Also, all the cars we recommend have to be easy to get hold of, with plenty of models on the market and with a wide choice of engines and trims. Reliability is crucial, and we rely heavily on the data from our own What Car? Reliability Survey when choosing our winners. Simply put, a good car is one that fulfils its intended brief, so whether it’s an SUV or a coupé, it should do what it says on the tin, and it should do it better than its closest competitors. The first thing to consider is what makes a good car. Meanwhile, others are looking for cars at the cheaper end of the market, with the aim of reducing their dependence on public transport in the wake of Covid-19. Many people have cottoned on to the fact that buying used can offer you most of what buying new can but at a greatly reduced cost.

The website also provides free maintenance reports for specific years, makes and models that can reveal upcoming maintenance required, common check engine light problems, open recalls, and other relevant information.That’s where the What Car? annual used car awards come in… You can read ’s full 2019 Vehicle Health Index, which further cites top models by category here. Here are the 10 most reliable used vehicles that required the fewest check engine light-related trips to the repair shop, auto-parts store, or a new-car dealer’s service department over a 12-month period:Īnd these are the 10 models found to have the lowest average repair costs when the check engine light: stays on: On the plus side, these repairs combined only account for less than one half of one percent of all repairs reported by CarMD’s network of technicians. Other budget-busting fixes include replacing the electronic power steering control unit ($5,201), the transmission and torque converter ($5,051), the audio and visual control unit ($4,293) and a hybrid-vehicle’s battery pack ($4,149). The most expensive check engine-related repair in CarMD’s database is a complete engine replacement at a whopping $7,150.

Consumer reports best used cars