The Toyota Aygo, Honda Jazz, Lexus CT200h and Audi A3 Saloon have been hailed as the most reliable cars on the market by What Car?.

All four models achieved a 100 per cent rating in What Car?’s reliability survey, which asked 14,208 motorists to disclose any faults their car had suffered in the last 12 months.

Any submitted repairs were bunched into 14 groups, covering everything from battery, bodywork and brakes to the steering, electrics, exhaust, gearbox and interior trim.

The cost and length of the repairs were also used to weigh the severity of the fault and create a reliability rating.

Overall, 30 per cent of the 14,208 participants had experienced a fault with their car in the last 12 months.

Best-in-class

The Aygo, Jazz, CT200h and A3 Saloon were identified as the most reliable cars in their respective segments (city, small, family and executive cars) and What Car?’s reliability survey went on to name class-leaders for six other car types.

Volkswagen’s diesel Tiguan was deemed the most dependable small SUV with a 96.3 per cent rating, while the Mitsubishi Outlander was the large SUV equivalent (91.2 per cent).

Ford’s B-Max was the most reliable MPV (91.6 per cent), with Mercedes’ diesel S-Class saloon claiming the luxury car title (93.2 per cent).

With Japanese brands topping four of the ten groups, What Car? editor Steve Huntingford said car makers from Japan continued to lead by example in terms of reliability.

“The breadth of vehicles with near-faultless scores highlights the engineering prowess of Far Eastern manufacturers,” he commented.

“It is also encouraging to see that German car manufacturers are backing up their reputation for quality with strong reliability scores.

“It goes to show that the old adage that cars are getting more complicated and harder to fix needn’t be an anxiety. As long as consumers choose the most reliable model they’ll be able to enjoy the benefits of the latest technology without the fear of their car letting them down.”

Ben Robb, brand manager at The Fuelcard People, adds: “Reliability is an easy thing to neglect when shopping for a new car. It isn’t as glamorous as styling and not as easy to gauge than economy and practicality but it remains hugely important; nobody relishes the idea of seeking car repairs.

“So it’s really useful to know which cars are the most dependable in their respective class and this survey reveals just that.”