Audi, BMW and VW cars are one of the most admired vehicles in the world but a study from the team of researchers of Warranty Direct shows the dark side of story and they found that all German automakers finished in last ten automakers in the engine reliability list while Japanese automakers are in the leading position once again.
The data was compiled from the claims that company has paid to their customers and they made a list of all thirty six manufacturers with the most admired sales in the world.
Actually there was only one manufacturer that had a worse engine failure rate than Audi, the MG Rover. The MINI didn’t perform better either and finished at third from the bottom and its parent came seventh from bottom.
Volkswagen is favoured for its rock solid reliability but in this list Volkswagen engines came ninth from bottom.
Japanese won all the medals, from bronze to gold, where Honda scooped the Gold Medal, Toyota won silver and came at second. Mercedes-Benz was the only German automaker that managed to outperform its fellows and win a respectable third place.
Warranty Direct’s managing director Duncan McClure, said that “engine failures are the worst for motorists as they’re the repairs that can lead to the highest costs because of the parts and hours of labour required to fix them“. Areas such as axle and suspension and other mechanical parts have low damage rate, but engine replacement almost always dents the wallet in thousands of pounds, even for a used engine.
Top five manufacturers with most reliable engines
Manufacturer Failure rate (%) Failure rate (1 in x)
1-Honda 0.29% 1 in 344
2-Toyota 0.58% 1 in 171
3-Mercedes 0.84% 1 in 119
4-Volvo 0.90% 1 in 111
5-Jaguar 0.98% 1 in 103
Bottom five manufacturers with least reliable engines
Manufacturer Failure rate (%) Failure rate (1 in x)
5-MG Rover 7.88% 1 in 13
4-Audi 3.71% 1 in 27
3-MINI 2.51% 1 in 40
2-Saab 2.49% 1 in 40
1-Vauxhall 2.46% 1 in 41
So, do you think that the German cars still deserve the title of top selling automakers?
