The Mitsubishi Lancer is the most reliable family car according to the latest data from Warranty Direct’s reliability index, which analyses 50,000 live policies on three to eight-year old vehicles.
As well as finding out the overall reliability of a car, the index offers information on which car parts fail most often such as air conditioning, axle and suspension, braking, cooling, electrical components, engines and fuel.
The Mitsubishi Lancer is the most reliable family car with the time spent off the road for repairs typically less than an hour and the average repair cost only £69.
Top ten most reliable family cars
1. Mitsubishi Lancer
2. Honda Insight
3. Mercedes-Benz CLC
4. Honda Accord (08-)
5. Honda Civic (00-06)
6. Toyota Prius (03-09)
7. Hyundai i30
8. Nissan Almera
9. Honda Civic (06-)
10.Toyota Prius (09-)
The Honda Insight came in at second place, but due to a high number of reported issues occurring with its axle suspension, the costs of repairs are over double that of Mitsubishi’s averaging at around £137.
Both cars received good family car reviews with the Mitsubishi Lancer being praised for its practicality spaciousness and superb value and the Honda Insight deemed a good choice for those who need more space than you find in a small hatchback, but who still want a town-friendly, smooth and fuel-efficient car.
The only non-Japanese cars to enter the top ten were the Mercedes-Benz CLC which came in at position number three and the Hyundai i30 which came in at position number seven.
The least reliable family car is the Skoda Superb, due in part to the large number of reported issues occurring in its engine and repair time averaging at around three hours.
Costs of repairs were also particularly high averaging around £578.
Philip Ward, COO of Warranty Direct, said: “Families demand a lot from their cars and need vehicles that won’t let them down.
“Mitsubishi’s success in the reliability rankings is chiefly down to low failure rates and when things go wrong, they are cheaper to fix.”