Warrantywise reveals least reliable vans and pick-ups

The Ford Ranger has been named as the least reliable LCV in the UK by Warrantywise, based on warranty claim data from its reliability index.

By analysing the warranty claims and repairs for more than 12,000 LCVs aged over three-years-old, the warranty provider has highlighted the most- and least-reliable vehicles.

The Nissan NV200 sits at the top of the Warrantywise reliability table, with just five repairs performed against 222 active warranties.

Second place goes to the VW Crafter, while the Renault Kangoo places third.

At the other end of the table, Ford’s Ranger pick-up was found to have the most warranty claims per vehicles covered. It wasn’t the only pick-up to perform poorly, however. The Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi L200 and VW Amarok all rank in the bottom 10 for the number of warranty claims per active warranty.

Scooping the top spot as the most reliable pick-up truck is the Toyota Hilux, which saw a repair rate of just 10% placing it sixth in the overall reliability standings.

Lawrence Whittaker, CEO of Warrantywise, said: “Vehicle reliability and overall value for money is critically important for business owners across the country; many of whom depend on their van or pick-up truck to carry equipment, deliver goods and reach their customers on time. The logical drive to save on overheads has seen more and more drivers drawn to attractive, used vehicle offers.

“Many, however, naturally have concerns about how the vehicle was treated by its previous owner and could find themselves both off the road and shouldering a hefty repair bill if it develops a fault outside of its manufacturer warranty.”

The annual FN50 survey, which monitors reliability of new in-contract vehicles found the Mercedes Sprinter to be the most reliable LCV model, followed by the VW Transporter and VW Caddy.

Top 10 most reliable LCVs:

Top 10 least reliable LCVs:

Repair costs

Warrantywise also highlighted the commercial vehicles that have the highest repair costs, based on its repair data.

Operators of the Fiat-based Citroen Relay and Citroen Nemo are most likely to face the heftiest invoices for repair work, with the average repair costing £1,284.46 and £1,227.00 respectively, according to Warrantywise data.

Conversely, Citroen Dispatch owners enjoyed the cheapest repair cost of all the surveyed models, with an average invoice of just £287.60 overall.

The LCV with the most Warrantywise plans is the best-selling Ford Transit. It held a respectable mid-table position, with 19% of warranty plan holders requiring work. Of those needing repairs, the average cost amounted to a middling £699.58. The second-most popular LCV, the Vauxhall Vivaro, was less reliable than the Ford, assuming the position as the eighth least reliable vehicle overall with a repair rate of 22%. In total, repairs were on average slightly cheaper than the Transit at £651.33.

Top 10 least expensive to repair LCVs:

Top 10 most expensive to repair LCVs:

All Warrantywise data based on a minimum sample size of 100 vehicles per make and per model. All data contained within the Warrantywise Reliability Index relates to repairs on vehicles at least three-years-old between 01/01/2018 and 30/04/2020.