BRITAIN'S biggest selling fleet cars have failed to make the top 50 in a customer satisfaction survey carried out by the American J D Power research organisation. The top scorers were all Japanese with only Skoda, BMW and Mercedes Benz breaking the stranglehold.

The organisation said new cars may be getting better but British drivers were still dissatisfied with the service they received from the franchised dealer network.

Owners of 'L' plate Hondas are the most satisfied in the UK according to the survey, in which 19% of cars were company vehicles. Hondas were rated highly in all areas including vehicle performance, economy, build quality and problem incidence/resolution to customer care, warranty, parts and service and service costs. Toyota came second and Mazda third. Rover admitted it was 'worried' by the findings, while Ford and Vauxhall both said their own internal satisfaction surveys revealed a high level of contentment among customers.

The top ten models were: 1-Toyota Corolla, 2-Honda Civic, 3-Toyota Carina, 4-Mazda 323, 5-Mitsubishi Colt, 6-Mazda 626, 7-Honda Accord, 8-Subaru Legacy, 9-Subaru Impreza and 10-Nissan Micra.