From their webpage;

4x4s - the good, the bad and the not worth buying
Wondering which 4 x 4 you should buy? Well Warranty Direct has revealed the most - and least - dependable 4x4s and SUVs based on real world warranty claims and breakdown statistics.

Honda's HR-V (1998-2006) performed best, with only three in 100 recording a fault in the last 12 months, followed by Suzuki's Grand Vitara (2005 onwards).

In stark contrast, Land Rover's Range Rover (2002-onwards) was shown to be the most breakdown prone off-roader - two thirds of its reported faults were suspension or electrical hiccups - behind the Jeep Grand Cherokee (1999-2005) and Volkswagen's Touareg (2003 onwards).

The study of nearly 16,000 three- to eight-year-old 4x4s and SUVs revealed the market segment to have some of the most expensive to run vehicles on Warranty Direct's books. Predictably, the top-10 is dominated by Japanese and Korean manufacturers, but Land Rover's Freelander (2006 onwards) breaks their stranglehold, with only one in five breaking down annually and a modest average repair cost.

As used 4x4 prices rise prior to the inevitable cold snap, buyers are advised to seize the moment.

The study used Warranty Direct's unique Reliability Index rating (www.reliabilityindex.co.uk), which takes into account how often vehicles break down, average repair cost and time spent in the garage to calculate its overall reliability. The lower the Reliability Index number, the more reliable and cheaper to repair the car.

Top 10 rated 4x4/SUVs
(A lower Reliability Index rating means the vehicle is more reliable and less expensive to run. 100 is the average)



Make Model Year Reliability Index Rating
Honda HR-V (98-06) 6
Suzuki Grand Vitara (05-) 20
Honda CR-V (07-) 21
Subaru Forester (02-0 46
Mitsubishi Shogun Pinin (99-06) 50
Kia Sportage (05-) 56
Land Rover Freelander (06-) 56
Nissan X-Trail (07-) 69
Kia Sorento (03-) 69
Hyundai Santa Fe (01-06) 74


Warranty Direct's Duncan McClure Fisher said: "Modern 4x4s are a far cry from the noisy and uncomfortable off-roaders of the past. They are fairly expensive to run but our study shows that there's a handful of incredibly reliable 4x4s which won't break the bank.

"A four-wheel-drive vehicle is most definitely the transport of choice for any motorist during our cold months, particularly judging by our last few winters."

Bottom 5 rated 4x4/SUVs
(A higher Reliability Index rating means the vehicle is less reliable and more expensive to run. 100 is the average)

Make Model Year Reliability Index Rating
Land Rover Range Rover (02-) 305
Jeep Grand Cherokee (99-05) 253
Volkswagen Touareg (03-) 232
BMW X5 (00-07) 216
Volvo XC90 (02-) 205


In contrast to the top 10, none of the bottom 5 rated 4x4s hail from the East, instead they originate from Europe or America.

One thing overlooked in that posting is desirability. Faults can occur with any product ,,the above listing will only point towards less risk of breakdown, it doesn't mean that if you buy the 100th car is going to have faults, it doesn't work like that.

One major fault with the above survey noticably omits mileage. For example if a new car stands in a showroom its not going to show any failures, yet one thats done 100,000 miles one average will produce some niggling faults.

So my advice is to totally ignore any such surverys as they are not worth the paper their printed on.

Realspeed Ex 2010 Freelander2 GS-e Diesel manual Silver owner

Is a survey like that done on the same number of cars for each make and model

For all we know the only have 50 Honda's on their books, whereas they might have 5000 Range Rovers. Any survey like that I take with a pinch of salt. ______________________
2011 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8
2012 FL2 SD4 Auto HSE
2013 Kawasaki Versys 650