Cupra makes the most unreliable used cars as Lexus takes first place in the Which Car? research – Car Dealer Magazine

Performance brand Seat Cupra has been named the least reliable car manufacturer following a survey of almost 22,000 owners.

What Car? asked used car owners about how often their cars had failed in the past two years, with responses flooding in with nearly 180 different types from 22 brands.

The Reliability Survey asked how long the repair took and how much it cost to get an overall score out of 100.

The higher the score, the more reliable the car brand – with the Cupra scoring just 82.4 percent.

The result means the Spanish outfit has taken on the name of Britain’s most reliable car brand, which it was last year he won in a Jeep.

It comes after the Volkswagen Group announced plans to Cupra will take the seat in the coming years.

The second most unreliable manufacturer was – perhaps unsurprisingly – Alfa Romeo which scored 85.6 percent.

That put it slightly ahead of third-placed Vauxhall (86.9 per cent) and fourth-placed Jaguar (87.4 per cent), both of which were blamed by owners in the survey for frequent breakdowns.

At the other end of the scale, the Lexus was widely praised by owners as the most reliable make on the road, with an impressive score of 98.3 percent.

The prestigious badge beat competition from its partner, Toyota, which scored 97.4 percent and took second place.

Owners were also commenting on Mini (97.2 percent), Suzuki (96.9 percent), Mitsubishi (96.2 percent) and Honda (95.9 percent), in a top ten dominated by Japanese and Korean brands.

Elsewhere, the survey found that hybrids were the most reliable, with only 17 percent of plug-in hybrids and 18 percent of other hybrids experiencing any failures.

Petrol models were less reliable, with an error rate of 20 percent, while electric and diesel vehicles had a higher error rate of 26 percent.

The most reliable EV according to buyers is the Ford Mustang Mach-E, which was given a perfect score of 100 percent by owners.

Answering the results, What Car? utility editor Claire Evans said: ‘These results show that the complexity of the hybrid electric powertrain is not a barrier to reliability.

‘On the contrary, electric models, with their simpler setups, can let owners down.

“However, in most cases it’s not the electric motors or battery banks that are the problem, it’s other electronic devices such as infotainment systems, digital instrument panels and driver assistance systems that have given owners major headaches.

‘If you’re thinking about switching to an electric car, check its reliability rating before you buy to make sure you’re getting a reliable model.’