The £51,000 middle class SUV that is Britain’s | European Markets

The Vary Rover Evoque, typically seen on the varsity run of Center England and well-liked with celebrities, has been condemned by drivers as a victory of type over substance.

Bought as a plug-in hybrid it has been introduced as fairly inexperienced given it operates on a combine of a battery and petrol engine.

However whereas the likes of Jamie Oliver and Victoria Beckham have added their glitz to the Evoque model, people who use the car say it has did not dwell up to the £51,000 price tag.

A survey of 70,000 drivers by Which? discovered that the status car, which was first launched in 2020, sometimes spends 21 days of the 12 months off the highway for repairs.

House owners of the Evoque complained of fixed breakdowns, long delays for substitute elements and vary anxiousness, main these surveyed to rank it as Britain’s least favorite car.

The patron rights champion discovered the hybrid was much less dependable than its absolutely petrol or diesel counterparts, which spent an average of seven days a 12 months out for repairs.

One Evoque proprietor described the hybrid was “the most frustrating thing that I have ever owned”.

He added: “The car has been less than reliable, particularly in the first two years of ownership.”

One other stated he had changed his Evoque as a result of it was “plagued by electrical and other issues”.

The Evoque line of Vary Rovers has been a mainstay of the British commute since its launch in 2011.

Victoria Beckham, who designed a particular version of the car in 2012, as soon as described the Evoque as “like a bag on wheels”.

She added: “I’ve driven a Range Rover for as long as I can remember, and I have a lot of respect for Range Rover as a brand and for their heritage.”

The Evoque was equally endorsed by Jamie Oliver, who described it as “agile” and a “testament to this brilliant British brand”.

On the time, he stated: “I absolutely love this car, it was so much fun to drive on the busy streets of London and through the water trough in the Bishopsgate tunnels.”

However there have long been issues concerning the Evoque’s reliability.

Natalie Hitchins, Which?’s head of home services and products, stated: “Our latest survey shows that it pays to look beyond glitzy marketing or the priciest models when researching your next car purchase.”

Jaguar Land Rover informed Which? that its transfer to a new logistics hub had prompted disruption for patrons however that points had since been resolved. The company additionally claimed the survey was based mostly on a pattern dimension of 44 Hybrid Evoque house owners, equal to 0.2pc of its buyer base.

A JLR spokesman informed Which?: “Ensuring our clients have the best possible experience of our brands is our priority, and the data tells us that vehicle quality at launch is the best it has ever been.

“We understand some clients experienced delays, with their vehicles awaiting parts for repair following JLR’s transition to a new global parts logistics centre.

“Throughout this period, we increased our mobility fleet by 50 percent to ensure impacted clients were supported with courtesy vehicles. We have now resolved this disruption and will remain focused on providing the high levels of customer service our clients rightfully expect.”

Different least-loved fashions included the Renault Zoe (2013-19), which had a price vary of £18,444 to £31,520, and was the joint-lowest rated EV with 69 % buyer satisfaction, alongside the Peugeot E-2008 SUV, which prices from £34,400.

The client rating was based mostly on a mixture of how glad respondents have been with their car and how doubtless they have been to advocate it to others.

The least-loved petrol or diesel car was the 2017-20 Vauxhall Crossland X (65 % buyer satisfaction). This may sometimes now be discovered for round £6,500.

The Lexus RX, a full hybrid that was discontinued a decade in the past, was named Britain’s “most-loved” car by these surveyed. Which? stated drivers praised its reliability and luxury.

One proprietor from Shropshire informed Which?: “It’s done 145,000 miles and still drives just like it was new.”

The highest-scoring new car was the present Honda Civic full hybrid (94 per cent buyer satisfaction) which launched in 2022, alongside the Toyota RAV4 plug-in hybrid (94 per cent) which launched in 2021.