The UK’s 10 favourite cars to own: Driver Power 2024 results

The time has arrived for us to round up the winners from Driver Power 2024, the UK’s most comprehensive car owner survey. 

After thousands of responses covering 10 different categories, we’ve pieced together the data and applied a statistical weighting to come up with a definitive ranking of the 50 most satisfying-to-own cars on the market, while results in individual categories allow you to see which cars are ranked highest in terms of reliability, running costs, and more.

Scroll down to read more about this year’s top ten.

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10. Ford Puma

The Ford Puma isn’t just one of the UK’s best-selling cars, it’s also proved to be one of the most satisfying to live with. Some were sceptical when Ford axed its popular Fiesta supermini and doubled down on the Puma SUV, but it appears to be a move that the British car buying public has responded positively to. Strong finishes in engine, practicality and infotainment categories resulted in a top 10 finish for the Puma, although lower scores for insurance costs and interior quality held it back from a higher position.
 

9. Citroen C5 Aircross

Citroen clinched the overall win in last year’s survey with the C4 hatchback, but it's the C5 Aircross that breaks into the top 10 this year. Owners were impressed by the mid-size SUV’s low running costs and practicality, although its quirky exterior styling proved divisive and lost it some points. Citroen’s decision to tune the C5 Aircross’s suspension for comfort over sportiness was evident in the ride and handling results; it landed sixth place for ride comfort, while steering and road handling lagged behind in the bottom 10.

8. Peugeot 2008

Another French SUV, the Peugeot 2008 is clearly the better-looking of the two in the eyes of the British public. It achieved a fourth-place finish for the exterior styling sub-category, while an even better third place for interior styling proves that Peugeot’s design team knows its stuff. The 2008 impressed in other areas, too, delivering strong performances for safety features, interior quality and other running costs. Owners weren’t so keen on the 2008’s user-friendliness of the controls and its driver’s seat visibility, however. 

7. Mazda CX-5

The Mazda CX-5 climbed two positions from last year’s ninth-place finish, although it can’t match the silver medal it achieved in 2022. Still, seventh place is nothing to be sniffed at, with owners praising the CX-5’s strong reliability and style both inside and out. Its interior usability and safety systems received glowing feedback from owners, as did its overall value for money. The biggest detractor was running costs; 29th for fuel economy and 36th for insurance and other costs prevented the CX-5 from achieving a higher position.

6. Peugeot 208

The Peugeot 208 supermini is as good to drive as it looks, if the results from our Driver Power survey are anything to go by. A second-place finish for exterior styling was only beaten by its outright win in the steering and brake response and ride quality sub-categories. The silver medal was also awarded to the 208 for acceleration and engine noise, as well as driving pleasure, most likely helped by the punchy electric E-208. Rear legroom was rated poorly by owners, however, as was the user-friendliness of the interior controls. 

5. MINI Hatchback

Sneaking into the top five is the MINI Hatchback, a firm favourite with owners thanks to its excellent driving experience – it topped the survey for driving pleasure and road handling. With a choice of petrol or fully electric variants, it scored a respectable fifth place for fuel economy, but low scores for servicing costs and reliability mean that it was far from the cheapest car to run. 

Things are rosier inside the MINI’s cabin, where it scored highly for everything from infotainment usability to the heating and ventilation system and overall build quality. Being a supermini, practicality was a weak point, but fifth place overall is a thoroughly impressive result for the British hatchback. We’re excited to see how the new MINI Cooper fares next year.

4. Toyota RAV4

The fifth-generation Toyota RAV4 may have been on sale for six years now, but it hasn’t lost any of its appeal in that time according to owners. It excelled in all categories related to comfort, with top 10 finishes for engine and gearbox smoothness, front-seat comfort, rear-seat legroom and ride quality and smoothness. That didn’t come at the expense of performance, however, with impressive scores for acceleration, road holding and driving pleasure.

