In association with MotorEasy
What Car? Reliability Survey: Most and least reliable small cars
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 small cars in the UK...
Small hatchbacks are often relied on by those with the tightest budgets, such as new drivers and students, and that means they need to keep soldiering on with no unexpected repair bills.
The small cars reported on in the latest survey weren't quite as bulletproof as those we were told about the year before: the score for the class is currently 94.3%, which is nearly one percentage point lower than in the 2023 survey. However, the small car class is still the highest scoring of all those we report on; it's nearly 7% better than electric cars, which only averaged 87.7%.
How the research was carried out
To compile the What Car? Reliability Survey, conducted in association with MotorEasy, we asked thousands of car owners to give us the lowdown on how reliable their car had been over the previous 24 months.
First we asked them to tell us if the car had suffered a fault, and, if so, how much each problem had cost to put right and how long it had kept the car off the road. The responses for these two factors were weighted and added up for each make and model, enabling us to create a unique reliability rating for each.
The latest What Car? Reliability Survey contains data on 199 models aged up to five years old from 31 different car brands.
The 2025 What Car? Reliability Survey is live, tell us about your car now
Most reliable small cars
1. Toyota Aygo X (2021-present)
Reliability rating 100%
What went wrong? Nothing
Toyota’s tiniest and most affordable car has outdone its bigger siblings with a perfect reliability rating of 100%. This indicates that not one of the Aygo Xs in our survey had any glitches at all. That means not a single Aygo X owner has needed to seek assistance from dealers at all in the previous 24 months.
Owner’s view: “Its superb reliability is the thing I like best about my Aygo X.”
2. Kia Picanto (2017-2024)
Reliability rating 99.3%
This version of the Picanto may no longer be on sale new, but it’s well worth considering as a bulletproof city car. A mere 6% of examples aged up to five years old had any issues, and only with the gearbox/clutch. Kia covered all repair costs, too, and its workshops resolved all problems in a day or less.
2017-2024 Kia Picanto used buying guide
3. Volkswagen Polo (2018-present)
Reliability rating 98.3%
The Polo outshines many of the brand’s larger models with a high reliability rating and 7% fault rate. Half of the complaints were about minor bodywork issues that didn’t cause breakdowns and were fixed in a day or less. Volkswagen paid for 83% of repairs, and none of the remaining bills exceeded £50 per fault.
Reliability rating 98.1%
The i20 upholds Hyundai's solid reputation for building dependable cars. Only 11% of the i20s in our survey had any issues and the only areas to give cause for concern were the air-con and exhaust. All problems were fixed for free, and half of faulty cars were back on the road the same day. The only downside is that the other half took more than a week to fix.
5. Mini hatchback (2014-2024)
Reliability rating 97.9%
Bodywork problems were the most common complaint of the 11% of Mini hatchback owners who told us their car had suffered a glitch. There were also a small percentage of electrical issues, too. However, all the affected cars could still be driven, half were in and out of the garage in a day or less, and most of the other half were put right in less than a week. While Mini footed the bill for 71% of remedial work, that left some owners with bills of up to £200.
Mini hatchback used buying guide
6. Honda Jazz (2020-present)
Reliability rating 97.6%
With few faults and all repairs covered by Honda, it's easy to see why the Jazz scores well for reliability. Only 12% of the cars in our survey went wrong, mostly with bodywork and 12-volt battery issues. Virtually all cars remained driveable and 55% were fixed in a day or less, and three-quarters were sorted out in less than a week. Best of all, no owners were landed with any repair bills.
7. Suzuki Swift (2017-2024)
Reliability rating 95.7%
Only 9% of the Suzuki Swifts reported on had any problems; those that did were split evenly between 12-volt battery and sat-nav / infotainment system issues. While half of the faulty cars were fixed for free, the remaining owners had to pay up to £500 to get the problems resolved. The biggest issue was with the time taken to fix cars, though, with all respondents telling us they'd had to leave their car in the dealership for more than a week.
