In total, the top 10 is made up of Honda, Toyota, Lexus, Suzuki, Subaru, Hyundai, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Chevrolet and Nissan.
None are british made as such.
Vauxhall no24 at least Mercedes is lower than that.!!
No point buying a extended warranty on Honda waste of money. :-)
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And the likes of Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, Audi sell their good used cars through approved schemes, so Warranty Direct doesn't get a sniff. Skipful of salt advised, as usual.
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The Telegraph should do a similar article about the reliability of cars owned from new.
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As always, very subjective.
Don't think you would ever find out about new car reliability as to be a fair and accurate measure then you would need the manufacturers warranty claims data and I suspect that data is probably one of the most closely guarded pieces of information in the industry
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But do warranty claims relate to reliability anyway? Is one claim scored the same as any other?
To take my personal experience over ten years:
- Volvo S60 2002: warranty fixes to broken boot strut and detached screen washer pump. Reliable car? Yes.
- Skoda Fabia 2000, bought 2001: repeated warranty work on coolant loss problem. Never satisfactorily fixed in the seven years we kept it. Reliable car? No.
- Toyota Verso 2008: warranty replacement of failing injectors. Reliable car? Yes - it never failed to start and never went wrong again.
- Large Estate Car 2009, bought 2012: Approved Used warranty replacement of rear parking sensors. Reliable car? Yes - so far.
So warranty work is a fact of (my) motoring life, but we've only had one car we've cursed for its mechanical frailty, and that was from the darlings of the consumer satisfaction surveys. Stick to the basics of car reliability - Toyotas work, Renaults don't, anything in between in mostly OK - and that's probably as much as you need to know.
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In my days of visiting many main dealer workshops, I could get a pretty good feel of how much warranty work was being carried out. Of course, the definition of reliability can be subjective, as I would regard a car that always starts and never lets me down, but has numerous other problems, to be unreliable.
It was always interesting to see which dealerships had lots of dead cars in the car park, lots of newish cars up in the air with half their guts hanging out, and a pile of parts ready to be sent back to the manufacturer. I also sometimes managed to solicit the percentage of workshop hours that were billed to the warranty account.
Nissan garages (this was about 8 years ago) were almost always devoid of dead cars, until the then new Micra (Renault underneath) came along. And according to the manager at one of the workshops, the Micra alone had trebled the warranty hours booked.
At a Honda place, again devoid of dead cars, I asked them what happened to warranty parts. He showed me the 'warranty parts return bin', which contained a couple of bits and bobs. And according to him, the warranty hours booked was very low single figures percentage wise.
This was pretty much the case at all the Japanese car workshops. Another thing I noticed is that most of the special tools they always have up on the wall, looked to be in pristine condition and clearly unused.
A VW dealer was running about 30% warranty hours, and whilst a Merc dealer wouldn't tell me his figures, the number of dead cars outside, and newish cars inside obviously undergoing major surgery, told me all I really needed to know.
The French dealers were always busy with warranty work, notably Renault. Plenty of dead cars, plenty of major components dumped in the corner waiting to be sent back, and a general air of despair in the places. Jeep/Chrysler was the same, and Alfa/Fiat even worse. I once saw a transporter unloading new Alfas at a garage, some of them with badly knocking engines. The boss man shrugged his shoulders and said they'd need new engines straight away.
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Interesting Dave. No Ford/Vauxhall visits?
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An interesting post, Dave.
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>> An interesting post, Dave.
>>
+ 1
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If you bought this place Dave, you'd never have to visit another garage again:
objekt.fastighetsbyran.se/Objekt/?ObjektId=878656
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>> If you bought this place Dave, you'd never have to visit another garage again:
>>
>> objekt.fastighetsbyran.se/Objekt/?ObjektId=878656
>>
Nice villa located in the pleasant courtyard in Lindesnäs. Consistently good standard and all you need in a single plan. The villa has 2 bedrooms, living room, family room, kitchen and bathroom / laundry room. The farm has a large varmbonat garage with space for several cars. Plenty of storage options. 2,5 mil to Säfsen Alpin.
If the price is right almost cheaper than a garden shed! Or is it the annual tax?
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>>If the price is right almost cheaper than a garden shed!<<
What's the catch I wonder (there must be one) they are in the EU but still use their own currency.
Up to 18 hours of daylight in June (but only 6 in December)
I could always live there for 8 months and spend the other 4 in Tenerife I suppose :)
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That's about £55K. Seems a bit pricey to me. I paid £16K for my house a bit further south, and just bought my neighbour's house for £13K.
