bentley use a high level of technology, more than the vast selection of other vehicles. This may have a direct correlation with reliability.

When considering purchasing a used, or new vehicle, reliability should always be considered a core component to the decision making process, after all there are few more frustrating feelings than putting down cold, hard cash for a vehicle and then suffering a fault or breakdown after a few hundred miles.