What Car? Reliability Survey 2012

ChrisD.

ChrisD.

ChrisD.

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http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/wha...in (26.07.2012)&utm_content=article1_readmore

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Some interesting results. A lot of German cars low down in the list below the French which I wouldn't have expected.
 
The problem with these stats is that they fail to take into account how the owners of said cars have treated the car up to the point in which they took part of the survey.

"So Mr B takes the survey and recalls 4 months ago when his BMW 330D went in for a new turbo at a cost of £1200. He fails to recall the fact that he drove it like he stole it every single day and never serviced the oil or breathers."
 
I hear what you say paradigm but I still think it is still a good indication of how reliable said manufacturers are.

Based on what you say in your reply what that survey says to me is that of all the drove it like you stole Lexus owners only 18% broke down. Whereas of all the drove it like you stole it BMW owners 41% broke down.

At the end of the day I have always been of the opinion that Jap cars overall are more reliable than their European couterparts.
 
Does this take into account the amount of people who take warranties out on what cars? For instance there may only be a hand full of Fiat pandas and hundreds of 3 Series on warranty with warranty direct. This could produce some inconsistency to the results.
 
The issue I have as well is that the cause of the breakdown (or severity of them) is never clarified. Yes, Alfa Romeos might have broken down lots - but was it just simple? On the opposite end of the scale, the Lexus models might be very reliable - but when they do fail it's catastrophically.

I know it the 'Reliability index' is some kind of very tenuous indication but even so...
 
Lashout_UK said:
The issue I have as well is that the cause of the breakdown (or severity of them) is never clarified. Yes, Alfa Romeos might have broken down lots - but was it just simple? On the opposite end of the scale, the Lexus models might be very reliable - but when they do fail it's catastrophically.

I know it the 'Reliability index' is some kind of very tenuous indication but even so...
Click to expand...

Well, they've clarified that by giving you the average repair cost. As an example, the average repair cost on the Alfa was pretty much the same as Honda in #1, evidently they just broke down more :p
 
I may have missed the information from the link but can anyone tell me:

The average age of car tested for each manufacturer? I assume it must be over 3 years old so out of manufactur warranty but under 8 years old as stated somewhere.

Length of time this is all measured over?
 
I always wonder what makes Japanese cars more reliable than others, they are most always at the top and why can't other manufacturers take a leaf out of them.

Ie if say X manufacturer's car has a high failure rate of certain parts, why don't they do something manufacturer Y does which has lower failure rate?
 
Raymond Lin said:
I always wonder what makes Japanese cars more reliable than others, they are most always at the top and why can't other manufacturers take a leaf out of them.
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It is about expectations though, if your £5k Nissan Pixo / Suzuki Alto breaks you think oh well it's cheap but if the same thing breaks on your £50k Mercedes you're unhappy then fill in a JD power survey about poor reliability.

They have tried to compare differing types which put executive cars the 3 series in the top ten yet BMW complete are down at 24.
 
paradigm said:
The problem with these stats is that they fail to take into account how the owners of said cars have treated the car up to the point in which they took part of the survey.

"So Mr B takes the survey and recalls 4 months ago when his BMW 330D went in for a new turbo at a cost of £1200. He fails to recall the fact that he drove it like he stole it every single day and never serviced the oil or breathers."
Click to expand...

Same applies to all of the cars on the list though. It's not like Mr BMW drove his car like he stole it whereas Mr Alfa drove like Miss Daisy.

I'm sure that each marque has the same number of drivers that treat their car well and those that treat it badly. It all evens out.
 
I find it hilarious that Jaguar is pretty much the same as BMW, VW, MB in the reliability test. Now anyone who says not to buy a Jag because it is unreliable, and suggests a german alternative can shut it :)

But you do see more older people driving hondas, lets not forget, these are the people who get dealer servicing done, and will be conned into getting the most comprehensive service done. Does the survey take into account how much the cars get serviced and what is replaced? Honda may jut be replacing the bad parts every time the car goes in,and most of the time, the owner wont even know its broken ;)
 
To be fair Range Rover is in the right position. My bosses £64k range rover had the following happen

1st day. Rear brake caliper stuck on and wheel caught fire!

Month 1: Major suspension issues and warning lights. Back to dealers for two weeks. Calls in after one week to collect something from the car he left behind and sees hes body suspended above his chassis and axles sitting on the floor.
 
paradigm said:
The problem with these stats is that they fail to take into account how the owners of said cars have treated the car up to the point in which they took part of the survey.

"So Mr B takes the survey and recalls 4 months ago when his BMW 330D went in for a new turbo at a cost of £1200. He fails to recall the fact that he drove it like he stole it every single day and never serviced the oil or breathers."
Click to expand...

Yeah, they should only release these stats once they've analysed the precise driving style of each participant using GPS and computers. #Lolbmwdefenceleague.
 
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