Dacia enters the top five most reliable cars, wheras Land Rover and Alfa Romeo sit at the bottom.

The 2016 Which? Car Survey, the largest of its type in the UK, reveals premium brand Land Rover ranking among the least dependable cars on the market and budget brand Dacia breaking into the top five.

The annual Which? Car Survey, measuring reliability and customer satisfaction, is based on feedback from 59,387 UK car owners. As well as breakdowns, it considers repair costs, the number of days off the road faults resulted in, and the most common fault types for each model.

The 2016 Which? Car Survey has revealed some surprising results with Romanian budget car manufacturer Dacia featuring in the top five most reliable brands. Its Sandero model garnered a solid four-star reliability rating, and is the UK's cheapest new car at just £5995.

Lexus topped the chart with its five-star rating leading a table that is dominated, as in previous years, by Japanese brands. Toyota, Honda and Suzuki all ranked in the top 5, receiving four-star ratings.  At the other end of the table, premium brand Land Rover achieved only a two-star reliability score for the second year running.

The survey also provides cars with an owner satisfaction score based on how happy drivers are with their vehicle and how likely they would be to recommend to a friend. Dacia also rated highly on satisfaction, with the manufacturer achieving an overall score of 90%, comparable with premium brands such as Tesla, Porsche and Jaguar.

Richard Headland, Editor of Which? magazine, said: 

“Our survey, the biggest of its kind in the UK, reveals that spending more on a car is no guarantee of reliability, and sometimes quite the opposite.

“The ultra-cheap Dacia Sandero shows that a reliable runaround need not break the bank, while some pricey Land Rover models could put you on first-name terms with your local mechanic.”

Motorists can check the reliability of more than 300 new and used cars for free using the interactive Which? Car Reliability Check.

1.    Top 5 reliable car brands

Lexus	5-star
Toyota	4-star
Honda	4-star
Dacia	4-star
Suzuki	4-star

2.    Bottom 5 reliable car brands

Alfa Romeo	2-star
Land Rover	2-star
Smart	2-star
Chevrolet*	2-star
Saab*	2-star

*Cars from this brand are no longer available to buy in the UK

3.    With the August 2016 issue of Which? magazine, subscribers receive a copy of the annual Which? Car Guide. This 44-page guide includes detailed reliability and test ratings for 351 different new and used cars, including 105 Best Buy models.  

4.    Which? collected data on 67,432 individual cars from 59,387 UK car owners. Unlike other car surveys, Which? identifies instances of one person reporting on more than one car, rather than taking the total cars figure as total respondents. It is the UK’s largest car survey by a margin of 18,000. 

Lexus ranked no.1 manufacturer in the 2014 Which? Car Survey

Lexus has been ranked Britain’s number one car manufacturer again, this time in the nation’s biggest survey of car reliability, the 2014 Which? Car Survey.

Having received feedback on more than 58,000 cars, the survey placed Lexus – the UK and Europe’s fastest-growing premium marque – taking top spot with an average brand score of 88 per cent, 10 points higher than the test average. A maximum five stars for reliability, an 87 per cent customer score and two Which? “best buy” recommendations sealed the result.

The survey success follows its 12th top manufacturer ranking in the What Car?/JD Power customer satisfaction survey.

Announcing the result, Which? Car Guide says: “If you want a luxury car, you might not have to opt for something German. Lexus drivers sing the praises of this brand – and they get fault-free motoring.”

The current RX 450h is highlighted as the “standout performer” in the range, recommended as a 4×4 best buy for being “comfy and luxurious” and having a “superb reliability track record". Proving Lexus’s reputation for lasting quality, the previous generation RX is revealed as one of the top three in its class among 4x4s more than three years old, hailed as being “just as dependable as newer Japanese 4x4s”.

The Lexus LS strengthens the brand’s success, gaining the best buy seal of approval in the luxury car category, with the previous generation GS recommended among older models, with peerless reliability again a decisive factor.

Richard Balshaw, Lexus Director, said: “With such impressive scope and in-depth research, the Which? Car Survey is a commanding snapshot of what Britain’s car customers really think. This makes Lexus’s success particularly rewarding.

“We are proud to offer our customers cars that are not only exceptionally reliable, comfortable and luxurious, but which also deliver exciting innovation in styling and advanced technologies. And with hybrid at the heart of our entire model line-up, we continue to offer unmatched opportunities for driving refinement and performance that is both environmentally superior and cost-efficient, supported by the best customer service in the industry.”

2013 Which? Car Survey reveals that Mazda MX-5 is UK’s most reliable new sportscar

• 2013 Which? Car Survey reveals that Mazda MX-5 is UK’s most reliable new sportscar
• Mazda MX-5 praised by magazine as the ‘automotive equivalent of a double espresso’
• Mazda3, Mazda6 Estate and Mazda2 score more than 90 percent for reliability

The Mazda MX-5 has been named as ‘Britain’s most reliable new sportscar’ in the 2013 Which? Car Survey – the biggest survey of car satisfaction and reliability conducted in the UK.

Achieving a reliability score of 97.4 percent (for models up to three years old) and 91.1 percent (models over three years old) the Mazda MX-5 beat a host of rivals to claim first and second places in the age-related categories – while earning high praise from the Which? editorial team.

“For a sportscar that will last for years and won’t cost a fortune in repairs, head to your local Mazda garage.  The MX-5 has the lowest number of faults and no annual repair costs in the first three years,” states Which?

For MX-5 models between 1998-2005 the magazine comments: “The Mazda MX-5 is the automotive equivalent of a double espresso.  Near-telepathic steering and handling make other cars (even some sportscars) feel woolly and dull by comparison.  You can pick-up a decent used MX-5 for just £1,500.  We suggest you do.”

Demonstrating the excellent reliability for which the Mazda brand is famed, other Mazda models also scored well in the Which? survey.  Mazda3 was rated as 91.9 percent reliable and topped the table for medium cars (over three years old), generating the comment: “The Mazda3 costs owners less in annual repair bills than the majority of new cars that are still within their three-year warranty period.”

The Mazda6 Estate placed second in the Estate cars (up to three years old) category scoring 97.2 percent, while the Mazda2 ranked fifth among Superminis with a 96.4 percent score.

Overall, the Mazda brand was ranked by the Which? team as equal-ninth out of 31 alongside Volkswagen in its Best Car Brands section, which merges the staff’s road-test opinions with the Car Survey results. The magazine stated: “It looks like you can’t go wrong if you buy a new Mazda.”

Jeremy Thomson, Mazda UK managing director, commented: “The 2013 Which? Car Survey findings are a wonderful endorsement of our products and our brand.  I’m sure that our all-new Mazda6 and Mazda CX-5 compact SUV with their innovative SKYACTIV technology will claim top rankings in future Which? surveys.  Meanwhile the iconic MX-5 is still winning friends more than two decades after its introduction, recently being nominated as ‘Best Convertible‘ by Carsite.co.uk and earning the title ‘Most Popular Roadster‘ in the Honest John Awards earlier this year.“

Compiled annually, the 2013 Which? Car Survey was based on information supplied by more than 47,000 drivers relating to over 57,000 cars.