THE Peugeot 207 has been named as Europe’s most reliable car in an analysis of more than 20,000 vehicles.
The French built hatch topped the list of models in a reliability index drawn up by Warranty Direct.
Of the 20,000 policies examined by Warranty Direct for cars aged between three and seven years only six per cent of Peugeot owners reported having to pay for repairs with the average bill coming to £332.
Fiat’s Panda came in second place at 14 per cent while another Peugeot, the 206 CC convertible came in third at 17 per cent.
Overall, Peugeot has three cars in the top ten with the 107 supermini ranked ninth.
At the other end of the scale, 47 per cent of the Mercedes SL models covered by Warranty Direct recorded a fault, with 36 per cent of those suspension-related.
The Renault Clio is the cheapest to repair at £173 on average, while the most expensive single claim among the bottom five cars was £7,239 for a BMW 7-Series fault.
To measure a car’s overall reliability and running costs, Warranty Direct’s Reliability Index reviews rate of failure, average mileage, age and repair cost to calculate its rating.
The top ten cars in the index are: Peugeot 207, Fiat Panda, Peugeot 206 CC, VW Polo, Renault Clio, VW Beetle, smart forfour, Volvo S40, Peugeot 107 and Mercedes SLK.