Honda is the UK’s most reliable brand according to the latest reliability survey by What Car? published in association with Warranty Direct.

Honda narrowly beat Mazda to the top spot – a position it had occupied for the last four years. Toyota came in third place, followed by Nissan, Lexus, Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Daewoo (now Chevrolet).

Among European manufacturers, Skoda was the most reliable, coming in at ninth place.

Land Rover, Saab, Audi and Alfa Romeo were among the least reliable carmakers.

9.9% of Hondas in the survey needed repair in the last two years, while Land Rovers – the least reliable brand – had a claim rate of 45.4%.

Mercedes-Benz is the only prestige European manufacturer among the top 10 brands.

The survey is based on warranty repair data related to vehicles whose manufacturer warranty has expired – ie. models sold under three years ago are not covered.

The data compiled on repair costs by Warranty Direct show large variations in typical repair costs for different makes. While few things are likely to go wrong with a Honda, average repair bills are £325. Toyota (£437), Mitsubishi (£603) and Subaru (£835) are other reliable Japanese brands considered expensive to fix. Costliest to repair are, Porsches at an average £972. Cheapest to fix are Hyundais, at an average of £135 per repair, with Skodas (£168) not far behind.

(Source: autoindustry.co.uk)