In association with MotorEasy
What Car? Reliability Survey: Most and least reliable family SUVs
In our annual Reliability Survey, we ask readers to rate the dependability of cars aged up to five years old. Here we list the most and least reliable family SUVs in the UK...
Family SUVs provide practicality with class and a lofty driving position, making them a hit with parents and other drivers.
They're generally a reliable bunch, scoring an average of 92.6% last year in the annual What Car? Reliability Survey and 92.4% this year. Hybrid versions are not only frugal, they're also often the most dependable, and this year hybrid models from Lexus and Toyota take three of the top four spots.
How the research was carried out
To compile the annual What Car? Reliability Survey, conducted in association with MotorEasy, we asked thousands of car owners to tell us how dependable their cars have been over the previous 24 months.
For every car that has suffered a fault, we ask in what area the issue occurred, plus how much it cost to repair and how long it spent in the workshop. This information is used to create a reliability rating for each model and brand where we have a large enough response rate.
This year, the survey had 29,967 responses and that enabled us to report on 199 models (up to five years old) from 31 brands.
The 2025 What Car? Reliability Survey is live, tell us about your car now
Most reliable family SUVs
1. Lexus NX (2014-2021)
Reliability rating 100%
What went wrong? Nothing
The previous-generation Lexus NX is your best bet if you want a fault-free family SUV. Not only is it the top scorer in this class, but it also outperforms the latest NX, which scores 97.6% and lies in fourth place. No NX owners reported any issues with their cars, and that meant no time off the road for repairs and no unexpected repair bills.
Owner’s view: “My car has been faultless in the two years I’ve owned it.”
New Lexus NX review
2. Toyota RAV4 (2019-present)
Reliability rating 98.8%
Just 2% of RAV4 owners had any problems with their cars, mainly relating to the 12-volt or drive battery/charging system. While 50% of faults stopped cars from being driven, 83% were fixed in less than a week and the same proportion were fixed for free. Those who had to pay for repairs were asked for less than £200.
3. Renault Kadjar (2015-2022)
Reliability rating 98.6%
The Kadjar is the highest scoring Renault model for reliability, and it's helped the brand rise to ninth position in our latest brand reliability chart. Only 12% of Kadjar owners had a problem with their car, and these were restricted to non-engine electrics and the suspension. All cars were fixed in a day or less and all work was done for free.
4. Lexus NX (2021-present)
Reliability rating 97.6%
The latest Lexus NX can't quite match the perfect reliability rating of its older sibling, but it comes close. Although 13% of NX models went wrong, the main complaint was with minor bodywork defects, and 78% of these were sorted out in a day or less. Lexus covered the cost of 89% of repairs, but some owners had to pay £301-£500.
Reliability rating 97.2%
Only 11% of the CR-Vs in our survey went wrong, and the main causes of concern were the air-con, 12-volt battery and non-engine electrical systems. While Honda paid for fixes in 90 % of instances, that left the remaining owners with bills totalling more than £1500 per fault. Forty percent of cars were fixed in a day or less, and most of the rest were put right in less than a week.
6. Volvo XC40 PHEV (2017-present)
Reliability rating 97.0%
Plug-in hybrid versions of the Volvo XC40 have half the faults of their petrol counterparts - 11% of PHEV XC40s went wrong compared with 22% of petrols. Issues were fairly slow to sort out, with 60% of cars out of action for up to a week, but Volvo paid for all remedial work. Problem areas included the air-con, 12-volt battery, electric battery and non-motor electrics.
7. BMW X1 petrol (2015-2022)
Reliability rating 96.6%
We only had enough responses to rate petrol versions of the BMW X1, and they certainly look to be ageing well. Only 7% of the cars we were told about went wrong; issues with the 12-volt battery, brakes and various electrical systems were the main culprits. Two thirds of faulty cars were fixed in less than a week, but BMW only covered the cost of 40% of repairs, leaving the other owners with bills of up to £1000 each.
Reliability rating 96.4%
Although 13% of Niro hybrid and PHEV models went wrong, Kia paid for all repair work. The problem areas included the 12-volt battery, electrics, interior trim and sat-nav/infotainment system. Most cars remained driveable, and a third were fixed in a day or less, but 55% were in the workshop for more than a week.
New Kia Niro review
9. Mazda CX-5 petrol (2017-present)
Reliability rating 96.1%
Petrol CX-5s went wrong far less often than their diesel counterparts, and when they did, they were cheaper to fix. Seventeen percent of petrol CX-5s had a fault, compared with 48% of diesels, and 87% of petrols were fixed for free, while only 71% of diesels were. Bodywork glitches and prolems with the sat-nav/infotainment system were the biggest concerns. Two-thirds of cars were fixed in a day or less, and most were back on the road in less than a week.
10. Kia Sportage (2021-present)
Reliability rating 96.1%
Although 15% of Kia Sportages went wrong, most faults were minor and were fixed under warranty. Kia covered the cost of 90% of repair work and owners who had to pay weren't billed for more than £200. Nearly half of faulty cars were fixed in a day or less, but many of the others took more than a week to put right. The most common problem areas were the bodywork, exhaust, electrics and sat-nav/infotainment system.
