Most (And Least) Reliable Small Cars
Used car prices have soared in 2023 for several reasons, including the limited supply of fairly new models and the demand for cleaner used cars for sale for use in low-emission zones.
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That means it’s more important than ever to choose your second-hand car wisely, and reliability is a crucial factor in keeping costs down – especially if you’re buying an older car that’s no longer covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.
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A dependable model shouldn’t land you with anything other than routine servicing and maintenance bills for the foreseeable future. However, if you pick a car that’s prone to faults, you could end up facing a constant barrage of expensive repair bills.
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To help used car buyers select the best models aged from six to 20 years old, WhatCar? asked nearly 25,000 car owners to tell them how reliable their cars had been over the previous 24 months. This data forms their annual What Car? Reliability Survey which is compiled in association with MotorEasy.
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The most reliable small cars
1. 2015-2020 Honda Jazz
Reliability rating 100%
The third-generation Jazz offers the low running costs you’d expect of a small car and the space and practicality of a mini MPV. On top of that, it’s very unlikely to let you down because it’s extremely robust. In fact, not a single older Jazz suffered any faults at all, according to the owners who completed our survey.
2. 2011-2020 Toyota Yaris
Reliability rating 98.6%
Toyota has a rock-solid reputation for building dependable cars – it’s been in the top three brands in our newer car reliability survey for the past six years, so it’s a great choice if you want a car that won’t let you down. Just 5% of the cars we were told about had a problem and the only area concerned was the suspension.
3. 2010-2017 Suzuki Swift
Reliability rating 98.1%
The Swift might not be the most popular small car, but it’s got a lot going for it, including great driving manners, a reasonable amount of space and a high rating for safety. Like other Suzuki models, it’s also bulletproof, even as it ages. Only 6% of the Swifts in our survey developed a fault, and the battery was the only component affected.
The least reliable small cars
3. 2010-2016 Nissan Micra
Reliability rating 66.4%
The Micra suffers more than its fair share of problems, according to owners, who told us 47% of their cars had gone wrong in the previous 24 months. The most common gripe was about the suspension, affecting 29% of faulty cars, followed by the engine’s electrical systems (18% of faults). Problems rendered 50% of cars undrivable and kept a similar proportion in the garage for up to a week. Cars were often costly to put right.
2. 2002-2008 Ford Fiesta
Reliability rating 65.5%
The Fiesta is cheap to buy and fun to drive, but it’s no joy to live with if you get one that suffers a string of costly faults. And that is a possibility because owners told us that 46% of their cars had suffered an issue. The most frequent trouble spot was the suspension, affecting 18% of broken cars, but there were also issues with the air-con, bodywork, exhaust and gearbox. Two-thirds of faulty cars could still be driven, and 45% were out of the workshop in less than a week, but some repair bills were pricey.
1. 2010-2016 Citroën C3
Reliability rating 53.0%
A wide range of issues affected the C3s we were told about, but the most frequent were with the air-con and braking system. They rendered more than 50% of cars undrivable and kept 40% of them in the garage for more than a week.
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Article shared from https://www.whatcar.com/news/
