What's all this about?
What Car? magazine and Warranty Direct have published the results of their annual reliability study, which analyses faults reported on cars that are three to eight years old. Japanese brands occupy eight out of the top ten places with Honda, Suzuki and Toyota in the top three places. A premium badge does not necessarily mean reliable motoring as evidenced by Bentley and Porsche in the bottom two positions.
How is it worked out?
Apparently the process uses 'complex formula that takes into account its failure rate, age, mileage and cost of repair' to generate a number called the Repair Index (RI), the lower the RI the more dependable the car. As well as the Index the results table include the average and highest cost of repair. Incidentally, the highest cost on the table was £35,000 for BMW (ranked joint 28th overall, the same as MG).
Anything more specific?
As far as individual vehicles go, the Honda Jazz and Mitsubishi Lancer are named as the most reliable models. If they do go wrong, the repair costs are described as 'reasonable'. Conversely, the least reliable car is also the most expensive to fix - the Audi RS 6 with an average repair bill of £1,003.25.
The most common faults are electrical, causing 22.34% of vehicles to take a trip to the garage. Axle and suspension failures affected a similar number (22%). Air conditioning gives the least cause of concern with only 3% of owners experiencing problems.
John Lambert - 22 Apr 2015