Dated: 20 January 2010
The Best and Worst 4x4/SUVs
With the recent extreme winter weather making travelling almost impossible in some parts of Britain and start of the greatest off-road race – the Dakar Rally – on the 1st of January, SUVs and 4x4s have been in high demand lately.
With that in mind Warranty Direct have – using their database of 150,000 policies on vehicles between three to eight years old – recently released a statement detailing the most and least reliable second hand 4x4 and SUV vehicles on the market at the moment.
Using their Reliability Index, Warranty Direct named the Audi A6 Allroad as the worst off-roader - it appears than more than half of the A6 Allroad’s recorded a fault in a typical year – with a third of these problems being down the to the vehicle’s suspension.
So that was the worst, but which vehicle is the most reliable? According to the report, the Honda CR-V (01-06) is the off-road vehicle that is the least likely to let you down. With the Suzuke Grand Vitara (98-05) coming in a close second.
The top ten and bottom ten vehicles can be seen below, courtesy of Warranty Direct:
Top 10 4x4/SUVs
| Manufacturer | Model | Average Repair Cost | Reliability Index Rating |
| 1. Honda | CR-V (01-06) | £239.63 | 23.10 |
| 2. Suzuki | Grand Vitara (98-05) | £219.43 | 33.01 |
| 3. Toyota | RAV4 (00-06) | £330.58 | 42.69 |
| 4. Mitsubishi | Shogun (00-07) | £595.58 | 47.53 |
| 5. Kia | Sorento (03-) | £332.34 | 59.36 |
| 6. Nissan | Terrano II (93-06) | £277.25 | 62.81 |
| 7. Land Rover | Freelander (03-06) | £370.23 | 66.11 |
| 8. Lexus | RX300 (03-09) | £571.60 | 68.69 |
| 9. Nissan | X-Trail (01-) | £433.18 | 73.69 |
10. Toyota | Landcruiser (03-) | £525.01 | 82.78 |
Bottom 10 4x4/SUVs
| Manufacturer | Model | Average Repair Cost | Reliability Index Rating |
| 1. Audi | A6 Allroad (00-05) | £516.03 | 281.60 |
| 2. Volkswagen | Touareg (03-) | £567.92 | 194.01 |
| 3. BMW | X5 (00-) | £517.30 | 193.36 |
| 4. Jeep | Cherokee (01-08) | £522.40 | 155.72 |
| 5. Volvo | XC90 (02-) | £522.83 | 153.88 |
| 6. Land Rover | Range Rover (02-) | £493.59 | 140.96 |
| 7. Land Rover | Discovery (98-04) | £332.17 | 120.11 |
| 8. Mercedes | M-Class (98-05) | £393.01 | 119.85 |
| 9. Land Rover | Discovery (04-) | £405.10 | 119.44 |
| 10. Volvo | XC70 (00-07) | £429.53 | 115.21 |
If you are in need of 4x4 tyres, check out the 4x4 section of the website.
