Mitsubishi Lancer is most reliable car of the last 15 years
Combined findings from 15 years of reports on automotive reliability suggest Japanese cars have the best record, with Mitsubishi Lancer coming in at the top.
The Warranty Direct Reliability Index has become a benchmark in the UK automotive industry since its launch in 1997, and to celebrate its 15th anniversary, all of its findings have been analyzed to produce a list of the 10 most and 10 least reliable cars since its inception.
Not surprisingly, seven of the 10 most reliable vehicles hail from Japan. As well as the 2005-2008 Mitsubishi Lancer in first place, the Suzuki Alto (1997-2006) is in third with Toyota taking fourth and eighth place (for its Aygo and Yaris respectively). Mazda's MX-5 is in seventh place and Honda's HR-V tied in fifth place with the Volvo S40 and also closed out the top 10 with its 2001-2008 Jazz supermini.
The 2000-2008 Vauxhall/Opel Agila came in second place, the highest ranked European car in the list. It's worth noting that the diminutive city car is actually a rebadged Suzuki Wagaon-R.
The other end of the list is an exclusively European affair with seven of the 10 least reliabile cars all hailing from Germany. The Audi RS6 is the least reliable car in the history of the index, followed by the BMW M5 in second place and the Mercedes SL in third.
Of the findings, Warranty Direct's managing director, Duncan McClure Fisher said that the complex technological nature of many modern luxury and sports cars made them more prone to reliability issues: "Over the years, we've seen countless new technologies introduced to cars -- they are now more complex than ever and, while many innovations are geared towards important considerations, like safety, it also means there is more and more that can go wrong," he explained.
The top 10 most reliable cars since 1997
1 Mitsubishi Lancer (2005-2008)
2 Vauxhall/Opel Agila (00-08)
3 Suzuki Alto (97-06)
4 Toyota Aygo (05-)
5= Honda HR-V (98-06)
5= Volvo S40 (96-04)
7 Mazda MX-5 (05-)
8= Mercedes E Class (06-)
8= Toyota Yaris (99-03)
10 Honda Jazz (01-08)
The 10 least reliable cars since 1997
1 Audi RS6 (02-11)
2 BMW M5 (04-11)
3 Mercedes SL (02-)
4 Mercedes V-Class (96-04)
5 Mercedes CL (00-07)
6 Audi A6 Allroad (00-05)
7 Bentley Continental GT (03-)
8 Porsche 911 (996) (01-06)
9 Land Rover Range Rover (02-)
10 Citroen XM (94-00)
