Far East cars prove the most reliable

Far East cars are the most reliable, according to a study out today.

For the fifth year running, Honda topped the rankings as the most trustworthy car manufacturer in an annual study from What Car? magazine and insurance company Warranty Direct.

Far East companies dominated the most-reliable top 10, with Subaru second, Mitsubishi third and Lexus fourth.

The only non-Far East companies to break into the top 10 were Skoda in eighth place and Mini in 10th.

Of the 32 companies studied, Land Rover proved the least reliable company - 53 per cent of its cars suffered a fault - while Vauxhall was 27th and MG 28th.

Despite their high markings, Japanese cars were not without problems. The study found Hondas suffer the highest percentage of air conditioning issues, with more than 10 per cent of cars affected, as well as the highest number of transmission woes at 15 per cent.

Subarus suffer the highest failure rate for axle and suspension issues, with 50 per cent of cars suffering, and generate more brake problems than any other make, with just under 17 per cent of cars reporting a problem.

The most expensive make of car to repair was Porsche, at an average cost of £717.36, while, despite an excellent reliability record, Mazda had the second-highest average garage bill, at £481.26.

The car with the lowest average repair costs was Renault, at £226.54.

The study was using data from Warranty Direct's 50,000 live policies on cars aged three to 10 years.

What Car? editor Steve Fowler said: "This year's survey produced some interesting results. Several prestige manufacturers have suffered embarrassing failure rates, while brands that buyers may not associate with reliability have shown a marked improvement."

These were the 10 most reliable car manufacturers:

1. Honda
2. Subaru
3. Mitsubishi
4. Lexus
5. Toyota
6. Mazda
7. Nissan
8. Skoda
9. Kia
10. Mini

These were the least reliable, reading from the bottom up, with Land Rover the least reliable:

32. Land Rover
31. Alfa Romeo
30. Renault
29. Saab
28. MG
27. Vauxhall
26. Peugeot
25. Audi
24. Rover
23. BMW.