Civic is most reliable car

Want a truly reliable car? Buy a Honda Civic (pictured) or a BMW 3-series. A survey of 840,000 company leased vehicles put the Civic top of the list for dependability. It just pipped BMW’s 3-series into the runner-up spot.

But the make took third and fourth places, too, with the Jazz supermini and the Accord family saloon respectively. BMW, not to be outdone, took fifth place with the 5-series saloon and estate, while the BMW-produced Mini took eight place.

This performance was enough for BMW to top the poll as most reliable make, with Honda coming second and Audi in third place.
Steve Chater, BMW’s group corporate operations manager said the survey was based on ‘cold, hard facts, not opinion or interpretation. Leasing companies’ businesses rely on having extremely accurate information on the operational performance of the cars they lease so when they say you are most reliable, it is definitive.

Stephen Briers, editor of Fleet News, who organised the survey with financial consultants Grant Thornton, said the results reflected a market where cars are subjected to some of the most testing conditions they will ever face. ‘Being listed anywhere in these tables is a major achievement,’ he added.

Most reliable cars

1 Honda Civic
2 BMW 3-series
3 Honda Jazz
4 Honda Accord
5 BMW 5-series
6 Audi A4
7 Mercedes-Benz C-class
8 Mini
9 Toyota Avensis
10 Volkswagen Golf