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German cars beaten by Kia in reliability

 
5 15,397 views Jan 25, 2007

German cars beaten by Kia in reliability

German cars beaten by Kia in reliability

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A recent study run by independent automotive warranty specialist, Warranty Direct, looked at more than 450,000 vehicles, across 33 manufacturers, from the UK and the USA for reported mechanical failures. It found Mazda to be the most reliable car brand with almost 92% of its cars aged between 3 and 9 years to have suffered no mechanical failures of any type. The Japanese carmaker achieved a failure rate of just 8.04% to come out on top of a field where only two non-Asian based manufacturers made it into the top ten.

Below is a list of the top ten companies that had the lowest number of mechanical failures reported by policy holders for every 100 vehicles aged between three and nine years old. Interestingly, Kia proved more reliable than all the German brands and even financially stricken Mitsubishi reached a very respectable fourth.

1. Mazda 8.04

2. Honda 8.90

3. Toyota 15.78

4. Mitsubishi 17.04

5. Kia 17.39

6. Subaru 18.46

7. Nissan 18.86

8. Lexus 20.05

9. Mini 21.90

10. Citroën 25.98

At the other end of the scale, SUV manufacturers Jeep and Range Rover came out on the bottom of the ‘World’ reliability study. Worst still, a whopping 46% of large American SUVs recorded at least one mechanical failure during a given twelve-month period.

Follow the jump to see how all 33 manufacturers rated.

Table to illustrate the reliability ratings of 450,000 vehicles by manufacturer:

Manufacturer / Incidence Rate %

1 Mazda 8.04%

2 Honda 8.90%

3 Toyota 15.78%

4 Mitsubishi 17.04%

5 Kia 17.39%

6 Subaru 18.46%

7 Nissan 18.86%

8 Lexus 20.05%

9 Mini 21.90%

10 Citroen 25.98%

11 Daewoo 26.30%

12 Hyundai 26.36%

13 Peugeot 26.59%

14 Ford 26.76%

15 Suzuki 27.20%

16 Porsche 27.48%

17 Fiat 28.49%

18 BMW 28.64%

19 Vauxhall 28.77%

20 Mercedes 29.90%

21 Rover 30.12%

22 Volvo 31.28%

23 Volkswagen 31.44%

24 Jaguar 32.05%

25 Skoda 32.12%

26 Chrysler 34.90%

27 Audi 36.74%

28 Seat 36.87%

29 Renault 36.87%

30 Alfa Romeo 39.13%

31 Saab 41.59%

32 Land Rover 44.21%

33 Jeep 46.36%

Via: AutoMotoPortal



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Comments (5)

  1. By GREZZ Posted: 1/25/2007 7:31am PST

    someone has the entire list?
     
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  2. By admin Posted: 1/25/2007 7:45am PST

    The story has now been updated with the full list.
     
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  3. By GREZZ Posted: 1/25/2007 8:09am PST

    thx, you rule!
     
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  4. By JC Posted: 1/26/2007 10:55am PST

    In general terms this comparison is completely irrelevant. Looking at the top ranked brands you have cars without much complexity and devoid of many features that would otherwise increase the rate of repairs. OEMs that attack the status quo by investing in technology and performance (such as the germans) are MUCH more valuable to me as an owner than the average econoboxes that are the volume OEMS that top this list, simply because of their philosophy of taking old proven technology and making it reliable rather than the more riskier position of leading with new technology, as the Germans do.

    Even this list will quickly change since the German OEMs are refocusing their efforts on quality as well as styling and performance.

    Reliability, by itself, is a useless metric for the reasons stated above. You cannot compare a Subaru to an Audi because the subaru comes with AM/FM radio and A/C while the Audi has technology that I could not begin to describe in this small space. Thus reliability will tend to favor the car with 1000 parts rather then the one with 2000 parts.
     
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  5. By M__ Posted: 1/26/2007 10:39pm PST

    You obviously need to do some homework, my friend. You are among a small minority of car consumers who are so shortsighted to consider relatively untested and sometimes radical technology – disguised and ‘innovation’ – as a measure of superiority. I’m glad that challenges to the status-quo are a substantial part of your car purchasing decisions, but this does not change the fact that it is an extremely impractical method. If you can name 5 Audi systems that do not have a more reliable equivalent in Subaru’s production line, then I may be satisfied to accept Audi as a carmaker of marginal innovation.

    The bottom line is this: My Subie will be tossing stones from all-four while your Audi has an electrical malfunction and dies on the side of the road. At the end of the day, a more reliable car is a superior car. That being said, many of the technological advances that have become paradigm in performance automotive manufacturing have been made by Japanese manufactures. Subaru independently derived their own AWD system, which debuted in 1973; one which is still, arguably, superior to Audi/VW’s – if not, entirely comparable in all respects.

    I’ve done many, many complex repair jobs on both Subarus and Audis; hands down, Subaru has a simplicity and ease of repair without the unnecessary complexity that cannot be matched by Audi’s clunky, high maintenance systems. I challenge you, JC, to expound on your unsupported claims that Audi’s are so complex and superior to the econoboxes. Subaru has invested every bit as much into technology and performance as Audi (they now dominate the rally scene, Audi couldn’t keep up), but their systems and innovations just seem to be superior in design.

    Simplicity is best: a simpler system that accomplishes the same task as a more complex system is superior. I have not seen very much under the hood of an Audi that I felt was terribly innovative, I am generally more displeased with there poor engineering and lack of forethought. However, I am equally as impressed by Subaru’s incredible engineering and tremendous end-user design consideration. That is what makes a superior automobile.
     
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