A survey published yesterday by What Car? has shown that, once again, the majority of the most reliable providers of used cars is based in the land of the Rising Sun.

The annual What Car? Reliability Survey compiles a list of the world’s top car manufacturers ranked on the magazine’s Reliability Index, which is based on a range of criteria such as the average breakdown rate, and the general amount of money required to repair one.

The top five positions in the overall chart– as well as one tied for sixth – are occupied by Japanese firms, with Honda taking the crown for the seventh consecutive year.

While a Honda’s average repair cost across all its models is a rather unwieldy £361, only one in ten Honda drivers would find themselves having to shell out that cash at all, making for an extremely impressive Reliability Index score.

In the Supermini category, the Honda Jazz takes third place with a even lower fail rate than the category winner, the Vauxhall Agila – however, the incredibly low cost of repairs for the Agila is what won the day, along with the lowest (and therefore best) RI score in the entire survey, of 3.

The pattern repeats in the Family Car category, as the Honda Accord takes the runner-up spot behind compatriot car the Subaru Legacy; its fail rate would again see it take gold if not for the repair bill of over £430.

There are three more cars of Japanese origin in the top 10. Meanwhile, only two of the top ten Small Family Car list are not Japanese; the Civic takes both fourth and fifth on the list – with the newer model at fourth – while Volvo takes victory with the S40 of 1996-2004 scoring 22 points less than the older Civic.

British manufacturers Land Rover took a beating on the list of most reliable manufacturers, with its over seven in ten chance of a breakdown coming in at a distant last place; sixteen percentage points higher than its nearest rival, Alfa Romeo – itself saddled with a disappointing 55% fail rate, but almost 100 points better off on the Reliability Index.

Other luxury brands like BMW, Jaguar and Audi were equally unconvincing – with an average RI of 185 and all more than 40% likely to break down.