COMPANY car drivers are less satisfied with their cars than any other motorists, according to the JD Power & Associates' 'UK Car Customer Satisfaction Study'. This found that fleet drivers are less tolerant of car unreliability and poor dealer service than private motorists, despite the fact that their employers are picking up the tab.

Only 18% of the 24,000 drivers questioned had company cars, but firm fleet favourites such as the Vauxhall Vectra (112th out of 114 vehicles), Vauxhall Omega (108th), Peugeot 306 (105th), and Ford Escort (93rd) were all propping up the foot of the table. Last year Vauxhall took out advertisements in the national press defending the Vectra's bottom placing in the JD Power survey and promising to put things right, but drivers of P-reg models believe progress has been slow to materialise.

They gave the car the worst possible score for refinement and handling, moaned about its poor reliability, and marked the car down for its steering, engine, brakes, tyres, electrics, trim fit, rattles and paint. The Vectra did at least beat the Ford Galaxy and Volkswagen Sharan, last and penultimate ranked respectively, with the people-carrier slated for its poor driving manners, fuel economy and build quality.

At the top of the table, Subaru scooped top spot with the Impreza and second equal with the Legacy, a position it shared with the Jaguar XJ Saloon and Toyota Starlet. The best placed car with any claims to being a volume fleet model was the BMW 3-series which ranked 15th.