Ford has once again taken top spot in the manufacturer and vehicle reliability rankings, conducted by sister publication Fleet News. The independent survey, which asks the Top 50 leasing and contract hire companies for their most reliable vehicles, was carried out during 2014.
The survey
Vans are the most important tool of any business, as they provide the transportation for the tradespeople, the machinery and goods. That’s why reliability and build quality are the biggest buying factors that people look for when purchasing their new van.
The risers
More than 180,000 vans were included as part of the survey, making it the largest of its kind for the UK. The most reliable vehicle was the Ford Transit, while Ford as a whole took the manufacturer title for the third time in a row.
A surprise entrant to the Top 10 was the Citroen Berlingo, which scooped sixth place, while the Ford Transit Custom and Toyota Hilux were featured for the first time.
As well as having the most reliable pickup, Toyota featured in the Top 10 for the manufacturers rankings for the very first time, despite only having three light commercial vehicles. Fellow pickup manufacturer Mitsubishi hung on to tenth place.
The fallers
The biggest faller was the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, which fell from second to seventh place. This may be due to teething problems arising from the current generation of Sprinter, which was introduced back in 2013.
It was a particularly bad year for Renaults, with the Renault Trafic and Renault Master both falling out of the Top 10, and falling from fifth to eighth in the manufacturer ratings. The only other van to fall out of the Top 10 was the Vauxhall Movano.
Top 5 Most Reliable Vans
| 2014 Results | 2013 Results |
| Ford Transit | Ford Transit |
| Volkswagen Transporter | Mercedes-Benz Sprinter |
| Ford Transit Connect | Ford Transit Connect |
| Mercedes-Benz Vito | Volkswagen Transporter |
| Volkswagen Caddy | Volkswagen Caddy |
| Citroen Berlingo | Mercedes-Benz Vito |
| Mercedes-Benz Sprinter | Vauxhall Vivaro |
| Vauxhall Vivaro | Renault Trafic |
| Ford Transit Custom | Vauxhall Movano |
| Toyota Hilux | Renault Master |
Top 5 Most Reliable Manufacturers
| 2014 Results | 2013 Results |
| Ford | Ford |
| Volkswagen | Volkswagen |
| Mercedes-Benz | Mercedes-Benz |
| Vauxhall | Vauxhall |
| Citroen | Renault |
| Peugeot | Peugeot |
| Nissan | Nissan |
| Renault | Citroen |
| Toyota | Fiat |
| Mitsubishi | Mitsubishi |
