The least reliable used cars: Range Rover tops list with BMW, Porsche and Audi among most unreliable models

Previous generation of luxury 4x4 tops table of least dependable models, with one owner hit with £24,000 repair bill

The previous generation Range Rover has been named the country’s least reliable used car by a major warranty group.

The luxury SUV has a reputation for unrivalled comfort and refinement but also for a lack of dependability, according to WarrantyWise’s annual Reliability Index.

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The famous 4x4 scored a lowly 20.2 out of 100 in the index, which measures the frequency and cost of repairs across more than 131,000 extended warranties.

The study only looks at cars up to 10 years old and that are out of manufacturer warranty but suggests that high-ticket, high-tech luxury models are not the best choice for drivers looking for dependability.

Two models from the premium British brand are in the list of 10 least reliable models, along with cars from BMW, Porsche, Audi and Bentley.

The Range Rover’s average repair cost was actually relatively low compared to other models in the top 10, at £1,607, but the frequency of breakdowns badly hurt its standing. It also represented the single highest repair cost of any car last year, with one bill coming in at £23,890 - more than the price of a brand new Ford Focus.

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Unfortunately for Range Rover, its products also represented the second-highest single bill, with one Range Rover Sport owner facing repair costs of £22,358. The Range Rover Sport was third place in the list, with a reliability score of just 23.1 according to Warrantywise’s measurements.

Between the two Range Rover products, the high-performance BMW M3 was the first of three models from the German marque to feature on the list, with a rating of 21.4. The index covers two generations of the famous machine - the twin-turbo straight six F80 generation and the previous V8-powered E90/E92/E93. Such high performance comes at a high price for some, with the most expensive repair running north of £12,000.

The M3’s larger stablemate, the M5, also made it onto the list, with the current F90 and previous F10 generations of the super saloon covered by the index. Its rating of 30.8 put it in 10th place on the list, while the X6 SUV-coupe was ranked the fifth least reliable used car, with a rating of 23.6.

Either side of the X6 were models from Porsche, with the Panamera saloon and Cayenne SUV in fourth and sixth place with ratings of 23.4 and 24.9 respectively.

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The Audi Q7 SUV’s rating of 25.7 put it in seventh place, while the second generation Bentley Continental GT was in eighth, with a score of 29.1. The Mazda CX-5 was the only mainstream model to make it into the bottom 10 in the reliability index, with a score of 29.6. The date shows that even such a relatively inexpensive model can come with massive bills, with the single biggest repair for a CX-5 coming in at almost £6,000.

Lawrence Whittaker, CEO of Warrantywise said: “The Reliability Index is extremely revealing of how luxury cars, which may seem like they would be reliable because of the costly price tags, aren’t always so. The opinion that they should be very reliable, for the price that customers pay for them, is quite a popular one, and this evaluation of our data is helpful for us to guide customers the right way when wanting to make a large purchase on a luxury car, like a Porsche.”

Mr Whittaker warned that repair costs are likely to soar this year as the price of parts and labour rise across the industry, leaving owners facing potentially even bigger bills if something goes wrong.

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