2017 What Car? Reliability Survey
In our 2017 Reliability Survey, we asked more than 14,200 people to tell us about any faults their cars have suffered during the past year. These are the results for family cars aged 0-3yrs...
Family cars
None of the Lexus CT200h owners we surveyed reported any faults with their cars, giving this premium hybrid a perfect reliability score. Even when you look at the responses from owners of cars more than three years old, less than 10% said their cars had a fault.
Honda’s Civic may have exterior styling that divides opinion, but owners are in agreement about its durability; only 11% of cars had issues. Areas affected included the battery, interior trim, non-engine electrics and exterior lights. All problems were fixed under warranty and most were corrected in less than a day.
The Hyundai i30 doesn’t lag far behind its Japanese rivals, with only 15% of cars suffering faults. These were only minor niggles and were fixed under warranty in less than a week.
Nissan's Pulsar was afflicted by more than its fair share of non-engine electrical gremlins, with owners citing air-con as the most blighted area. It took more than a day to fix the majority of faults, but all the work was carried out under warranty.
Almost half (48%) of Volvo V40s had problems; the most common were on the engine and the exhaust system. Although most were fixed for free, it took more than a day to fix the majority of faults.
Overall, 28% of Mazda 3s had faults, with petrol-engined versions afflicted by more issues than their diesel counterparts. Suspension, steering and engine electrics were the more serious areas of concern with petrol models. Not all cars were fixed under warranty and more than half spent more than a day in the garage.
Reliability for family cars aged 0-3yrs
| Rank | Make and model | Score |
|---------------|--------------------|---------------------------|| 1 | Lexus CT 200h (2011-present) | 100.0% || 2 | Honda Civic hatchback/Tourer (2012-2017) | 94.5% || 3 | Hyundai i30 hatchback/Tourer (2012-2017) | 91.7% || 4 | Ford Focus petrol (2011 - present) | 90.4% || 5 | BMW 1 Series petrol (2011 - present) | 88.0% || 6 | Toyota Auris hatchback and estate (2012-present) | 87.1% || 7 | Audi A3 petrol 3dr and Sportback (2013-present) | 86.7% || 8 | BMW 1 Series diesel (2011-present) | 84.0% || 9 | BMW 2 Series Active Tourer petrol (2014-present) | 83.1% || 10 | Alfa Romeo Giulietta (2010-present) | 82.6% || 11 | Skoda Octavia petrol hatchback and estate (2013-present) | 82.1% || 12 | Mazda 3 petrol (2013-present) | 82.0% || 13 | Mercedes-Benz A Class (2013-present) | 81.2% || 14 | Volvo V40 petrol (2012-present) | 79.9% || 15 | Seat Leon diesel hatchback and estate (2013 - present) | 78.9% || 16 | Kia Cee'd (2012-present) | 76.0% || 17 | Volkswagen Golf diesel hatchback and estate (2013-present) | 74.8% || 18 | Volkswagen Golf petrol hatchback and estate (2013-present) | 74.5% || 19 | Skoda Octavia diesel hatchback and estate (2013-present) | 74.4% || 20 | Ford Focus diesel (2011-present) | 72.2% || 21 | Seat Leon petrol hatchback and estate (2013-present) | 72.1% || 22 | Audi A3 diesel 3dr and Sportback (2013-present) | 68.5% || 23 | Peugeot 308 hatchback and estate (2014-present) | 66.6% || 24 | BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer petrol (2014-present) | 65.4% || 25 | Vauxhall Astra (2015-present) | 62.3% || 26 | Mazda 3 diesel (2009-2013) | 58.4% || 27 | Volvo V40 diesel (2012-present) | 55.5% || 28 | Nissan Pulsar (2014-present) | 48.3% |
