Mini is Britain’s best used buy

The iconic MINI is officially Britain’s best all-round used car package, according to a new survey involving the nation’s motoring media.

Automotive warranty company, Warranty Direct, canvassed the judgement of journalists on a shortlist of the forty most reliable models in the market. The poll looked at eight categories in all - Supermini, Small Family, Family Car, Compact Executive, Executive, MPV, 4x4 and Roadsters – using data from over 56,000 policies.

Such a majority concurred that MINI was ‘best in class’ that it not only topped its respective category, but also raced away with the title of Britain’s Best Used Car Buy by gaining more votes than any other model considered.

Following the MINI closely the finish, Mazda’s MX-5 won the Roadsters category with a resounding 61 percent of votes, while BMW’s 5-Series took the final place on the winner’s rostrum with 58 percent of votes in the Executive sector.

Over half of the journalists interviewed agreed the honour of best Small Family Car should go to Ford’s Focus. The Honda Accord - which recently topped a Warranty Direct poll of the Top 100 most reliable used cars over the past decade – won the accolade of best Family Car with 45 percent of the votes.

Less unanimity was reached in the Compact Executive, MPV and 4x4 categories, with BMW’s 3-Series, the Vauxhall Zafira and the BMW X5 motoring away with the honours respectively.

“Reliability continues to be a key factor for any used car buyer,” says Duncan McClure Fisher, spokesman for Warranty Direct, “but clearly there are many other factors which affect a car’s overall desirability.”

“The specialist, informed knowledge of our respondents means this survey can safely offer sound advice to anyone looking to buy in the current used car market”.

For the record, the most reliable cars for each category are: Nissan Micra (SuperMini), Honda Civic (Small Family), Honda Accord (Family Car), Lexus IS (Compact Executive), Mercedes E-Class (Executive), Vauxhall Zafira (MPV), Honda CR-V (4x4) and Mazda MX-5 (Roadsters).