Most reliable car brands 2025
There's no escaping the fact that cars are expensive, so the last thing you want is plough your hard-earned money into a brand new - or new-to-you - motor that's unreliable.
All cars have the potential to breakdown or not work as they were intended to but some brand's models seem more prone to it than others as our annual Honest John Satisfaction Index reveals. Each year thousands of our readers are asked to rate their cars across several important ownership criteria.
Analysing that reader feedback allows us to identify the most reliable cars as well as the ones that HonestJohn.co.uk readers have told us are the least reliable models — but what if you want to know what reliability is like across a brand's range of cars? We can help with that.
By combining the results of each of a marque's range of cars we've been able to highlight the most reliable brands overall based on our readers' feedback - similarly we've also determined what the data informs us which are the least reliable.
1. Lexus
Reliability rating: 97.01%
For the fifth consecutive year, Lexus has come out on top for reliability across its range of hybrid-powered luxury saloons and SUVs according to reader feedback in the 2025 Honest John Satisfaction Index, with the Lexus NX topping the individual model rankings. Lexus's mightily impressive 97.01% score is significantly higher than the 89.38% average across all brands and reflects the depth of engineering that's employed across the upmarket division of Toyota's entire line-up.
2. Tesla
Reliability rating: 95.29%
While we were always impressed by the technology within Tesla's range of exclusively electrically powered cars, build quality seemed to be a little hit and miss, to say the least. Evidently, matters have improved significantly in this regard according to our readers' feedback as not only has the brand scored well for reliability across its four-strong range but the Tesla Model 3 was also rated as the most satisfying car to own overall. Despite Elon...
3. Toyota
Reliability rating: 94.65%
Toyota's range of cars and commercial vehicles have a legendary reputation for reliability regardless of price or type of car. This means that if your budget is sufficient for an Toyota Aygo X or Toyota Yaris you'll benefit from high levels of engineering excellence, just as you would experience in a much pricier Toyota RAV4 or Toyota GR86 sports car. Dependability is synonymous with cars wearing the Toyota logo.
4. Honda
Reliability rating: 94.31%
Honda is a regular in reliable car rankings with our readers, which supports the common view that the Japanese car industry builds the world's most durable vehicles. The Honda Jazz and Honda CR-V are particular favourites. Quality of engineering is a trait that runs through Honda's entire line-up of models ensuring long-term customer loyalty.
5. Skoda
Reliability rating: 93.08%
There's an irony to the fact that HonestJohn.co.uk's readers have voted two different Volkswagen Group brands into the top 10 here but it's the value-centric Skoda that's the higher of them, with Porsche a couple of positions behind. Various of the brand's excellent family cars, including the Skoda Octavia Estate and Skoda Kodiaq SUV helped elevate the marque's standing, with the Skoda Karoq grabbing second spot for reliability for specific models.
6. Suzuki
Reliability rating: 92.67%
It's another strong performance from Suzuki but with an interesting twist. While Suzuki sells the Suzuki Swace (a rebranded Toyota Corolla Touring Sports) and the Suzuki Across (a Toyota RAV4 with a different grille), it's its own Suzuki Ignis, Suzuki Swift and Suzuki Vitara models in particular that our readers have scored highly for their reliability. Again, another Japanese brand with a culture of designing and developing cars and their components to last.
7. Porsche
Reliability rating: 92.50%
Sports cars suffer from an age-old reputation for unreliability, but Porsche's engineering strength has hauled it from those murky waters, encouraging its rivals to do the same. It's not just the classic Porsche 911 that our readers rated strongly for reliability, though - the Porsche Macan and Porsche Cayenne SUVs have won many friends thanks to their dependability, as has the Porsche Taycan range of electric models.
8. Kia
Reliability rating: 91.85%
Few car brands can match Kia for value - interestingly it's also finished ahead of Hyundai, the company that owns it and with which many components are shared. Kia's reliability is reinforced by its seven-year/100,000-mile warranty, with several of its models performing well in our readers' first-hand experiences, including the Kia Picanto, Kia XCeed and the Kia Niro.
9. Mazda
Reliability rating: 91.60%
Mazda's position in the top 10 best car brands for reliability is driven by all of its models although our readers did cite the Mazda CX-5 and Mazda 2 hatchback in particular for their all-round excellence, not just the quality of their reliability. It's not just Porsche with an ability to built reliable sports cars - the evergreen Mazda MX-5 proves dependability comes in the guise of inexpensive roadsters as well.
10. Hyundai
Reliability rating: 91.53%
Affordable, reliable and sold with a five-year/unlimited-mileage warranty, Hyundai is a car brand that majors on customer satisfaction, with our readers enjoying the intrinsic dependability. Although its Hyundai Tucson scored well for reliability, feedback was especially glowing for Hyundai's battery-powered models, including the Hyundai Kona Electric and newer Hyundai Ioniq 5.
What is the best car to buy for reliability?
