UK Reliability Survey 2026: Honda vs Mercedes Compared

Two of the UK's biggest reliability studies have published their latest results, and they don't entirely agree with each other. The tables from What Car? (its 2025 Reliability Survey) and Auto Express's Driver Power both quiz thousands of real owners, but they ask different questions and come out with different winners. If you're trying to work out which brand to trust with your money, it's worth knowing how each one works before you take the headline at face value.

What Car? Reliability Survey 2025: Honda takes the top spot

In the 2025 Reliability Survey, owners told What Car? about almost 32,500 cars, with each model given a rating based on the number of faults, and the time and cost of repairs, and Honda took the top spot for reliability for the first time in seven years. That's a genuinely rare achievement given how consistently strong the top of this table usually looks.

Why Honda topped the table

All five Honda models in the survey gained ratings of more than 90% for reliability, with four of them topping 95%, indicating that issues were few and far between. The standout was the small SUV range: Honda's best performer was the latest HR-V, with a rating of 97.5%, and only 13% of HR-Vs had any glitches, with 55% of those sorted out in less than 24 hours. The Civic and Jazz weren't far behind, with the Civic scoring 97.3% with 13% going wrong and most fixed in under a week, while the Jazz scored 96.9% with a fault rate of 16%.

Crucially, when things did go wrong, owners weren't left out of pocket. Although many of the Honda models owners told What Car? about would have been outside their new car warranty period, the manufacturer covered the cost of all parts and labour to fix faults, meaning no Honda owners were landed with any unexpected bills.

Who dropped to second

Mini had held the crown the previous year, and it's still performing well even having been nudged aside. Last year's Reliability Award winner, Mini, has just been edged out of pole position, but it still put in an exceptionally strong performance, with only 11% of Minis reported as having gone wrong. That's the pattern with this survey most years: a handful of Japanese and British-built small cars cluster near the very top, while the gaps further down the table tend to widen.

Driver Power 2026: Mercedes named best manufacturer overall

Auto Express runs a different, much larger exercise. The 2026 Driver Power New Car Survey marks the 25th anniversary of the first results being published, and over the past quarter of a century it has grown into one of the most respected consumer reports in the UK automotive industry. Owners rate their cars across ten ownership categories, from reliability and running costs to practicality, infotainment and driving dynamics, with each topic broken down into detailed sub-category attributes.

This year's overall manufacturer winner was a name that doesn't always top reliability-specific charts. Mercedes was rated as the best car manufacturer in the 2026 Driver Power survey, with the brand's older cars having a long-standing reputation for durability that the latest models appear to be living up to. Mercedes topped six categories thanks to strong scores for interior quality, refinement and in-car technology, with owners praising the brand's luxury feel and smooth, composed drive.

Reliability specifically tells a different story

Being the best manufacturer overall doesn't automatically mean the best for reliability, and Driver Power's own breakdown makes that clear. Vauxhall was rated as the eighth most reliable brand, while Ford came in a long way off in tenth place on the same measure. Meanwhile a premium name struggled on this specific metric: Land Rover placed 26th for reliability, despite scoring well for practicality, powertrain and ride and handling elsewhere in the survey.

Individual cars can buck their brand's trend entirely. The Tesla Model 3 topped the list of most reliable individual cars and was also named the best car to own overall in this year's survey, with owners citing strong value and a range of up to 323 miles on a single charge.

Budget brands lag on satisfaction

There's a clear price pattern running through the wider Driver Power results. Owners of cars from budget brands tend to be less satisfied with their purchase than those with mainstream or premium vehicles, with brands whose line-ups sit around 30% below the typical new car price statistically more likely to score low. Citroen, Dacia, Fiat, SEAT, Suzuki and Vauxhall were the six brands classified as 'budget' in this year's analysis, based on a median starting price below £28,000. That doesn't mean these cars are unreliable, but it's a reminder that satisfaction scores blend price expectations in with actual fault rates.

