The best new motors of 2019: Seven models have been shortlisted for Car of the Year - which one gets your vote?
The Car of the Year award is the Oscars of motoring trophies for auto makers. Eligible cars must be brand new models and available in at least five European countries. Here are the contenders. From left to right, Top: Alpine A110, Citroen C5 Aircross, Ford Focus. Bottom: Jaguar I-Pace, Kia Ceed, Mercedes A-Class, Peugeot 508.
- A panel of 60 motoring journalist judges have whittled the list down to seven
- The cars are all brand new and available in at least 5 European countries in 2019
- Overall winner will be confirmed in March - but you can have your say right now
What is going to be the best car of next year?
Here's an early look at some of the contenders, with a panel of 60 motoring judges deciding which model will be awarded the Car of the Year gong for 2019.
The list started at 38 vehicles but has been whittled down to just seven models. The question is: which one do you think should be given the honour?
Car of the Year: The seven nominees to win European Car of the Year 2019 are in - which one would you choose?
The Car of the Year award is the Oscars of motoring trophies for auto makers.
Eligible cars must be brand new models, some of which are on sale now, and available in at least five European countries.
The overall winner will be chosen by no fewer than 60 respected motoring hacks from 23 European countries.
The winner won't be revealed until March as part of a glitzy unveiling at the Geneva Motor Show.
But while we're yet to know which car will follow in the tyre tracks of last year's winner - the Volvo XC40 - we do know which models have been nominated.
Here's a run down of the seven possible victors.
Place your vote at the bottom of the page for the one you think should be given the prize.
Alpine A110
The most exciting car in the list is unquestionably Alpine's first new car since 1995 - the A110 sports car
Price: from £47,000
The Alpine has been one of the surprise packages of this year, excelling in road tests and receiving rave reviews.
The two-seat sports car is the Renault-owned French brand's first foray back into the market since 1995. And it's started with a bang.
Many who have been behind the wheel already say it's a worthy rival to the Porsche 718 Cayman - the leader in the sector - and have given a glowing report of how it drives.
It uses a mid-mounted 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine developing 249bhp and 236lb ft of torque at 2000rpm.
Drivers will be able to hit 62mph in 4.5 seconds and go onto a limited top speed of 155mph.
For a compact French car from a brand that doesn't have any recent credentials, the £51,000 price tag of the launch Legende model is pretty steep. That said, many will wait for the Pure model which rings in at around £5k cheaper.
You can read more about the Alpine A110 here.
Citroën C5 Aircross
The Citroen C5 Aircross is the French brand's largest SUV and comes with a huge choice of personalising options
Price: from £23,225
The C5 Aircross is set to become the quirky French brand’s most spacious family SUV yet.
Under the bulbous bodywork are many mechanical bits and pieces shared with the Peugeot 3008, though Citroen's offering is far more versatile when it comes to styling.
Customers will be able to choose from no fewer than 30 exterior colour combinations.
These are made up of seven body colours, contrasting roof tones, and three colour packs for the airbumps and inserts on the alloy wheels.
There's substance as well as style - there should be plenty of rear leg room, lots of head space thanks to the boxy shape and a capacious boot.
Family-car buyers will have the choice of two petrol and two diesel engines from launch. with prices starting from just over £23k.
Ford Focus
The new Ford Focus will undoubtedly be the model most Britons buy out of the seven listed here, but is that worthy enough of winning Car of the Year?
Price: from £17,930
Even if it's not your favourite in the list, there is no question that the new Ford Focus will be the best seller of the lot in the UK by the time 2019 is over.
The family hatchback is totally new for this year and the design is sharper than ever.
As well as looking great it will continue to be one of the most affordable family hatchbacks on the market.
The Style spec starts from £17,930, while the range-topping Vignale version rings in at £25,450.
