In our most recent Reliability Survey, held in association with MotorEasy, more than 18,000 people told us how dependable their cars had been over the previous 12 months, with a quarter reporting at least one fault.

To help rate those faults for seriousness, we divided them into 15 categories: air-con, battery, bodywork, brakes, engine, engine electrics, exhaust, fuel system, gearbox/clutch, interior trim, non-engine electrics, sat-nav, steering, suspension and other. The most frequent area where problems were cited was non-engine electrics, with 24% of owners reporting this type of fault.

We also asked owners to tell us how long their car was off the road while it was getting fixed and how much the repairs cost. While the majority of faults cost £101-£200 to put right, 3% of owners paid more than £1500.