Or head vs heart part 2...
In a recent blog article, we compared a list of the UK's most economical cars with the best-seller charts. The object of the exercise was to see if the UK's drivers let frugality guide their purchases, or if personal preference, habit, fashion and brand loyalty would prove a bigger influence. We found that Britons generally don't seem to let economy or cost-effectiveness outweigh those other factors, despite the evidence and the mounting financial pressure on us all.
It was an interesting comparison, so we decided to perform another, similar exercise; this time we would examine whether car reliability influences British buyers where economy couldn't. We will compare the rankings of the UK's most reliable cars to the UK's top-seller chart. What do you think will emerge? Read on to find out.
The evidence
The tables below show charts of the 10 most reliable car brands in the UK according to 2022/2023 surveys carried out by What Car? and the Honest John website. The former polled nearly 25,000 drivers, while the latter consulted 6,000. Based on sample size we are tempted to give more credence to the table from What Car? But we present Honest John's analysis so you'll have another source to compare.
Helpfully, What Car? Also published their rankings for the least reliable brands. The findings may come as a surprise to some devotees of European prestige brands.
So, the first two tables below show the What Car? and Honest John car rankings for the most reliable brands.
| What Car? most reliable | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Lexus |
| 2 | Toyota |
| 3 | Mini |
| 4 | Mitsubishi |
| 5 | Suzuki |
| 6 | Hyundai |
| 7 | Kia |
| 8 | Mazda |
| 9 | MG |
| 10 | Dacia |
| Honest John most reliable | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Lexus |
| 2 | Suzuki |
| 3 | Subaru |
| 4 | Toyota |
| 5 | Dacia |
| 6 | Honda |
| 7 | Kia |
| 8 | Mazda |
| 9 | Hyundai |
| 10 | Mitsubishi |
| What Car? least reliable | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Jeep |
| 2 | Land Rover |
| 3 | Fiat |
| 4 | Alfa Romeo |
| 5 | Peugeot |
| 6 | Ford |
| 7 | Jaguar |
| 8 | Nissan |
| 10 | Vauxhall |
| 10 | Mercedes-Benz |
The least reliable
The following table shows What Car?'s rankings for the least reliable car brands. The closer to the top of the "worst" rankings a brand appears, the poorer their performance.
The obvious take-away from the tables is that Asian brands dominate both the What Car? And Honest John charts of the most reliable cars. The Japanese have a longstanding reputation for high quality products, and South Korea, represented here by Hyundai and Kia, is also now a force to be reckoned with.
Britain is semi-represented by Mini, which is now a subsidiary of BMW and, at a stretch, by MG which is now owned by SAIC Motor Corporation Limited, a state-owned Chinese company.
The other, unavoidable, observation is that the table of least reliable cars is dominated by European marques and most other positions are occupied by British or American names. Indeed, Nissan is the only Asian manufacturer that performs badly enough to appear in this rogues' gallery.
In many respects it all makes rather depressing reading for us in the UK and Europe.
What we choose
Still, maybe we can save face by proving that we are a nation of wise purchasers who know a quality product when we see it. In the hope of cheering ourselves up, let's take a look at the UK's top selling cars for 2022.
| UK top selling new cars 2022 | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Nissan Qashqai |
| 2 | Vauxhall Corsa |
| 3 | Tesla Model Y |
| 4 | Ford Puma |
| 5 | MINI |
| 6 | Kia Sportage |
| 7 | Hyundai Tucson |
| 8 | Volkswagen Golf |
| 9 | Ford Kuga |
| 10 | Ford Fiesta |
Ok, so that didn't go quite as we'd hoped.
Well, at least we learned something. We learned which car marques do a great job of keeping their customers happy by producing cars they can depend on. I suppose we also learned that the great British car-buying public knows its own mind. We know what we like and we don't allow ourselves to be swayed by trivial considerations such as reliability or economy. Wait: that can't be right... Can it?
Is your car one of the top makes for reliability? Maybe it's top for performance or style instead - or as well! Whatever, if you love your car and want to celebrate it, check out our great selection of car make and model themed private plates!
| UK top selling new cars 2022 | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Nissan Qashqai |
| 2 | Vauxhall Corsa |
| 3 | Tesla Model Y |
| 4 | Ford Puma |
| 5 | MINI |
| 6 | Kia Sportage |
| 7 | Hyundai Tucson |
| 8 | Volkswagen Golf |
| 9 | Ford Kuga |
| 10 | Ford Fiesta |
