Japanese cars have triumphed in this year's reliability survey from What Car? and Warranty Direct, helping Honda into the number one spot for a third consecutive year.

Honda had six vehicles in the model top 10, however, making it the number-one brand once again; Toyota finished in second and Subaru in third.

The Toyota Corolla ('00-'02) is the most reliable car in this year's survey overall, closely followed by the Honda CR-V ('97-'02). Third place in the model league table is a tie between the Honda HR-V ('99-'05) and Toyota Celica ('00-'06).

The reliability of the Mini puts it fifth in the manufacturer league table, while Nissan is sixth. The bad news is that the Jaguar XK8 ('96-'06) sits third from bottom in the model table, and the Land Rover Freelander ('00-'06) and Range Rover ('95-'02) wallow seventh from last alongside the Audi Allroad ('00-'05). The Alfa Romeo GTV ('96-'03) is the least-reliable car in the survey overall, while BMW is the only German brand to squeeze into the manufacturer top 10, in tenth place.

The study analysed data from 26 manufacturers and included 133 different models. Data from more than 35,000 vehicles was studied, and the average age of cars in the survey was 4.9 years.

The data proves that expensive doesn't necessarily mean reliable. The more mechanically and electronically complicated a vehicle, especially if it's of European origin, the more likely you are to suffer problems.

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