Reliability rating 93.9%
The Audi A1 has a high fault rate for a small car: 22% of cars had some sort of problem, the most common of which related to non-engine electrical systems. Although all the faulty cars could still be driven, half of them were in the workshop for more than a week. Audi paid the repair bills for 67% of owners, but that left the others with bills of up to £500.
9. Toyota Yaris Hybrid (2020-present)
Reliability rating 93.5%
Issues with the 12-volt battery were the biggest headache for Yaris Hybrid owners, who told us 20% of their cars went wrong, 15% of them with battery problems. Although many cars were rendered undriveable by these problems, 60% of faulty cars were fixed in a day or less. While Toyota covered the cost of 69% of remedial work, that left many owners with bills of up to £200.
10. Ford Fiesta (2017-2023)
Reliability rating 92.0%
The Fiesta isn't ageing as gracefully as it should, with 20% of owners telling us their cars suffered glitches. The 12-volt battery and air-con systems were the most problematic, followed by engine, electrical and exhaust woes. Getting things put right was fairly quick: four out of five cars were repaired in less than a week, and most bills (74%) were paid for by Ford, but that left 10% of owners having to find £1000-£1500 to put things right.
Reliability rating 78.0%
What went wrong? Sat-nav/ infotainment 30%, air-con 9%, engine electrics 9%, exhaust 9%, fuel system 9%, gearbox/clutch 4%, steering 4%
Although the Ibiza shares its underpinnings with the Volkswagen Polo, there’s a huge difference in dependability. In fact, 57% of Ibiza owners told us their cars had gone wrong, with most headaches caused by the infotainment and sat-nav. Although 90% of faulty cars could still be driven, 42% spent more than a week in the workshop. Only 74% of remedial work was carried out for free.
Owners's view: "I bought my Ibiza nearly new and it suffered a number of niggly faults during the first 18 months."
2. Fiat 500 Hybrid (2008-present)
Reliability rating 82.1%
Problems with the engine electrics and exhaust system accounted for a third of all issues reported with mild hybrid versions of the Fiat 500. The car maker paid for 40% of repairs, and 20% of owners had only to pay up to £100, but 40% had to find £501- £750 to get their cars fixed. Half of faulty cars were fixed on the same day, though, and the rest in less than a week.
3. Vauxhall Corsa (2014-2019)
Reliability rating 82.9%
Overall, 21% of the Corsas reported on went wrong, with brakes, engine, electrics, steering and suspension faults among those reported. Costly repair bills were a major cause of complaint; 29% of cars cost £501-£1000 to put right and only 29% were repaired for free. Thankfully, 86% were fixed in a day or less.
2014-2019 Vauxhall Corsa used buying guide
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 family cars (2023)
Most reliable executive cars (2023)
Most reliable luxury cars (2023)
Most reliable small SUVs (2024)
Most reliable family SUVs (2023)
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 small cars aged up to five years old
| Rank | Make and model | Score |
| 1 | Toyota Aygo X (2021-present) | 100.0% |
| 2 | Kia Picanto (2017-2024) | 99.3% |
| 3 | Volkswagen Polo (2018-present) | 98.3% |
| 4 | Hyundai i20 (2020-present) | 98.1% |
| 5 | Mini hatchback (2014-2024) | 97.9% |
| 6 | Honda Jazz (2020-present) | 97.6% |
| 7 | Suzuki Swift (2017-2024) | 95.7% |
| 8 | Audi A1 (2018-present) | 93.9% |
| 9 | Toyota Yaris Hybrid (2020-present) | 93.5% |
| 10 | Ford Fiesta (2017-2023) | 92.0% |
| 11 | Dacia Sandero (2021-present) | 91.0% |
| 12 | Skoda Fabia (2015-2021) | 89.1% |
| 13 | Vauxhall Corsa (2014-2019) | 82.9% |
| 14 | Fiat 500 (2008-present) | 82.1% |
| 15 | Seat Ibiza (2017-present) | 78.0% |
About the report author
Claire Evans has been a motoring journalist for more than 30 years, working on consumer issues for a great deal of that time. After a stint as the advice columnist for Carweek magazine in the 1990s, she also spent six years working on motoring content for Which?. 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.