It can be very cheap to live in Sweden, if that's what you want. In the country the water is free from the well, sewage goes to the septic tank that may need refreshing every 5 years (£80), house tax will be about £300/year for that house. It has wood central heating with a large accumulator tank that will probably cost about £300/yr, insurance about the same, chimney inspection £100 every 2 years, and chimney sweep about £40 twice a year.
It does get a bit dark in the winter, but it's not that far north, and the snow compensates a lot of the time. I've been out at midnight with the dogs, and with snow on the ground and a clear sky I've not needed a torch. Don't forget there's no rain in the winter, so many more bright, but cold, days than dull rainy UK. But they do have quite a few wolves in that area, which will be more of a problem in the future.
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I'm 'warming' to Sweden, Dave, and am surprised that the climate, especially in the South, is quite temperate.
Do you get much burglary in properties left unoccupied in the winter I wonder?
And how about those wolves Dave, do they bother folk at all, its not as if they were bears :)
I suppose one would need a shotgun/hunting rifle, living somewhere like that, not that I would ever consider shooting any animal, unless it posed a very real danger.
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"Do you get much burglary in properties left unoccupied in the winter I wonder?
And how about those wolves Dave, do they bother folk at all, its not as if they were bears"
Surprisingly very few burglaries, especially considering there are so many empty and isolated houses.
The wolves are starting to become a problem in some areas. They were shot into extinction a hundred years ago, and for good reason, but have since been reintroduced. And over time they start to lose their fear of humans, and realise that there are easy pickings near humans as well. They also travel huge distances, especially when the youngsters are kicked out and have to find their own territory. They are also affecting the other wildlife, as it either gets eaten or moves away from the area.
Sweden has always been very proud of it's wildlife, especially the moose and deer, and it has always been tightly managed through hunting with strict quotas. But as hunting has traditionally been done with dogs, so the dogs themselves have now become prey to the wolves, as the wolves will actively hunt the dogs. As a result, hunting has stopped in some areas due to the number of dogs being killed. Again affecting the good management.
Of course, the pro wolf/anti hunting people can't see this, and think the nature and wildlife that they enjoy just sort of comes about by itself.
The strength of feeling among the 'country' people is such that when they talked about dropping some wolves in this area, the local hunters who get called out by the police (for a pittance) to search/kill animals involved in road accidents, rescinded their services, causing a right kerfuffle. Suddenly, some of the people who hate the 'murdering blood thirsty' hunters started to realise maybe they weren't so bad after all.
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Thanks Dave, sounds to me like its time for a cull then (or 'set' the Badgers on them!)
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I used to be involved in auditing Nissan dealerships (this is over 20 years ago).
Warranty claims for all the cars built in Japan were practically negligible.
The vehicles built in Spain, however, had a totally different profile and were almost expected to have warranty claims.
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You just need to look under teh bonnet of many cars to know what the reiaibility is likely to be.
Renault? Oil and other filters hidden under wheel arches.. I ask you who but an engineering moron?
Citroen and Peugeot engine bays : a mass of pipes and wires.
No attention to layouts : just designed to work and then that was it..
The Meriva pollen filter? Remove wiper blades first!
As for Mercedes, many of their exports to UK are SA sourced... hmm..
As for Land Rover...
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>> As for Mercedes, many of their exports to UK are SA sourced... hmm..
>
No... Very few SA built cars now hit the UK.
Some of the W203 saloons were built there WDC vin, rather than WDB is the way to tell.
ML, GL and R class come from the States.... and it shows.
Most others ATM are German built.
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>> : a mass of pipes and wires.
Where pipes or wires touch and rub on something else I always bind them with PVC tape to prevent damage.
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>> In my days of visiting many main dealer workshops, I could get a pretty good
>> feel of how much warranty work was being carried out...
I remember when I was researching which 4x4 to buy, and the press/owners were raving that the discovery3 meant that LR had turned a corner. I was out walking and realised I could see into a LR dealer's compound. And there were 8 discovery3s there in obvious states of disassembly. I was disappointed, but went on to buy an alternative make (which has been completely trouble free, now just over 5 years old).
As everyone is telling me the d4 really is reliable it might be time to go for another walking holiday in that part of the world!