Why the two surveys disagree

What Car? and Driver Power ask different owners about different things at different points in ownership, which is exactly why Honda can top one table while Mercedes tops another. What Car?'s survey is built specifically around faults, repair time and cost. Driver Power blends reliability in with nine other lifestyle categories, so a brand can win overall on comfort and tech even if it isn't the most fault-free. Neither approach is wrong; they're just measuring different things, and a sensible buyer reads both rather than picking whichever headline suits the car they already want.

Why manufacturer rankings only tell you half the story

A brand-wide average is a useful starting point, but it can't tell you anything about the specific car sat on a driveway with a for-sale sign in the window. Two Hondas of the same model and age can have wildly different histories depending on how they were driven, serviced and looked after by previous owners.

This is where checking the individual car pays off. Every MOT test result, including any advisories and the reasons behind a previous failure, gets logged against that specific vehicle. Pulling up that full MOT history alongside the car's DVLA details and any outstanding safety recalls, plus a free market valuation, takes a couple of minutes with our reg lookup tool. If a car has failed its MOT for the same fault three times running, that tells you more about its actual condition than any brand-wide survey ever could.

Digging into the car's background

Reliability surveys cover faults and satisfaction, but they say nothing about a car's paperwork history, and that matters just as much when you're handing over your money. Before you commit to buying, it's worth running a proper background check to see whether the car is recorded as stolen, has been written off by an insurer, is still carrying outstanding finance, how many previous keepers it's had, or whether it's ever been imported, exported or scrapped. MotifyMe's own vehicle history check, with data provided by Experian, covers all of that in one report, so there's no need to go hunting across multiple providers.

Using reliability data sensibly when you're buying

Look at the specific model and generation, not just the badge

A brand's average score can hide huge swings between models. A city car with a simple, long-running engine can score brilliantly while a newly launched plug-in hybrid from the same manufacturer drags the average down. Check the survey result for the actual model and generation you're considering, not just the manufacturer name on the bonnet.

Treat first-year models with a bit of caution

Any car that's just had a major redesign, or a brand-new powertrain, tends to have more teething problems in its first couple of years on sale than the same model does once it's been refined. If you're choosing between an all-new version and the outgoing one, that's worth weighing up against the price difference.

Check the car's own MOT record

Reliability surveys work on averages across thousands of owners. The car you're about to buy only has one history, and it's sitting right there in its MOT record. Look for repeated advisories on the same component, not just outright failures, as these often show a problem building up before it becomes serious enough to fail a test.

Factor in what a fault would actually cost you

A car with a slightly higher fault rate but cheap, simple repairs can still work out better value than a car with fewer faults but eye-watering parts and labour bills when something does go wrong. Look at what typically fails on the model you're considering and roughly what it costs to fix, not just the headline reliability percentage.

Buying with finance

If you're planning to fund your next car rather than buy outright, reliability is one of several things worth weighing up against the monthly cost. MotifyMe can introduce you to car finance options through an FCA-authorised credit broker, with any offer subject to status and affordability. Have a look at car finance if that's part of your plan, and browse our guides for more on choosing and running a used car.

The bottom line

Honda's win in the 2026 What Car? Reliability Survey and Mercedes' overall Driver Power crown both tell you something genuinely useful about how owners are getting on with their cars this year. Neither, on its own, tells you whether the specific car you're about to buy has been looked after properly. Use the surveys to shortlist a brand and model you can trust, then check the individual car's MOT history, DVLA details and background before you hand over a deposit.

Reliability scores and percentages quoted above come from What Car?'s 2025 Reliability Survey and Auto Express's 2026 Driver Power survey, and can shift year to year as new models and data are added; check the latest published tables on each provider's own site before relying on a specific figure. MOT advisory and failure patterns vary by individual vehicle and mileage, so always check DVSA's own MOT history service or our reg lookup tool for the actual car you're considering.