Which? the well-known consumers' right organisation, has named the Citroen C1 city car as its most reliable, with an overall score of 99 per cent and an average annual repair bill of just 60c. That may seem something of a surprise for a brand that has not traditionally had the greatest of reliability reputations, but the penny drops somewhat when you remember that the C1 is of course shared with Toytoa (as well as Peugeot) and built in the Czech Republic.
The C1 came top overall car and best in the supermini category following Which’s polling of 49,000 car owners, covering 283 models up to three years old.
In other catgeories, some more expected names came to fore. Toyota's Auris took the laurels in the medium car category, while the Verso was named the most reliable MPV. The Auris scored a 95 per cent reliability rating with Which? praising the "supreme durability" of the hybrid system in the Auris Hybrid.
Lexus was named the most reliable overall car maker, with an overall score of 88 per cent putting it 10 percentage points ahead of the average.
Which? commented that “if you want a luxury car, you might not have to opt for something German. Lexus drivers sing the praises of this brand – and they get fault-free motoring.”
Honda’s CR-V took the most reliable SUV category, scoring average reliability of 98 per cent and owners reporting an averaged annual repair bill of just €12.