Most Reliable Cars in the UK

How We Rank Car Reliability

Our reliability rankings are based entirely on real MOT test data from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA). We analyse millions of results from MOT tests carried out in 2024 to work out the share of tests that ended in a pass for every make, model, and year combination. Retests are included, and a test where defects were fixed at the test station counts as a pass. A higher pass rate means fewer faults found during testing, which is a useful guide to reliability, although it also reflects how many miles a car covers.

Reliability rankings reflect how often a model develops everyday faults, but they do not capture manufacturer safety recalls, which are issued separately when a specific defect is found. It is worth running a car recall check alongside the reliability data before buying, as recall repairs are always free of charge.

Running cost estimates include fuel (based on engine size, 7,400 miles a year and UK average pump prices of 174.57p a litre for petrol and 199.33p for diesel in the week of 19 October 2026), road tax (GOV.UK rates for the registration year, with CO2 estimated from engine size for cars registered from 2001 to 2016), the MOT test fee, and predicted repair costs derived from MOT pass rate data. Hybrids are priced as petrol cars, so their real fuel cost is usually lower. Electric cars are left out of the cheapest to run table because our data cannot reliably tell the electric version of a model from its petrol and diesel versions. Insurance is not included as it varies significantly by driver.

We only include cars with at least 1,000 MOT tests, registered in 2021 or earlier so they were old enough for a routine MOT in 2024. Vans, motorhomes and taxis are left out. This means very rare or very new cars may not appear in these rankings. Sports, performance and luxury cars are also left out of the most reliable lists, for the reason given at the top of the page.