In a survey of the most and least dependable cars aged up to five years old, hybrid models are the most reliable, new research suggests.

The survey of 21,732 drivers, conducted by What Car? and MotorEasy, covered 32 brands and 178 different models. 

Despite their complex drivetrains, hybrids came out on top with just 17% of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and 18% of other hybrids surveyed suffering any faults.

Hybrids were also found to be the cheapest type of car to repair.

The survey suggests that petrol models were only slightly less reliable, with a fault rate of 20%, while fully electric cars and diesels had the joint-highest fault rate of 26%. 

That wasn’t true of all models, however, with the Ford Mustang Mach-E, which achieved a perfect reliability rating of 100%, and the BMW iX3, which was 99.3%.

What Car? consumer editor, Claire Evans, said: “These results demonstrate that the complexity of a hybrid powertrain is not a barrier to reliability.

“Conversely, electric models, with their simpler set-up can let their owners down.

“However, in many cases it’s not the electric motors or battery banks that prove troublesome, it’s other electrical items such as infotainment systems, digital instrument panels and driver assistance systems that have given owners the biggest headaches.”

Lexus achieved the highest brand rating, at 98.3%, bolstered by the Lexus NX family SUV (2014-2021), which scored 99.8%, and the RX large SUV (2016-2022), which managed 98.6%. 

At the other end of the scale, Cupra received the lowest brand reliability score of 82.4% with many owners complaining their cars had been plagued by a range of electrical gremlins that had left them in the workshop for more than a week.

Owners were asked if their vehicle had suffered any faults in the previous 24 months. Those that had gone wrong were rated on how long repairs took and how much these cost, with the overall score expressed as a percentage. 

Overall, 21% of owners said their car had experienced issues in the past 24 months, although 83% of repairs were carried out for free.

While most repair bills cost less than £500, 2% of owners had to pay out more than £1,500 to get their cars fixed.

One of the most common issues cited was a faulty infotainment system – something that’s often exempt from warranty cover.

10 most reliable brands

Brand	Reliability rating
Lexus	98.3%
Toyota	97.4%
Mini	97.2%
Suzuki	96.9%
Mitsubishi	96.2%
Honda	95.9%
Hyundai	94.3%
Kia	93.8%
Volvo	93.7%
Tesla	93.6%

Source: What Car?

10 least reliable brands

Brand	Reliability rating
Cupra	82.4%
Alfa Romeo	85.6%
Vauxhall	86.9%
Jaguar	87.4%
Land Rover	87.6%
Subaru	89.0%
Audi	89.1%
MG	89.2%
Mercedes-Benz	89.8%
Renault	90.0%

Source: What Car?