We've already driven the new Focus at the official launch. Our car had the three-cylinder 1.5-litre EcoBoost petrol engine that develops a meaty 182 horsepower and we were instantly impressed with the smoothness, performance and all-round characteristics.
We particularly like the new technology that's been introduced to cope with Britain’s increasingly potholed roads, too.
Using sensors mounted at the front of the car that sweep the tarmac ahead every two milliseconds, it hunts out craters in the road so it can automatically adjust the suspension, steering and braking to reduce the impact of pounding through crumbled cavities. Impressive.
Jaguar I-Pace
The Jaguar I-Pace is the most technically advanced of all the models nominated. The all-electric SUV is the British firm's first zero-emissions effort
Price: from £58,495
This will be many people's front-runner for the award because it offers a glimpse into the future.
The I-Pace is Jaguar's first all-electric car. The SUV can accelerate from a standing start to 62mph in 4.5 seconds, but also has a claimed range of 292 miles when driven conservatively.
As well as an impressive range, it also doesn't take an eternity to charge.
Replenishing the batteries with electricity - using a 100kW DC charger - can take as little as 40 minutes, increasing the capacity from zero to 80 per cent charge.
Using a home charger with an AC wall box (7kW), it takes around 10 hours to achieve the same state of charge - which is adequate enough if you're plugging the car into the mains overnight.
As well being the most technologically advanced model the British firm has ever created it's also impressive to drive - so much so that many think it has dethroned Tesla's Model S and Model X as the best electric car on the market.
Kia Ceed
The Kia Ceed is the practical choice of the bunch. It's relatively cheap to buy, comes with hoards of kit as standard and has more grown up looks. It's also ditched the apostrophe from its name
Price: from £15,110
The Ford Focus might be the most bought model of all the vehicles to feature in the nominees for Car of the Year, but this new Kia will be looking to steal away a few customers.
The more modestly priced Korean hatchback is now in its third generation, though for the first time Kia has opted to drop the apostrophe from the name.
Just like its Ford counterpart, the design has been updated and looks more grown up than ever and should entice a few customers on looks alone.
From launch there are two petrols to choose from and one lone diesel, all of which have enough go and economical running costs to make it a worthy alternative to a Renault Megane or Vauxhall Astra.
It also comes with far more kit as standard than just about every other rival in the sector, and still has Kia's unrivaled seven-year warranty from new.
Mercedes-Benz A-Class
The Mercedes A-Class ultimately makes it into the list for having an unrivaled dashboard arrangement and new semi-autonomous technology
Price: from £25,800
The new A-Class is the fourth generation of the up-market hatchback in just over two decades, and easily the best looking of them yet.
It's been on sale since June, which might lead you to beg the question of how it qualifies for this award? Well, it arrived too late to feature in the 2018 line-up, so it gains automatic entry this time.
While it will feature a range of frugal and competent petrol and diesel engines, it's the upmarket interior and newfangled tech that has seen it reach the final seven.
All new A-Class cars will come as standard with two seven inch dashboard touchscreens (with one or two 10.25-inch screens as options) housed under one sheet of glass to creating a widescreen cockpit display, automatic braking assist and automatic lane keeping.
For around £1,700 extra, drivers also have the option of the hi-tech autonomous driving assistance package which adds semi-autonomous driving modes in certain situations.
This includes slowing down automatically at bends, junctions and roundabouts, braking if it spots crossing traffic or pedestrians, slowing down and accelerating in moving traffic or approaching jams, and steering autonomously.
Peugeot 508
The outsider for the gong is the Peugeot 508. But while big saloons are out of favour in the UK, they're still in demand in some European countries
The 10 LEAST RELIABLE used cars revealed: What's most likely to go wrong, when it will happen and how much it'll cost
We can exclusively reveal new data to tell you which 10 cars are most likely to suffer from dependability issues - but also the ones that are best at avoiding them. And not only that, we can tell you what the most common problems are with the unreliable models and when they're most likely to strike - just so you can prepare for the inevitable garage bills if you do own one.
