Small, cheap cars are more reliable than larger expensive models, a new report has found.

According to a survey by consumer watchdog Which?, the Honda Jazz is Britain's most reliable new car.

The Honda Jazz, which can cost less than £9,000, scored a whooping 95 per cent for reliability, outscoring the more expensive BMW 5 Series and the Jaguar S-type.

Seven cars came in equal second place with 92 per cent for reliability - Honda's Accord and CR-V, Mazda 3, Renault Clio, Toyota Corolla, Vauxhall Corsa and Subaru Forester.

The BMW 5 Series and the Jaguar S-type both scored a disappointing 83 per cent in the reliability survey.

Even the Mercedes-Benz E-class, which costs over £27,000, had its fair share of problems, with 32 per cent of owners needing repairs in the last 12 months, the Which? study found.

The least reliable new car in the survey was Ford's MPV, the Focus C-Max, which scored a miserable 78 per cent.

Neil Fowler, Which?: "Good news for consumers - some cheaper cars are very reliable."

Other cars rated poorly for reliability are the Jaguar X-type, Nissan Primera, Renault Mégane and Renault Scénic, which all managed just 80 per cent.

Which? also assessed customer satisfaction ratings for servicing and repairs at franchised car dealers.

Unsurprisingly, the brands performing well for model reliability also scored highly for customer satisfaction.

Lexus came out top, with nearly 80 per cent of customers very satisfied with servicing and repairs.

Porsche finished in second place with a satisfaction score of 73 per cent and Honda came third with 70 per cent.

Alfa Romeo and Chrysler came joint bottom with 31 per cent, while Jeep and Mercedes-Benz also performed badly.

Neil Fowler, editor of Which?, said: "Good news for consumers - some cheaper cars are very reliable.

"Several expensive models need to up their game to compete. And several franchised dealers who repair 'prestige' cars need to raise their standards, too."

The reliability scores are a combination of breakdowns, faults and niggles recorded over a 12 month period on cars up to two years old.

A fault means something had to be replaced - for example, a failed heater fan, while niggles are defined as annoying problems, such as squeaky cabin trim, that don't put the car off the road.

On average, 5 per cent of all new cars broke down in the last year, 27 per cent had faults and 19 per cent had niggles.

The reliability survey was sent to 80,000 Which? readers and data was collected on 32,550 cars.

The article Smaller cars 'are more reliable' originally appeared on 999 Today