In true Toyota fashion, the RAV4 came top of the pack for reliability, with a second-place finish for fuel economy adding to its long list of strengths. If there was an area where it lost ground to rivals, it was the infotainment system. The results showed that owners weren’t fond of the RAV4’s smartphone connectivity, built-in sat-nav or the user-friendliness of the controls.

3. Toyota Yaris

For low running costs, you’ll struggle to do better than the Toyota Yaris. It secured the top spot for fuel economy, while servicing costs and other running costs weren’t far behind in third and fifth place respectively. Like its larger Toyota sibling above, reliability stood out too, with owners ranking it in third place. Those results are a testament to the tried and tested hybrid powertrain that’s fitted as standard to all Yaris models, a system that also ranked well for acceleration and smoothness.

If there was one category that held the Yaris back from the higher steps on the podium, it was practicality and bootspace, but 21st place is still respectable for a car of this size. Middling scores for the infotainment system will also give Toyota something to work on for the next generation of Yaris.

2. Tesla Model 3

Tesla remains one of the most popular electric car makers in the UK, and a second-place finish for the Model 3 in this year’s Driver Power survey proves why. It’s no surprise that owners ranked the Model 3’s electric powertrain top of the pack – the American firm has been developing EVs for 20 years now. It achieved a first-place hat-trick for acceleration, engine noise (or lack thereof), and drivetrain smoothness, with a solid bronze medal for driving pleasure to boot.

Thanks to its comprehensive set of driving assistance systems, the Model 3 also topped the table for safety features, with owners particularly impressed by how easy it was to turn the systems on and off. It was a first-place finish for the economy and running costs category, too, making up for the disappointing 30th position for value-for-money. If there’s another area for Tesla to focus on in the future, it’s build quality. It finished dead last for exterior quality, with ill-fitting panels and trim having been a long-standing issue across the Tesla range for quite some time.

1. Dacia Duster

The winner of the 2024 Driver Power survey is the back-to-basics, budget-friendly Dacia Duster. Posting strong performances across the board, the Duster excelled in the categories that matter most to UK drivers, but didn’t fall down in any one area either. It proved practical, reliable and affordable to run, with top 10 finishes in 20 of the 35 sub-categories. Infotainment was also a strong suit for the Duster, thanks to a relatively simple system that owners found easy to use.

Above all, owners were most impressed by the Duster’s value for money. It’s one thing to perform strongly across many different categories, but the Duster managed to do just that while costing less than practically all of the competition. Sure, it’s not a luxury or performance car – and the scores for interior quality and acceleration reflect that – but take the Duster’s price tag into account and we can see why owners don’t mind.

With an all-new Dacia Duster heading our way towards the end of this year, the second-generation model will certainly be a hard act to follow.

Past Driver Power winners:

If you’re interested to see how owners have ranked popular models in previous years, take a look at the top 10 results from 2022 and 2023; click on each car to read our full in-depth review.

Driver Power 2023 results: 

1. Citroen C4 - 93.39%
2. Kia Sorento - 92.44%
3. Lexus RX - 92.15%
4. Dacia Duster - 91.75%
5. Subaru Outback - 91.73%
6. Ford EcoSport - 91.52%
7. Kia EV6 - 91.50%
8. Toyota Prius - 91.45%
9. Mazda CX-5 - 91.36%
10. Kia Ceed - 91.29%

Driver Power 2022 results: 

1. Kia XCeed - 93.1%
2. Mazda CX-5 - 92.22%
3. Kia Rio - 92.18%
4. Hyundai Kona - 91.9%
5. Skoda Kodiaq - 91.52%
6. Kia Sportage - 91.23%
7. Honda CR-V - 91.1%
8. Toyota C-HR - 90.97%
9. Tesla Model 3 - 90.73%
10. SEAT Ateca - 90.68%

Take our Driver Power survey now, or read our list of the UK’s best selling cars…