However, buying used can mean you're taking on someone else's problem child, so you need to choose the make and model carefully. That's where the What Car? Reliability Survey can help. With data from more than 18,000 car owners, we can help you sort the good cars from the lemons.
Looking exclusively at the results for used cars aged four to 10 years old, we've rated all the SUVs we were told about. Those with more faults and costly repair bills get a lower score than the ones that provide problem-free motoring. Here, we reveal the top 10 most reliable older SUVs and the least reliable ones that are best avoided.Although 23% of iX35 owners reported a fault, most of the problems were minor, including interior trim, non-engine electrics and wheels/tyres. Most cars remained drivable and repair bills didn't exceed £300. Again a fairly high proportion of cars had a fault (28%), but most weren't serious, concerning non-engine electrics and wheels/tyres. A small percentage of cars also had issues with engine electrics, the exhaust, sat-nav and suspension. The majority of cars were drivable and were fixed in less than a week, and only a small percentage of owners faced bills of up to £750. Just over 22% of Kuga owners reported a fault with their car, and 5% of faults concerned the engine. Other issues we were told about included the bodywork, engine electrics and exterior lights. More than half of cars could still be driven, and some were fixed under warranty, but a small percentage of owners were landed with repair bills of up to £1000.More than 36% of X1s had a fault, with 5% of problems relating to the engine. However, the most frequently cited problem areas were interior trim (9%) and non-engine electrics (11%). Most cars we were told about could still be driven, but some repair bills were up to £1500.Fewer Touaregs (23%) had a problem, with the areas concerned split evenly between bodywork, engine and non-electrics, gearbox and interior trim. Most cars could still be driven, and most were fixed the same day, with just a small percentage of owners faced with repair bills of up to £300.
