Britain’s least reliable small cars – from beloved Fiat to iconic runaround plagued by dodgy brakes
BRITAIN’S least reliable small cars have been revealed, including an iconic runaround plagued by dodgy brakes.
One driver even reported their motor suffering from “niggly faults” for up to 18 months.
Smaller cars are generally renowned for their practicality and affordability.
As a result, they’re often owned by Brits on tight budgets who could very much do without unexpected repair bills.
With that in mind, consumer group WhatCar? produces an annual reliability ranking of smaller models up to five years old.
By interviewing almost 30,000 car owners, researchers assessed how reliable their vehicles had been over the previous two years.
Owners were asked whether their vehicle has suffered any faults, how much these cost to repair if so and how long they kept them off the road.
The responses are then weighted to account for how common the model is to create a uniform reliability rating.
Based on the 2024 results, these were the least reliable model on the road last year.
Seat Ibiza – 78%
The research found that more than 50% of Ibiza owners reported a fault, with 42% of these spending more than a week off the road.
Most common problem areas included the sat nav and infotainment system, the aircon and the exhaust and fuel systems.
One owner told WhatCar?: “I bought my Ibiza nearly new and it suffered a number of niggly faults during the first 18 months.”
Unusually, the Ibiza is based on the same platform as the VW Polo yet this enjoyed a 98.3% rating and cracked the top three at the other end of the table.
Fiat 500 Hybrid – 82.1%
The modern 500 has had a bit of a reputation among enthusiasts of occasionally being less reliable than could be hoped for.
But the hybrid version is the one that came near the bottom of the rankings this year.
The issues which cropped up most often were the engine electrics and exhaust – both notoriously tricky to get right in a hybrid spec.
However, owners reported that 50% of the faults were fixed within a day and 100% were solved in under a week.
Vauxhall Corsa – 82.9%
Performing marginally better than the 500 was the iconic Corsa – a long-time staple of the British school run.
But while it may have broken down less often than the Fiat, the Corsa tended to suffer from issues with more critical issues.
More than a fifth of owners reported issues with brakes, the engine, the steering and the suspension.
Costs were also high, with almost a third needing over £500 of repairs to get back on the road.
Yet a whopping 86% of these were fixed within a day so drivers seemed to get their money’s worth.
Seat and Vauxhall have been contacted for comment.
Fiat declined to comment.
WhatCar?'s most reliable small cars of 2024
- Toyota Aygo X – 100%
- Kia Picanto – 99.3%
- VW Polo – 98.3%
- Hyundai i20 – 98.1%
- Mini Hatchback – 97.9%
- Honda Jazz – 97.6%
- Suzuki Swift – 95.7%
- Audi A1 – 93.9%
- Toyota Yaris Hybrid – 93.5%
- Ford Fiesta – 92%