- Warranty Wise has given us exclusive used car data to tell you which to avoid
- The rankings are based on frequency of claims and the cost of repairs
- A British manufacturer tops the list with the least dependable motor - and the most common fault costs an average of £540 each time
- We've also listed the most reliable used models and the manufacturer's you can and can't count on when buying and owning a second-hand car
Nobody wants to buy an unreliable car. Not just because it could let you down at any given moment but the unavoidable repair costs you will encounter tend to pile up.
Fortunately, we can exclusively reveal new data to tell you which 10 cars are most likely to suffer from dependability issues - but also the ones that are best at avoiding them.
And not only that, we can tell you what the most common problems are with the unreliable models and when they're most likely to strike - just so you can prepare for the inevitable garage bills if you do own one.
Getting stranded by the side of the road is infuriating for motorists, which is why it's important to buy a reliable car
Used car warranty provider Warranty Wise has given This is Money the list of the 10 most unreliable second-hand motors you could buy, based on the number of claims against faults and how much they cost.
'This data is not fictitious, it is derived from real cases and genuine warranty claims making it the most trustworthy information a used car buyer can get,' a spokesperson for the brand told us.
'We are not suggesting, by any means, that these problems are guaranteed to occur, but it is the sole reason a warranty exists.
'A proper, comprehensive warranty provides peace of mind to any buyer forewarned with this type of information, making any used car purchase a less risky and more comfortable experience.'
Each year, it lists the brands and models that are deemed the most and least reliable, according to the data it has collated in the previous 12 months.
Scroll down the page to find out which models and brands that have the fewest warranty claims for repair bills.
10 most unreliable models
1. Range Rover Sport
Expensive to buy and to repair: Warranty Wise says the Range Rover Sport is the most unreliable used car
| Fault | Ave Cost of Repair | Yr(s) Most Affected |
|---|---|---|
| Suspension Faults | £540.00 | 2009 |
| Alternator | £420.00 | 2008 |
| Brake Faults | £486.00 | 2009 |
| Electrical Faults | £324.00 | 2010 |
| EGR Valve Faults | £432.00 | 2008 |
The Range Rover Sport is a pricey SUV that's used by most for the school run rather than scaling mountain rises or trawling through fields.
That said, many still incur plenty of issues which tend to be expensive to repair.
Warranty Wise ranks it as the least dependable model you can drive, with the most common problem being suspension faults, which costs on average £540 to fix.
When problems start to pile up: when a car is 8 years and 7 months old
2. Vauxhall Zafira
No smoke without fire: Zafrias not only suffer from sporadic fires, they also have plenty of other pricey faults
| Fault | Ave Cost of Repair | Yr(s) Most Affected |
|---|---|---|
| Gearbox Faults | £1,080.00 | 2008 |
| Clutch Faults | £492.00 | 2007/8 |
| Ignition Coil | £186.00 | 2006 |
| Alternator | £246.00 | 2006-2009 |
| Electrical Faults | £336.00 | 2007 |
The Zafira is probably a car you've decided to avoid already - or you would have done if you'd Googled it. The family-friendly MPV has been subject to recalls following a spate of fires that have occurred, mainly caused by aftermarket replacement parts.
And turning into a fireball on wheels isn't all that owners need to be concerned about. That's because this Vauxhall suffers some catastrophic gearbox issues, which cost on average over £1,000 to resolve.
When problems start to pile up: when a car is 10 years and 3 months old
3. Vauxhall Insignia
Rep mobile with a ropy reliability record: Watch out for pricey engine and gearbox issues with the Vauxhall Insignia
| Fault | Ave Cost of Repair | Yr(s) Most Affected |
|---|---|---|
| Steering Faults | £276.00 | 2009/10 |
| Engine Faults | £1,230.00 | 2009/10 |
| Electrical Faults | £258.00 | 2011 |
| Gearbox Faults | £1,080.00 | 2010/11 |
| Heater/Glow Plugs | £144.00 | 2009 |
Vauxhall's second entry in the unreliable car list is the Insignia - a favoured rep mobile that's likely to have been slogged up and down the motorway in the week and used to cart the family around at the weekend.