Least reliable family SUVs
1. Kia Sportage diesel (2016-2021)
Reliability rating 66.2%
What went wrong? Engine 24%, gearbox/clutch 20%, non-engine electrics 16%, brakes 8%, engine electrics 8%, bodywork 4%, exhaust 4%, fuel system 4%, sat-nav/ infotainment system 4%
Diesel Sportage models suffered a high percentage of faults and were slow to be repaired. Owners told us 56% of their diesel Sportages went wrong, compared with only 20% of petrol models. Half of faulty cars were in the garage for more than a week, and 8% of bills exceeded £1500; 83% of cars were fixed for free.
Owner's view: "I’ve had to take my car to the dealership to have things fixed eight times in three years of ownership."
2. Range Rover Evoque (2011-2019)
Reliability rating 73.8%
The previous Evoque is the lowest-scoring model in the Land Rover line-up with a 35% fault rate. Issues with the engine electrics and suspension each accounted for 15% of faults. Two-thirds of cars were off the road for more than a week, and while 86% of cars were fixed for free, the rest cost more than £1500.
Used Range Rover Evoque review
3. Alfa Romeo Stelvio (2017-present)
Reliability rating 85.5%
Lengthy stints in the workshop were the biggest gripe of the 32% of Alfa Stelvio owners who told us their car had gone wrong. Although most faulty cars could still be driven, 55% of them were with dealers for more than a week to get fixed. Things went wrong with the 21-volt battery, engine, interior trim and electrical systems including the sat-nav/infotainment system. Alfa paid for 67% of remedial work, but some owners had bills of up to £750.
To read the reliability data for other car classes follow these links:
Most and least reliable cars overall (2024)
Most reliable car brands (2024)
Most reliable small cars (2024)
Most reliable family cars (2023)
Most reliable executive cars (2023)
Most reliable luxury cars (2023)
Most reliable small SUVs (2024)
Most reliable large SUVs (2023)
Most reliable seven-seaters (2023)
Most reliable electric cars (2023)
Most reliable electric SUVs (2023)
Most reliable sports cars (2023)
Most reliable diesel cars (2023)
Most reliable petrol cars (2023)
Most reliable hybrid cars (2023)
Reliability of family SUVs aged up to five years old
| Rank | Make and model | Score |
| 1 | Lexus NX (2014-2021) | 100.0% |
| 2 | Toyota RAV4 (2019-present) | 98.8% |
| 3 | Renaut Kadjar (2015-2022) | 98.6% |
| 4 | Lexus NX (2021-present) | 97.6% |
| 5 | Honda CR-V (2018-present) | 97.2% |
| 6 | Volvo XC40 PHEV (2017-present) | 97.0% |
| 7 | BMW X1 petrol (2015-2022) | 96.6% |
| 8 | Kia Niro Hybrid/PHEV (2016-2022) | 96.4% |
| 9 | Mazda CX-5 petrol (2017-present) | 96.1% |
| 10 | Kia Sportage (2021-present) | 96.0% |
| 11 | Lexus UX (2019-present) | 95.4% |
| 12 | Mercedes GLA (2014-2020) | 95.4% |
| 13 | Vauxhall Grandland X (2018-present) | 95.3% |
| 14 | Nissan Qashqai (2021-present) | 95.2% |
| 15 | Mercedes GLA (2020-present) | 94.6% |
| 16 | Jaguar E-Pace (2017-present) | 94.2% |
| 17 | Volvo XC40 petrol (2017-present) | 93.4% |
| 18 | Kia Sportage petrol (2016-2021) | 93.4% |
| 19 | BMW X2 (2018-present) | 93.4% |
| 20 | Audi Q3 (2018-present) | 93.1% |
| 21 | Nissan Qaahqai petrol (2014-2021) | 92.2% |
| 22 | Volkswagen Tiguan petrol (2016-present) | 91.9% |
| 23 | Citroen C5 Aircross (2018-present) | 90.7% |
| 24 | Peugeot 3008 (2017-present) | 90.6% |
| 25 | Cupra Formentor (2020-present) | 89.8% |
| 26 | Renault Arkana (2021-present) | 89.7% |
| 27 | Mazda CX-5 diesel (2017-present) | 88.5% |
| 28 | Volkswagen Tiguan diesel (2016-2024) | 88.1% |
| 29 | Range Rover Evoque (2019-present) | 86.9% |
| 30 | MG HS (2019-present) | 85.7% |
| 31 | Alfa Romeo Stelvio (2017-present) | 85.5% |
| 32 | Range Rover Evoque (2011-2019) | 73.8% |
| 33 | Kia Sportage diesel (2016-2021) | 66.2% |
About the report author
Claire Evans has been a motoring journalist for more than 30 years, and has focussed on consumer issues for much of that time. She was the advice columnist for Carweek magazine in the 1990s, helping car owners with faulty cars get the right level of reparation from car makers.
She also spent six years working on motoring content for Which?, and it is here she oversaw the running of the charity's annual used car reliability survey.
Claire launched the What Car? Reliability Survey in 2017, and since then has helped thousands of buyers choose the most reliable new cars and SUVs, as well as the most dependable used cars.
