BRITAIN'S most reliable cars are the Hyundai Accent and Toyota RAV 4, while the least reliable is the Jaguar XJ followed by the Peugeot 106, Land Rover Discovery and the old-style BMW 3-series, according to a survey by the Consumers' Association.

The organisation's Which? Magazine compiled the car reliability chart from responses from 32,339 members giving details on the reliability of 5,841 cars up to two years old. Cars were rated on the number of times they had broken down and needed repairing over the past 12 months.

With the Skoda Felicia and Toyota Corolla equal fourth and the Honda Civic, Nissan Almera and Rover 600 tying for sixth place - the Mercedes-Benz C-class was third - Which? claimed that 'a car's price tag was no indication of how reliable' a vehicle was on the road'.