According to Warranty Wise, it's steering faults that are most common, though the repair costs are a £276, though there are other frequently reported issues that cost almost five times as much to fix.
When problems start to pile up: when a car is 7 years and 7 months old
4. Peugeot 207
The token French entry: There had to be a French model in the top 5. And while the Peugeot 207s repair costs aren't that high, they are when you consider the value of the vehicle itself
| Fault | Ave Cost of Repair | Yr(s) Most Affected |
|---|---|---|
| Engine Faults | £816.00 | 2007/8 |
| Cylinder Head Gasket | £576.00 | 2007/8 |
| Clutch Faults | £204.00 | 2007/8 |
| Electrical Faults | £348.00 | 2007/8 |
| Gearbox Faults | £900.00 | 2007/8 |
French cars don't have the best reputation when it comes to dependability, but this is the only one to feature in Warranty Wise's top 5 rankings.
What goes wrong most often? According to the report, it's engine faults and cylinder head gaskets that tend to cause the most headaches. While these aren't as expensive to rectify as other models in this list, the relative cost in terms of the vehicle value is still pretty high.
When problems start to pile up: when a car is 10 years and 2 months old
5. Vauxhall Astra
Family hatch, but there's a catch: The Vauxhall Astra is a popular choice in the UK, but customers should buy with caution
| Fault | Ave Cost of Repair | Yr(s) Most Affected |
|---|---|---|
| Gearbox Faults | £1,068.00 | 2005-2011 |
| Engine Faults | £600.00 | 2005-2010 |
| Alternator | £300.00 | 2006-2008 |
| Electrical Faults | £348.00 | 2008 |
| Clutch Faults | £528.00 | 2008 |
That's a hat-trick of Vauxhalls making the top five least reliable cars, according to Warranty Wise data. That's not good for the brand that was recently bought by the French PSA Group.
The Astra - which is the manufacturer's second best-selling model behind the Corsa in the UK - might be an affordalbe family hatchback, but keep hold of it for too long and it will become pricey to repair.
The most common warranty claim is for gearbox faults, which cost a staggering £1,000 on average to sort out.
When problems start to pile up: when a car is 9 years and 3 months old
6. Mercedes-Benz C-Class
A high price to pay: The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is one of the most popular junior executive saloons, but electrical faults and sensor gremlins are commonly reported
| Fault | Ave Cost of Repair | Yr(s) Most Affected |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical Faults | £372.00 | 2007-2009 |
| Sensor Faults | £222.00 | 2006 |
| Suspension Faults | £354.00 | 2006 |
| Engine Faults | £1,500.00 | 2005-2011 |
| Alternator | £456.00 | 2005 |
Like the Range Rover Sport, the Mercedes C-Class isn't a cheap car. This junior executive saloon is the machine most choose if they don't want a BMW 3 Series but still want the kudos of premium German brand image and a quality interior.
Unfortunately, owners who have paid big fees for one of these cars will be disappointed to know that they do suffer some common problems, not least irritating electrical and sensor faults.
When problems start to pile up: when a car is 9 years and 5 months old
7. Mini Cooper
Mini car with maxi repair bill: The most common fault claim against a warranty is for clutch repairs, which cost £414 on average
| Fault | Ave Cost of Repair | Yr(s) Most Affected |
|---|---|---|
| Clutch Faults | £414.00 | 2004 and 2007 |
| Gearbox Faults | £858.00 | 2002-2004 |
| Engine Faults | £858.00 | 2007 |
| Steering Faults | £540.00 | 2004 |
| Thermostat Faults | £240.00 | 2006/7 |
The iconic Mini has changed somewhat under BMW ownership in recent times, and it's become far more expensive to run as a result.
