Which? Don't Buy cars

One sure-fire way for a car to earn a Don’t Buy rating is a poor safety rating.

Over twenty years ago, Which? helped to set up safety organisation Euro NCAP, exposing major safety shortcomings in the process.

Today, nine out of ten cars have a Euro NCAP safety rating and if any vehicle gets a rating of three stars or fewer, it’s an instant Which? Don’t Buy.

As well as being safe, a car must also be reliable, and that’s where our annual survey comes in.

Every year, tens of thousands of drivers complete our annual reliability survey and tell us about the cars they own and any problems they’ve had. This feedback reveals breakdown and fault rates, and how long cars spend off the road being fixed. 

The worst cars are particularly prone to issues and typically have an average fault rate of about 50%. This means that half of all owners we heard from have had something go wrong with their car in the last twelve months. By comparison, the average fault rate for cars aged 0-4 years that score at least four stars is around 15%.

Each year, we update all our car reviews with the latest reliability information, allowing you to see which are the least likely to develop faults - and which ones are likely to keep your local garage busy.

We’ve also created a reliability tool, so you can see at a glance which are the most reliable cars.

How Which? tests cars

We test around one hundred cars a year, across the entire market and price spectrum. Each vehicle we assess is subject to hundreds of tests in our lab, as well as being driven on road by our expert team.

Our comprehensive assessments mean we can tell you everything about a car's dynamic behaviour, from how well the car handles and drives, to how the suspension handles everything from potholes to the signature patchy tarmac of the British B-road. 

In addition:

• Our fuel economy and emission tests reveal just how much you will really need to spend on fuel, and just how clean the car really is.
• We don’t use manufacturer measurements. We measure every car boot ourselves and only list the usable space – not the nooks and crannies.
• We also use dummies to work out how much head, leg and knee space there is for the driver and passengers.
• Unlike others, we don’t give a subjective rating to how good the visibility is. We take measurements from all round the car using a rotating camera, measuring the 360-degree view from the driver’s seat.

Which? is independent – we work for you, the consumer, so you can be sure that our product recommendations are influenced only by our test results. We're not influenced by third parties and we don't accept freebies from product manufacturers or retailers. Our advice exists solely to help you to make the right choice first time and avoid costly mistakes.

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