Honda named “Most Reliable Car Manufacturer”

I’m sure that when purchasing a new car, its “reliability” is a factor that, alongside design, economy, safety, and cost, we all consider quite important…  We would be daft not to, particularly if it is the primary way we get to work, drive the kids to school, go shopping, etc…

A survey carried out by Warranty Direct and MoneySupermarket.com has tried to add a touch of science to the proceedings… and named Honda as “the most reliable car manufacturer”, with Suzuki and Toyota coming second and third, in, perhaps unsurprising to our “reputation” and “gossip” reliant team, a clean sweep for Japanese manufacturers.

The overall order is dictated by each manufacturers Reliability Index (RI) score, which takes into account the average number of and cost of failures which occur to each model produced by a manufacturer. This is based on data collected through thousands of car warranty policies which are held by Warranty Direct customers with vehicles which are less than 10 years old and have under 100,000 miles on the clock.

The average RI score is 100 and the lower the score, the more “reliable” a manufacturers vehicles tend to be. However, it should be noted that by taking into consideration average repairs costs, more expensive luxury brands, perhaps with fewer, but more expensive faults, are going to be disadvantaged.

Interestingly, Honda didn’t have it all their own way, with the Kia Picanto being statistically “the most reliable individual model”.

Honda also missed out on the title of manufacturer with the “cheapest average repair costs”, with this accolade being taken by Ford. The fact that Honda didn’t feature in the top ten of this list, serves to make their overall victory all the more impressive!