Honda has once again come out on top for reliability in the fifth annual What Car? reliability survey.

Conducted in conjunction with Warranty Direct, the survey shows Honda to be the UK’s most reliable brand, with a claim rate of just 9.9 per cent, followed by fellow Japanese manufacturers Mazda, Toyota and Nissan. The most reliable European manufacturer was Skoda, and Mercedes-Benz was the only prestige European carmaker to grab a top ten placing. Others, such as Audi, Saab and Alfa Romeo, fared decidedly worse, filling the bottom spots of the list. Land Rover was the least reliable brand, with a claim rate of 45.4 per cent.

The cheapest cars to repair were Hyundais, at an average cost of £135 per garage trip, with Skoda again proving the top European brand, with an average cost of £168. Hondas, despite being the least likely to need repairing, fared less well, with a trip to the garage averaging at a relatively pricey £325. Porsches were, unsurprisingly, the most expensive to repair, at a wallet-buckling average of £972.

Honda’s Accord and Civic models were the two most reliable cars, with just two and seven claims respectively per 100 cars. This, along with the reliability of the Rover 25 and Nissan’s Micra and Primera, resulted in five of the top ten coming from UK factories. The least reliable model was Renault’s Espace, at 69 claims per 100 cars.

On Honda’s success in the survey, Steve Fowler, Group Editor of What Car?, commented, “One of Honda’s famous advertising slogans in recent years has been ‘Isn’t it nice when things just work?’. The good news for Honda owners is that the company is living up to its claims. The same can’t be said of some of the prestige makes.”