Revealed: the UK's most (and least) loved cars
Michael joined Which? in 2017 and is the senior researcher on the Cars team. He’s passionate about improving safety and fairness for all road users — from drivers to pedestrians.
Getting a steer on what real owners think about their car is a crucial factor in choosing your next big purchase.
We’ve done the heavy lifting with our huge annual car survey (covering 63,334 owners and 72,470 cars) and can reveal what owners think about nearly 500 popular models from the past 20 years.
Read on to see which cars excelled and use our exclusive data to find out how your current – or next – car fared.
Best cars: see the cars that aced our tough and independent lab tests
The UK’s most loved car: Lexus ES
With a customer score* of 93%, the Lexus ES full hybrid (2019-25) is the most-loved car according to our latest survey.
A luxurious and efficient motorway cruiser, it first went on sale in the UK in 2019 and was discontinued last year, with around 7,000 sold. Originally priced from £40k, it can now be had for less than half that (over 150 were available on Autotrader when we checked).
‘Wonderful to drive, very smooth, quiet with little road noise, very efficient on fuel,’ one owner told us. Another simply said ‘sheer class’. In the lab, we were impressed with the car’s comfortable ride and build quality, as well as its fuel economy of 51mpg in our efficiency test – very impressive for a luxury saloon.
For cars you can still buy new, it’s a three-way tie between the 2022-onwards plug-in hybrid Kia Sportage (2022-), which is also the most loved PHEV, and two Honda full hybrids: the Honda Civic (2022-) and Honda Jazz Crosstar (2020-).
Electric cars also proved popular in our latest survey, with the Kia EV3 (2024-) being both the joint most-loved EV and the most reliable EV in its age group, according to our data. Another Kia EV – the E-Niro (2019-22) – was similarly satisfying to own.
Among purely fossil fuel-powered cars, it’s the spacious Skoda Superb Estate (2015-24) that won the hearts of its owners as the most-loved petrol or diesel car.
The UK’s least loved car: Alpine A110
At the other end of the table, it’s a nippy sports car that received a tepid response from owners.
The Alpine A110 has some fans, but it only managed a 54% customer score; by far the lowest of any car in our survey. Reliability issues are front-and-centre, according to our data, and while some respondents complimented its nimble handling, any pros seem to be outweighed by the car’s impracticality and owner-reported technical issues.
It’s worth noting that other two-seater sports cars fared much better in our survey, so it’s not simply the fact that sports cars are impractical. In fact, the 2015 onwards Mazda MX-5 wasn’t just the most-loved sports car available to buy new, but one of the most loved overall, with a satisfaction score of 89%.
Alpine told us: 'While our data does not highlight any patterns of high unreliability or high running costs in comparison to its rivals, we will always strive to deliver the best experience possible to our prospective customers and owners.'
The most and least loved cars by fuel type
The two tables below show the most and least loved cars for each of our fuel-type groups (petrol/diesel, electric, full hybrid and plug-in hybrid).
Of course, a high customer score doesn't necessarily mean the car has performed well in our tough lab tests, so be sure to click through to the reviews to get our definitive verdict.
Log in to your Which? account to unlock the test score results, or join us today to get instant access.
Most-loved cars by fuel type
| Fuel-type group | Car (click for review) | Customer score (sample size) | Which? test score |
| Petrol/diesel | Skoda Superb Estate (2015-24) | 91% (115) | |
| Electric | Kia EV3 (2024-) | 91% (90) | |
| Electric | Kia E-Niro (2019-22) | 91% (228) | |
| Full hybrid | Lexus ES (2019-25) | 93% (53) | |
| Plug-in hybrid | Kia Sportage PHEV (2022-) | 92% (49) |
Least-loved cars by fuel type
| Fuel-type group | Car (click for review) | Customer score (sample size) | Which? test score |
| Petrol/diesel | Alpine A110 (2019-) | 54% (56) | |
| Electric | Vauxhall Mokka Electric (2020-) | 64% (44) | |
| Full hybrid | Range Rover Evoque PHEV (2020-) | 62% (43) | Not tested |
| Plug-in hybrid | BMW 3 Series Saloon (2012-19) | 76% (64) |
Results in full: how did your car fare?
Use the search bar in the table below to find your car of choice in our table.
Favourite fuel types
With pure petrol and diesel cars being removed from the new car market from 2030 onwards, it’s worth getting a steer from current owners of the next generation of legal engine types to see how it’s going for them.
Generally, it’s good news for the engine types that will be legal to sell from 2030. Full hybrids (cars with short electric-only range, sometimes called ‘self-charging’ hybrids) sit at the top of the table, with an 87% customer score. These are followed closely by electric-range extenders on 84% (where electric motors drive the car but an engine is also present purely to charge the battery) and pure battery electric cars on 83%.
Plug-in hybrids (a mix of plug-in battery electric and pure fossil fuel) were mid-table on 80%, just ahead of petrol and diesel cars at 78%.
These satisfaction figures mostly match our reliability data, which shows full hybrids are by far the most reliable type of car in the 0-4 year age group, with petrol and electric tied in second place. Down in fourth are PHEVs and diesels, which are the joint-least reliable fuel type according to our survey.
Should you buy an electric car? Read our guide to find out the questions you need to ask yourself