Have you ever owned a car that’s left you stranded on the hard shoulder? If so, you’ll know how it feels to lose faith in the reliability of your pride and joy. There’s often no coming back from a serious defect, but even a niggling fault can take the pleasure out of ownership. To top this category a model will need a clean record when it comes to parts failure. Lexus is a champ at building cars to last – and here’s the proof. Despite being a decade old, there is no more reliable vehicle on the road than the original IS. A 97.54 per cent rating here is one of the highest on record. Other notable achievers include the Toyota Prius in second, and Kia’s bargain-priced Cee’d in third. Both have edged ahead of last year’s winner, Honda’s S2000, in fourth.

It’s no surprise the best-made cars are usually the most reliable. It doesn’t matter how fine the materials are if the build process isn’t up to scratch. The original Lexus IS’s success shows that its unbeatable reliability comes hand-in-hand with seamless build quality. With a cabin free from rattles, switchgear that appears new and a box-fresh feeling to the dash, it’s got the lot. SUV big brother the RX is in third place, while Skoda’s Superb takes a well deserved silver medal. It’s a different story at the bottom. Citroen’s C4 is last, while Renault’s Scenic and Grand Scenic do little better. Land Rover’s old Discovery has managed to get seven places off the bottom in the overall chart, but sits in 100th place in the reliability rank.