Lexus on top

Feedback from 24,927 car owners on 248 models and 32 brands revealed the premium Japanese carmaker as the most dependable brand on the market with an overall score of 98.4 per cent, followed by sister brand Toyota on 97.2 per cent.

Mini (97 per cent), Mitsubishi (97 per cent) and Hyundai (95.8 per cent) followed in the top-ranked brands for the reliability of cars aged five years or younger.

What Car? editor Steve Huntingford said: “Everyone is feeling the pinch right now, so unexpected car repair bills are the last thing any of us need.

“The secret to keeping motoring costs down is to select the make and model of your new or used car carefully. Pick a dependable one and you should have no nasty surprises.”

Four models achieved a perfect 100 per cent score in the latest What Car? Reliability Survey. They were the current Hyundai Tucson and Mini Convertible, the 2014 to 2019 version of the Kia Soul and the 2017 to 2021 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross.

Hybrids emerged as the UK’s most reliable drivetrain type, delivering an average score of 95.4 per cent.

At the other end of the scale, Jeep finished bottom of the reliability rankings by brand with a score of 77 per cent, followed by Land Rover (81.4 per cent), Fiat (86.4 per cent), Alfa Romeo (87.3 per cent) and Peugeot (87.4 per cent).

Overall, the survey’s least reliable car was the Land Rover Discovery, with a score of 70.7 per cent, followed by the 2008 to 2017 Audi Q5 (73.4 per cent), Audi A3 (74.2 per cent), Peugeot 3008 diesel (74.4 per cent) and Volkswagen Touran (75.2 per cent).