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Not surprised to see Honda at the top given its long-standing reputation but the picture of the Civic FN3 is a wee bit misleading IMHO. My experience (and many others if you read various car fora) was not good with this car, many many suspension problems arguably not fully rectified after numerous dealer visits. I'd have to think carefully before considering a Honda again as these were fundamental design issues not just manufacturing defects.
Ditto my A4 B7 (although my A4 B5 was excellent). Fords have been very reliable in my experience (2 Mondeos and a Focus). VWs have been OK, just the coil issues in the early 2000s, my 330d was excellent too.
I-too have been 'scared off' LR, mainly due to the potential bills when they do go wrong.
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I've fancied a Disco as we need 7 seats, but never been brave enough, but that said, a colleague has just parted with his 5 year old one which he bought at about 18 months, and has never given a jot of bother.
He only got rid because he realized how much he was spending on fuel, so now has a Fiat 500
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I had a beaut of a white Discovery XS TD5 auto some years back, it never gave me any trouble whatsoever.
Where we live now in a moorland area I see plenty of Discovery's and Freelanders and think to myself the can't all be trouble!
Last edited by: Dog on Sun 29 Jul 12 at 09:57
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>>>Where we live now in a moorland area I see plenty of Discovery's and Freelanders and think to myself the can't all be trouble!<<<
and you think that they are all parked up enjoying the view..............................
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There's me setting my sights on a Volvo and I find it comes in at no. 20.
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And you'll have to keep pressing the button!
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>> And you'll have to keep pressing the button!
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I'll just have to see whether it's possible to permanently wedge the button in with something! There's more than one way to defur a feline!
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My dad has a 15 year old Disco 300 TDI auto. Now on about 150,000 miles. Been an absolute gem of a car. A few niggling age related issues over the past couple of years (perished fuel pipe, dead starter motor, leaking expansion tank), but always cheap and easy to fix, and soldiers on just fine. Starting to rot now, mind. That will be what probably ultimately finishes it off.
My old S60 was brilliant. 10 yrs old, 150,000 miles on the clock, and everything, and I mean absolutely everything, still worked as intended. Between when I got it at 101k, and sold it at just over 150k, it had three services, a set of tyres, a set of front pads, a new top engine mount, and a replacement indicator stalk. Never failed to start, never broke down, and gave that inexplicable, almost subconscious impression that it never would do either. Lovely piece of engineering.
Similarly excellent experience with a 10 yr old Golf TDI as well.
After 2 yrs with a Renault Grand Scenic, I wouldn't entertain a Renault of any description.
Last edited by: DP on Sun 29 Jul 12 at 23:04
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>> My old S60 was brilliant. 10 yrs old, 150,000 miles on the clock, and everything,
>> and I mean absolutely everything, still worked as intended. Between when I got it at
>> 101k, and sold it at just over 150k, it had three services, a set of
>> tyres, a set of front pads, a new top engine mount, and a replacement indicator
>> stalk. Never failed to start, never broke down, and gave that inexplicable, almost subconscious impression
>> that it never would do either. Lovely piece of engineering.
>>
I'm starting to wonder if mine will be my last car purchase. I bought it six years ago and I get the impression it will out last me.
A new expansion bottle and a new intercooler have been the only out of the ordinary service items, though it does need a steering wheel angle sensor now. Still on the original drop links and boot lid struts at coming up to eight years old.
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>> A new expansion bottle and a new intercooler have been the only out of the
>> ordinary service items, though it does need a steering wheel angle sensor now. Still on
>> the original drop links and boot lid struts at coming up to eight years old.
Mine was incredibly still on its original exhaust system and battery at 10 years old. I had a good nose at the exhaust when it was up on the ramps at MOT time, and there was just light surface rust on some of the welds.
If 20,000 miles a year, 28 mpg and £1.40 a litre fuel prices had been compatible, I would never have sold it.
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I do like an S60 love-in. Mine has worn out a few more bits in close to ten years and 130,000 miles, but it's given plenty of notice for each one. It's now in need of its third clutch position sensor, and I ought to replace the alarm siren if I could be bothered. Lately it's been making odd noises from the turbo, which I hope is due to age-related softening of the air hoses, in which case I'll get it dealt with at next month's service.
Battery and exhaust are original too. One vinyl (!) corner of the driver's seat has cracked from all those hours of supporting me, and my shoes have worn a hole in the footwell mat the lease company put in when it was delivered to me. It's still a pleasure to drive - more so in some ways than its large German drivemate. Quite fancy a V40 next year, perhaps; the S60 will be a good buy for someone then.
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And the most reliable used car is... - Bigtee
