BMW X5 and Toyota Yaris Verso Tie for Britains Most Recommended Cars

Japanese Brands Dominate in U.K. Owner Satisfaction Survey

What does a premium sport/luxury SUV have in common with a subcompact wagon? BMWs X5 and Toyotas Yaris Verso, a subcompact wagon version of the North American sold Echo, have been voted most popular cars in a survey of UK owners.

British consumer magazine "Which?" polled readers as to whether or not they would recommend their car to a friend, placing the aforementioned BMW and Toyota models on top with 92 percent responding in the affirmative.

Making the top 10 were the amiable Mazda MX-5 (Miata), Lexus IS200 (IS300), Toyota Yaris (Echo Hatchback - only sold in Canada), Jaguar S-Type, Mini, plus Volkswagen owned Czech automaker Skoda for its Octavia (VW Golf/Jetta) and Fabia (Euro only VW Polo) models.

Which cars were the losers? Citroens Saxo, with merely 34 percent of surveyed owners willing to recommend it, scraped the bottom, with the same brands Xsara only managing 3 percentage points higher at 37 - both models are not available in the U.S. Also, the Rover 25 and 45, a Euro-only brand as well, scored only 40 and 42 percent respectively.

The magazine surveyed regarding "Best Buys" as well, concluding that the Toyota Yaris, Yaris Verso and Honda Jazz were the cream of the supermini (subcompact in North America) crop, while Fords Focus, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Nissan Almera were the safest medium (compact in North America) car bets.

As for large cars (midsize in North America) Nissans Primera stole the "Best Buy" show, with the Lexus IS200/IS300 and BMW 3 Series coming out on top for premium brands. Receiving such accolades is a major coup for Lexus, being an all-new nameplate in Europe. Incidentally, Infiniti is not yet sold in Europe.