Honda powers to top of chart for car reliability

BENTLEYS and Porsches may be posh but they are more prone to break down than other cars, ­according to a survey.

The hand-built Bentley proved unreliable in comparison to mass-produced Hondas. Picture: Joe McGorty

Judged on reliability, the two marques finished at the bottom of a 38-strong table of car manufacturers compiled by What Car? and Warranty Direct.

The table analysed thousands of cars that were three- to eight years old, assessing reliability based on a car’s failure rate, age, mileage and cost of repair.

What Car? said: “Luxury and prestige marques Bentley and Porsche are the most likely to break down.”

Top manufacturer for reliability was Honda, with Suzuki ­second, Toyota third and ­Chevrolet and Mazda sharing fourth place.

Overall, the most reliable models were the Honda Jazz and the Mitsubishi Lancer, both of which also had reasonable average repair costs.

The least reliable model was the Audi RS6, which was also the most costly to fix, with an average repair bill of £1,003.

Electrical faults were the most common across all cars, accounting for almost a quarter of visits to garages.

Axle and suspension faults were also common, affecting 22 per cent of cars.Air conditioning was the cause of least concern to motorists, being reported by just 3 per cent of owners.

What Car? editor Jim Holder said: “Honda’s success in the reliability index is chiefly down to low failure rates. But, when things do go wrong, the cars are also relatively cheap to fix.

“Reliability is always one of the key attributes buyers look for when considering a used car purchase, so manufacturers that consistently demonstrate durability will always do well with the consumer.”

The list price of Bentleys ranges from £136,250 for the 4.0 V8 Continental GT Convertible up to £224,700 for the Mulsanne 6.75 V8.

BEST AND WORST

Most reliable

1 Honda (Honda Jazz below)

2 Suzuki

3 Toyota

4= Chevrolet

4= Mazda

6 Ford

7 Lexus

8 Skoda

9= Hyundai

9= Nissan

9= Subaru

Least reliable

37 Bentley

36 Porsche

35 Jeep

34 Audi

33 Chrysler

32 Mercedes-Benz

31 SsangYong

30 Jaguar

28= BMW

28= MG