7:00 am, June 22, 2023
The Land Rover Discovery has once again received the unwanted award for the most unreliable used car.
The 2004-2017 model scored just 47.8 per cent in the 2023 What Car? Used Car Reliability Survey, which asked 25,000 owners what they thought of their cars.
The most reliable used car in the survey was the Honda Jazz (2015-2020) which scored 100 per cent.
Owners were asked to rank their cars in a variety of categories to give them an overall score as a percentage, with respondents rating 400 different used car models from 30 different brands.
The Land Rover Discovery’s gong for bottom place is the same result it achieved last year.
What Car? consumer editor Claire Evans told Car Dealer: ‘Engine and suspension issues were the biggest headaches for the 46 per cent of Discovery owners who told us their car had suffered a fault.
‘They also complained about problems with the battery, brakes, electrics and fuel system.
‘And when it comes to repair bills, 50 per cent of people pay up to £750, and 24 per cent pay more than £1,500.’
The worst performing used car brand overall was French firm Citroen.
What Car? said that its newer models were better performers, but it was let down by its older cars which dragged its overall score down.
Land Rover was the second most unreliable car brand overall followed by electric car maker Tesla in a worrying third from bottom place.
Most unreliable used car brands 2023
Source: What Car?
- Citroen – 60.3%
- Land Rover – 61.3%
- Tesla – 69.2%
- Mercedes-Benz – 75.1%
- Subaru – 75.6%
- Peugeot – 75.7%
- Fiat – 76.5%
- Jaguar – 76.9%
- Nissan – 77.1%
- Mini – 77.3%
Survey respondents ranked cars aged between six and 20 years old.
They were asked if their car had gone wrong in the past two years, how long repairs took and how much they cost.
Evans said: ‘Citroen was the lowest scoring brand. Although its newer models tended to score well – older ones like the C3 (2010-2016) didn’t. It’s the worst small car with 53 per cent and this brought its overall score down.
‘A wide range of issues affected the C3s we were told about, but the most frequent were with the air-con and braking system.’
At the other end of the scale, Suzuki was the most reliable used car brand overall, followed by Lexus and Toyota.
Most reliable used car brands 2023
Source: What Car?
- Suzuki – 94.7%
- Lexus – 92.7%
- Toyota – 91.7%
- Honda – 90.7%
- Kia – 89.6%
- Mitsubishi – 87.5%
- Mazda – 86.6%
- Hyundai – 85.9%
- Skoda – 83.4%
- Seat – 83.1%
Three cars in the survey scored 100 per cent. After the overall winner, the Jazz, the Kia Niro Hybrid (2016-2022) and the Kia Soul (2014-2019) also achieved perfect scores.
Evans said reliable used cars were more important than ever before with more consumers turning to them to save money.
She added: ‘As the rise in living costs becomes ever more acute, buyers are turning to used cars over new models.
‘Despite the potential cost savings, used cars are more expensive to buy than a year ago, and reliability is more important than ever if you don’t want to be hit by expensive and potentially time-consuming repair bills.’
