Temple of VTEC Rumors and News - Accord (TSX), Jazz (Fit) top UK reliability survey

Honda's new Accord has been named as the UK's most reliable car in this year's Which? car survey, it was announced today. The car achieved a reliability score of 99%, one of the highest scores ever achieved; closely followed by the new Honda Jazz in second place with a score of 98%.

Honda cars hold four of the top ten places in the recent survey. As well as the new Jazz reaching second place, the first generation Jazz also scored 95.9% achieving sixth place in the survey. The Civic Hybrid achieved pole position in the hybrid vehicle sector with a score of 95.7%, seventh place in the overall survey and edging ahead of its rival the Toyota Prius with 95%.

A total of 77,000 drivers across the UK took part in the Which? survey to assess customer satisfaction. The survey based its results on breakdowns, faults and general niggles over a 12 month period.

Honda have maintained their position at the top of the Which? overall reliability index. Matt Gibson, Head of Customer Services for Honda UK said, 'A reliable car is something every customer deserves; knowing that your car will simply get you from A to B without any problems makes a huge difference to a customer�s enjoyment of their car. We always strive to give our customers the best experience. It is fantastic news that four of the top seven cars featured in the survey are Hondas.'

Honda has also performed well in the recent JD Power survey, appearing in the top three car manufacturers for four years running.

Honda UK will be discussing the outstanding survey results in this month�s Which? Podcast. To listen to the podcast and to view further information on the survey please visit: www.which.co.uk

TOV Editorial Notes

1. Final standings:

10 most reliable new cars
- 1 Honda Accord 98.5%
- 2 Honda Jazz 98.2%
- 3 Daihatsu Sirion 97.5%
- 4 Hyundai i30 96.8%
- 5 Ford Fiesta 96.2%
- 6. Honda Jazz 95.9%
- 7 Honda Civic Hybrid 95.7%
- 8 Citro�n C1 95.7%
- 9 Toyota Prius 95.0%
- 10 Mazda 3 94.4%

10 least reliable new cars
- 112 Hyundai Santa Fe 82.2%
- 113 Jaguar S-type 81.2%
- 114 Volvo XC90 80.6%
- 115 Land Rover Freelander 80.1%
- 116 Ford S-Max 79.9%
- 117 Land Rover Discovery 79.5%
- 118 Alfa Romeo 159 79.0%
- 119 Jaguar XF 78.0%
- 120 Ford Galaxy 76.3%
- 121 Audi A5 75.8%

2. According to guardian.co.uk one of the main problematic areas revealed by the survey was electronic systems. That explains in part why cars on the top10 are relatively small and simple why many luxury ones lie at the bottom. It only makes the Accord's performance even more impressive though, since this car in Europe is available with an impressive array of electronic gizmos (including CMBS, LKAS, and ACC...)

3. Some people like Audi do not think their results are significant, and here is what they said after watching their A5 score :

"Based on the very small sample size of the Which? survey, the reliability score for the A5 represents a total of just seven faults, and Audi has so far sold over 8,000 A5 models in the UK.

"Audi is world renowned for building extremely high quality cars, and in the vast majority of cases very strong reliability scores reflect this. We believe that sample sizes of below 500 cars do not generate useful or workable data, and we therefore do not acknowledge the Which? findings as valid indicators of the level of A5 reliability."