Toyota RAV4 is the UK’s most RELIABLE used car

A new survey from What Car? revealed the UK’s most reliable used car is the last generation Toyota RAV4, followed by the Lexus RX and Honda Jazz.

It seems, in our (not quite yet) post-Covid world, we’re eschewing public transport and looking to drive more. And more of us appear to be interested in a good used car rather than committing to years of payments of PCP.

But if you are planning to go down the used car route (and you should) then key to a stress-free experience is finding a car that’s going to be as reliable as a new one. Helpfully, the chaps at What Car? have got that covered.

The aim of the What Car? survey was to find the most reliable used cars up to eight years old (although, for a local runaround, you’d be best with something older and ‘disposable’ thanks to its low price) and roped in almost 13,000 people to give up details of reliability on their cars.

Top of the reliability list is the Toyota RAV4 (2013-19 model) followed by the Lexus RX Hybrid (post-2016 model) and Honda Jazz (2008-2015 model), all of which recorded zero faults in the previous 12 months.

It’s no surprise the top three are all Japanese, but although 40 per cent of the top ten are Toyota/Lexus, the Dacia Duster comes in at number six, and there’s even an Alf (yes, really) in the top ten with the Giulietta.

But even those at the bottom of the top 50 (use the link above for the whole list) manage reliability of just one fault per 20 cars, and there are nine hybrids and even an EV on the list (and it’s, perhaps slightly surprisingly, a Jaguar I-Pace).