Strong showing for Japanese and Korean models as Warrantywise index reveals UK’s most reliable used car
Only one European model in top ten
The 2022 Reliability Index by the extended car warranty firm Warrantywise has revealed that the most reliable used car in the UK is the Honda Jazz.
Looking at cars less than ten years old and outside their manufacturer’s warranty in order to provide a representative sample, the Warrantywise Reliability Index sees the Jazz come out on top in a list populated mostly by Japanese and Korean models, with only one European car making the top ten.
The rankings were created by taking into account the frequency of warranty claims as well as the highest repair cost incurred during one of those claims. The Honda’s score of 93.7 out of 100, with its highest recorded warranty claim of £973.66, was enough to place it ahead of the likes of the Mazda2 and Toyota Auris in second and third places, respectively.
Though a worthy accolade, the Jazz marks Honda’s sole appearance in the top ten, with Mazda, Toyota and Kia all taking two places apiece.
Smaller cars and superminis are particularly well represented on the list implying that their relative simplicity and lower cost of repairs make them more reliable and cheaper to maintain than larger and more luxurious cars.
Only two cars larger than supermini-sized, the Toyota Auris and Kia Ceed (third and sixth places, respectively), make the list.
That said, one sports car, the Mazda MX-5, does make a highly respectable fourth place, ahead of more humdrum fare such as the Toyota Aygo, Kia Rio and Suzuki Alto. With prices for brand new models starting from less than £26,000 though, the MX-5 could hardly be described as an expensive luxury car.
The Peugeot 107 rounded out the list with a score of 81.6.
Warrantywise’s list of the top ten most reliable used cars is in stark contrast to the firm’s list of the least reliable used cars that primarily features expensive luxury models that fail to make the grade due to their complexity and the high cost of repairs.
In a dismal showing for Land Rover, the Range Rover is, according to the Warrantywise Index, the UK’s least reliable used car with a shocking score of just 20.2 out of 100 as a result of the frequency of warranty claims and a highest recorded repair bill of £23,890. Another Land Rover product, the Range Rover Sport, placed third on the list with 23.1 out of 100, though BMW and Porsche also made multiple appearances with cars such as the BMW M3, M5, X6, Porsche Panamera and Cayenne all proving extremely unreliable and costly to repair.
Other reliability indices such as that from What Car? also show Land Rover as the most unreliable car-maker with models including the Land Rover Discovery Sport, Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery all scoring lowest for reliability in their respective classes.
The latest What Car? index also named the 2008-2015 Honda Jazz as its most reliable car in joint first place alongside the Lexus RX and Toyota RAV4.
“It’s unsurprising to see Honda top the table, given how reliable its cars have proven to be time and time again, with the results of our Reliability Index,” said Lawrence Whittaker, CEO at Warrantywise.
“The Reliability Index is such a great tool for us to be able to evaluate the market and help our customers make the right choice for them when it comes to deciding which car to purchase; especially now with the cost of parts and labour on the rise and people genuinely searching for the best options to suit their needs.”
The company added one caveat to its results saying that they had been collated over the course of 2021 and 2022, but since that sample was selected, the firm has seen a significant rise in the cost of labour and parts as a result of inflationary and supply pressures across industries globally.
| Position | Models | Highest Repair Cost | Overall Score /100 |
| 1 | Honda Jazz | £973.66 | 93.7 |
| 2 | Mazda2 | £2,422.31 | 89.9 |
| 3 | Toyota Auris | £1,841.60 | 89.7 |
| 4 | Mazda MX-5 | £586.94 | 86.5 |
| 5 | Toyota Aygo | £1,339.36 | 85.5 |
| 6 | Kia Ceed | £1,914 | 85 |
| 7 | Kia Rio | £1,655.39 | 84.9 |
| 8 | Suzuki Alto | £733.70 | 83.9 |
| 9 | Hyundai i20 | £2,361.36 | 82.5 |
| 10 | Peugeot 107 | £1,128.44 | 81.6 |
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