Honda has been named as the most reliable manufacturer for the fifth year running, with the top seven spots being dominated by Japanese manufacturers.

Honda beat Subaru to the top spot, with Mitsubishi, Lexus, Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, Skoda, Kia and Mini all in the top ten. Skoda’s eighth place makes it the most reliable European marque.

Only seven per cent of eligible Honda owners claimed for a repair on their warranty last year.

The Reliability Index results are compiled by Warranty Direct using real-world repair claims by 50,000 policy holders who own cars aged three to 10-years old.

Bottom of the heap was British manufacturer Land Rover, with 53 per cent of owners suffering a fault over 12 months.

Prestigious manufacturers fell foul of reliability woes, with BMW, Rover, Audi, Peugeot, Vauxhall, MG, Saab, Renault, Alfa Romeo and Land Rover in the bottom ten.

Warranty Direct also compared the average repair costs for each manufacturer and found Porsche models to be most expensive to fix, with an average bill of £717.

The ten most reliable manufacturers: gallery

Renault had the lowest average repair cost of £226 per warranty claim. The typical bill for a Land Rover is £412.

Warrant Direct managing director, Duncan McClure Fisher, said: “Car manufacturers are constantly making great strides in building more reliable vehicles, so this survey is not a reflection on new cars coming out now – we won’t see hard data on those vehicles for three or four years.”

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By Andy Goodwin, senior web journalist