Long gone are the days of cheap repairs and quick fixes - when something goes wrong with a Mini these days the garage receipts can sometimes be maxi.
All five of the most common claims for repairs are over £200 to fix, with major issues such as clutch, engine and gearbox fixes at the top of the list.
When problems start to pile up: when a car is 1 years and 6 months old
8. Seat Ibiza
You might need to take a Seat when you see the repair costs: The Ibiza might be a small and affordable car to buy second hand, but models start to encounter expensive issues after less than a decade of ownership
| Fault | Ave Cost of Repair | Yr(s) Most Affected |
|---|---|---|
| Engine Faults | £840.00 | 2009 |
| Electrical Faults | £840.00 | 2009 |
| Ignition Coil | £138.00 | 2006 |
| Turbo Faults | £684.00 | 2010/11 |
| Gearbox Faults | £840.00 | 2007 |
Seat's Ibiza is the Spanish brand's answer to the VW Polo and Skoda Fabia - and uses pretty much all the same underpinnings.
However, it seems to be much less reliable.
So you might think it's inexpensive to repair, given there should be plenty of spare parts kicking around, right? Not exactly.
Warranty Wise have it listed as the eighth most unreliable car based on the frequency of repairs and how much they cost. Topping the list is engine faults, which cost £840 on average to rectify.
When problems start to pile up: when a car is 9 years and 3 months old
9. Fiat 500
Fiat 500 with a common fault costing £744 to repair: If you own an older one of these you certainly won't want to encounter any gearbox issues looking at the cost of repairing them
| Fault | Ave Cost of Repair | Yr(s) Most Affected |
|---|---|---|
| Gearbox Faults | £744.00 | 2009/10 |
| Suspension Faults | £300.00 | 2012 |
| Electrical Faults | £360.00 | 2010/11 |
| Clutch Faults | £288.00 | 2008 |
| Brake Faults | £192.00 | 2008-2010 |
Like the Mini Cooper, the Cinquecento is a retro small car from yesteryear that's now back on the market, be it in a heavily modernised format.
Still, it should represent affordable driving, but the dinky Italian city car has managed to squeeze into the rankings of the models most likely to encounter pricey problems.
Gearbox, suspension and electric faults top the list of issues owners made claims against their used-vehicle warranty for, which cost Warranty Wise an average of £744, £300 and £360 to put right on average respectively.
When problems start to pile up: when a car is 7 years and 7 months old
10. Renault Clio
Va va voom, goes your bank account: You might think an ageing used Clio would be cheap to run, but Warranty Wise data shows it could be a money pit
| Fault | Ave Cost of Repair | Yr(s) Most Affected |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical Faults | £216.00 | 2007 |
| Ignition Coil | £126.00 | 2006 |
| Suspension Faults | £198.00 | 2006 |
| Clutch Faults | £516.00 | 2006 |
| Gearbox Faults | £672.00 | 2002 |
This Clio might be a little long in the tooth by today's standards, but there are still plenty of them on the road in the UK today. That might be because drivers are tempted by the low second-hand prices - but they do need to buy with caution.
That's because Warranty Wise data ranks it as the tenth most unreliable used car.
Fortunately, the three most common faults - electrical, ignition and suspension related - are not outrageously expensive to fix, but others certainly are.
When problems start to pile up: when a car is 10 years and 7 months old
What are the most reliable used cars?
Now we've hit you with the list of the least dependable motors, what about the ones you can rely on?
Warranty Wise has given us the details of the 10 cars it receives the fewest warranty claims about.
These are the ones to consider buying...
1. Volkswagen Polo
2. Ford Fiesta
3. Ford Focus
4. Ford Transit
5. Audi A3
6. Audi A4
7. Vauxhall Corsa
8. BMW 3 Series
9. Nissan Qashqai
10. BMW 1 Series
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