Most unreliable cars 2025
These are the UK's worst cars for reliability based on the results of the latest Honest John Satisfaction Index reader survey. Every year we ask our readers to rate their cars to find out which delight - and which disappoint...
This is the hall of shame. According to the more than 6000 drivers who took part in the 2025 Honest John Satisfaction Index, these are the 10 models that disappoint the most when it comes to reliability. And with a trio of upmarket premium brands on this list, some of these results may surprise you.
Car owners were invited to evaluate their cars in a number of key areas in the Honest John Satisfaction Index and these are the 10 that achieved the lowest average scores for reliability.
Read on to see which cars have been problematic for their owners.
1. Vauxhall Corsa
Reliability rating: 80.93%
When a car’s repeatedly unreliable, that's more than simply an annoying inconvenience, but the prospect of paying high prices to remedy those issues feels like its adding further insult to injury, which is why the Vauxhall Corsa polled as the least reliable car in the 2025 Honest John Satisfaction Index. Even worse, the Vauxhall Corsa also finished last for overall ownership satisfaction. Plenty of scope for improvement for Vauxhall.
2. Peugeot 3008 (2017-2024)
Reliability rating: 81.00%
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Stylish and good to drive it may be but this is not the Peugeot 3008’s first appearance at the tail end of our readers’ feedback on reliability over the years and that in itself is a disappointment. If matters are improving for Peugeot 3008 owners, they’re evidently not happening quickly enough. Once again the cost of having issues fixed and the dealership experience isn’t helping the Peugeot’s cause.
3. Land Rover Discovery Sport
Reliability rating: 82.22%
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Land Rover positions itself as a prestige brand producing a suite of models that are billed as functional, practical and extremely capable off-road, including with its least expensive Land Rover Discovery Sport. Customers don’t expect upmarket models to frequently stop working properly, let alone to pay a small fortune for getting them fixed. Land Rover brand loyalty is usually very strong but the Land Rover Discovery Sport would appear to be testing that.
4. MG ZS (2017-2024)
Reliability rating: 83.64%
It's a disappointing showing from the popular first-generation MG ZS, with poor scores for both reliability and repair costs. It's worth noting that this is the combined result for both petrol-engined models and the electric MG ZS EV — the battery-powered version scored a far better 90.00% for reliability than the petrol version.
5. Mercedes C-Class (2014-2021)
Reliability rating: 83.66%
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The Mercedes C-Class is one of the UK's best-selling premium cars but it seems the previous generation model, sold here between 2014 and 2021, fails to live up to expectations with a disappointing score for reliability. Owners also criticise the vehicle's high repair costs, which means problems are frequent and expensive to put right - hardly an enticing combination.
6. Peugeot 308 (2014-2021)
Reliability rating: 83.81%
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Comfortable, roomy and well-equipped it may be, but the previous-generation Peugeot 308 doesn't have great reliability as one of its virtues as our readers who own and drive them have shared. Once more, the cost of repairs are cited as a key gripe with the Peugeot 308 along with the glitchy touchscreen infotainment system.
7. Mercedes A-Class
Reliability rating: 84.23%
When Janis Joplin, Bob Neuwirth and Michael McClure got together to write 'Oh Lord, Won't You Buy Me A Mercedes-Benz', they presumably weren't expectining to find two of its models in the bottom 10 for reliability in the 2025 Honest John Satisfaction Index. Yet with the Mercedes A-Class performing only slightly better than the Mercedes C-Class, that's what's happened. Again, those Mercedes parts and labour costs are rubbing salt into the wounds.
8. Vauxhall Astra (2015-2022)
Reliability rating: 84.83%
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Albeit still in the bottom 10, the Vauxhall Corsa's larger sibling, the Vauxhall Astra, finds itself seven places better off when it comes to HonestJohn.co.uk's reader rankings for reliability. Given how popular this previous-generation Vauxhall Astra, sold between 2015-2022 was, its disappointing to see how fragile they are mechanically - and according to owners, they're proving costly to fix.
9. BMW X1 (2015-2022)
Reliability rating: 85.75%
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If you're a BMW driver feeling smug because you didn't buy a Mercedes then hold your fire - readers who also count themselves as owners of the previous-generation BMW X1 don't rate it particularly well when it comes to being reliable and dependable, with equally eye-watering prices when it comes to remedying its issues. It's also remarkable how badly the BMW X1 performed when the mechanically similar BMW 2 Series Active Tourer was in the top 10 for reliability.
10. Ford Focus
Reliability rating: 85.86%
Last year the Ford Kuga SUV was in the bottom 10 cars when it comes to reliability but this time around it's the closely related Ford Focus family car that have that dubious honour instead. Despite Ford being very-much a mainstream brand, owners have fed back to us that parts and servicing costs also count against the Ford Focus when it comes to overall satisfaction.
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