If you’re looking for a car that should not draw upon your roadside assistance policy too much, then examining the top 20 best cars might be a good idea. And ‘best’ in this case has been defined by the 46,000 Auto Express readers who took part in the magazine’s influential 2013 Power Driver Survey.
This list focusses on the best brands, as opposed to the best models. It combines feedback on individual models, together with overall customer service. The survey looked at numerous aspects of owning a car, which given the large survey size, makes it a list worth paying attention to.
Leading the pack this year is Lexus, climbing from 2nd place last year. Skoda has been knocked off the top spot, but still manages a healthy runner-up position. In third is Jaguar, the only British brand in the list, which hasn’t moved since last year. Mazda has enjoyed a meteoric rise to 4th, from 12 last year, while Mercedez Benz has risen from 8th to 5th.
Comparing the three biggest car producers against the table offers up some interesting findings. The world’s biggest car maker, Toyota, does in fact have the best (or most popular) car marque, in the form of its luxury brand, Lexus. Toyota itself is at 9. The world’s second biggest car maker (to date) is GM, but it has no brands in the top 10. It does, however, own Chevrolet, which finds itself in 20th position. Volkswagen, no. 3 auto producer in the world, has brought the Skoda brand back to winning ways since its takeover – placing it at number 2.
Here’s the top 10 best cars as identified by the 2013 Power Driver Survey, from Auto Express. Previous year in brackets.
1. Lexus – (2)
2. Skoda – (1)
3. Jaguar – (3)
4. Mazda – (12)
5. Mercedes Benz – (8)
6. Honda – (7)
7. Kia – (9)
8. Volvo – (10)
9. Toyota – (6)
10. Audi – (13)
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