The 10 most reliable new cars on the road

13:19 23 July 2010

Japanese motors are the most reliable new cars on UK roads, it has been revealed, as Land Rovers are outed as the most problematic.

A new survey published by Which? noted that seven of the top 10 most reliable new cars are actually Japanese made, with the Kia Picanto topping the list thanks to its reliability score of 98.1%.

The reliable motor can be picked up brand new for as little as £6,500.

Meanwhile, the most expensive Mazda3 came in second place with 97.6%. Its safety and performance are first class too, making it a Which? Best Buy.

Despite an infamous recall of one of their models after reports of a faulty accelerator pedal, Toyota remains one of the most reliable cars.

On the other end of the spectrum, the British made Land Rover Discovery 3 (67.8%) was the only car tested which went below the 70% mark.

Another British institution, the Jaguar S-Type also fared badly. The Jaguar and Land Rover are both actually owned by Indian company Tata.

Which? said: "The two Land Rover's supposedly rugged 4x4s show they are not as tough as they make out, claiming three of the four lowest places in our table [of 4x4s].

"Worst of all is the Discovery 3. In fact, it's the worst-scoring vehicle of all in this year's new car reliability charts, and the only one to dip below 70%."

The survey was undertaken by more than 64,000 Which? members.

Most reliable

1 Kia Picanto

2 Mazda3

3 Daihatsu Sirion

4 Honda Insight

5 Honda Jazz

6 Toyota IQ

7 Toyota Prius

8 Volkswagen Golf Plus

9 Mercedes-Benz SLK

10 Mazda2

Least reliable

147 Land Rover Discovery 3

146 BMW 3 Series convertible

145 Hyundai Santa Fe

144 Renault Megane CC

143 Land Rover Range Rover Sport

142 Volkswagen Eos

141 Jaguar S-type

140 Ford Focus CC

139 Citroen C4 Grand Picasso

137 Ford S-Max

137 Volvo S80