Reply With QuoteThere’s faults and then there’s faults!
I wonder out of all these surveys the amount of people who have actually had faults that has meant the vehicle had broken down or made them undriveable?
This.Originally Posted by ronnie3585
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
There’s faults and then there’s faults!
I wonder out of all these surveys the amount of people who have actually had faults that has meant the vehicle had broken down or made them undriveable?
In which case it would be highlighted at MOT and either a fail or advisory would be issued.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Yes, what's your point?
Impartiality? no such thing now, it's all to do with taking money. I soon learnt that in the hifi trade with reviewing.... do some advertising and you'll get a 5 star review.... don't advertise and you'll not get a mention.
I wouldn't, and have never, based a purchase decision on a review such as this. There is no way no know the influences, biases etc. I put far more store in personal experiences and those of trusted friends and colleagues.
In relatively recent years (from the late 90s to now) I have owned the following:
4 x Audi (3 x RS6, 1 x A4 Avant): Not a single fault with any of them, and I truly mean nothing. I have recently gone back to an RS6.
2 x Range Rovers: It felt like they spent more time at the dealership than in my garage. Amazing vehicles but I don't believe I'd buy another and the latest ones are hideous to look at.
1 x Ford Focus: A 1.8 TDCI Ghia that had been remapped. A brilliant little commuting car and the only thing that went wrong in 96k miles was a rear electric window winder mechanism. Ford wanted over £400 to replace the whole mechanism. Fixed for £11.30 with a kit from eBay!!
1 x Jaguar XJ12: Quite a few issues, mainly electrical. The only car I've ever had stolen (thankfully recovered).
I have a great friend who has BMW 5 series diesels (currently a 535d) and has had for years. His sister-in-law (and my former partner!!) works for BMW UK and so he gets a very good deal. He has had very few issues over the years and as he commutes from Cheltenham to Birmingham every day (or did!) his vehicles exceed 200k miles when he replaces them after 3 or 4 years.
Same for me with Citroën. I had a job which involved a 700 mile a week commute for 12 years. In that time I had 2 Citroën ZX, a Zara and a C5. All bought for less than a grand because the general perception in the UK is that all French cars are crap! Everyone one had over 200k on the clock when I sold them. With just routine servicing.
It's also surprising how many different manufacturers have used Peugeot / citroen diesel engines in there cars, that many people aren't aware of Including Ford, Volvo, Mini, Madza, Suzuki and BMW.
Also the 1.5 diesel engine in the Merc A class is a Renault engine the same one that is in the Dacia Duster.
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I’ve had 4 BMWs over the last 14 years averaging 20k miles per year. I’ve had 2 x 4 series coupe, a 3 series touring and currently an X4.
On the 3 and 4 series, I never had any problems except one cracked alloy picked up at a service and replaced immediately. My X4 has had 3 tyre pressure sensors fixed in the last year. The X4 has significantLy more tech than my previous cars and once the warranty runs out, I’ll sell it as I dread to think how much it might cost if something went wrong.
I do wonder if BMWs and other ‘luxury’ brands have higher levels of technology than their cheaper European cousins and if this leads to more faults and the poor reliability results.
Yes! I recently bought a 19 year old car with original tyres on the rears! My first job was to change them. Although they had a legal amount of tread, they were very dry but strangely showed no signs of cracking etc. My tyre fitter said that many low mileage "garaged" cars had old tyres but he recommended changing at a 6 year maximum.
Just that people should follow the advice of their MOT testers.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
I can echo your thoughts on Citroen. I had a old BX Diesel which did about 900m a week for 3 years, before being sold and then doing another 400m a week for another 3 years after that. Only thing that failed in my ownership was a cracked disk rotor (and I did my own servicing).
I then followed this with a brand new ZX diesel, which I put about 140k on, before my wife added another 60k before I sold it to my sister (who put another 30k on it) before writing it off. Great car.
I then had a Vauxhall Vectra (company car) which was an utter turd, before changing job and getting a BMW 518, which was great. This was replaced with a Peugeot 406 coupe (which did over 120k in the time I had it) again no problems.
Note. These were mostly motorway miles, which might explain the reliability.
It all started to wrong for me after my 3rd, 4th, 5th 6th BMW. Never again. These days I much prefer Mercedes, however I would not rule out a French car again, when they make one I actually like. That said my wife has gone Toyota and now Lexus NX and these are seriously good cars ( if rather uninspiring)
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Serious looking at a Peugeot 208 GTi now, and boy are they cheap compared to beemers.
Very nice little car. We've had one for 3 year. Quick, as it's very light hence can embarrass bigger faster(on paper) cars . Economical, 39.1 mpg and it gets driven properly. Low tax, cheap insurance and servicing.
Just traded my 62 plate BMW X5
4 tyres in two and a half years
An oil and filter
That’s it
Only got rid as I’ve bought an i3
Yep pocket rocket that does 100 miles for £4
I’ve had lots of audis - all had issues
Two other BMW - no issues
Porsches - best ever - never a twinge
Evoque - massive issues but was warranted - dumped it out of warranty
Too many people think they’re f experts
It’s easy to recall the bad - and tell loads of people I guess.....
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One person's experience is irrelevant really. That a car is less reliable than others in a survey obviously doesn't mean they all are.
Seriously considering ordering the X5 PHEV in the next month or so for the BIK benefits.
Never once has dependability crossed my mind as I've had a couple and my parents are on their 2nd bimmer that they've taken from new to 100k+ and **touch wood** they've all been plain sailing!
Thats an interesting chart and would seem to confirm my thinking. Japanese cars are more reliable in the longer term and I am not sure we will ever own anpther German car. Expensive to fix and needlessly complex IME.I have an interest in BMWs - I've owned a few, and currently run an '03 plate 530i wagon. But I saw this infographic a month ago, and it boggled me. Modern BMWs are not made like the old ones, I fear.
German cars specialise in high perceived quality but this does not provide any hint as to long term reliability. The complexity of modern cars is such that long term reliability is becoming more questionable. Its a shame because mechanically they are better then ever with modern manufacturing processes, QC and know how.
I think we are smart enough to work that out. I can bet on the flip of a coin and know I will win 50% on average.
Cars and their litany of issues for me
Various fords from the 80's - all fairly reliable but I did have one which sucked bits of air filter into the carb and then the bonnet rusted off.
A couple of hyundais - fantastically reliable but a bit boring.
A kia - again reliable as hell.
A pair of Lexus, LS400 just didn't go wrong, RX400h had a few little issue, mainly with trim but then I did abuse it horribly.
Citroen BX - posessed hydrolastics, engine was strong and when it worked it was great but at the end it'd do 10 miles and then have to stop the lower and raise the thing otherwise the ride would bounce you off the road.
Peugeot coupes - lovely looking but the 406 had overheating issues, sensor issues and a fuel filter that failed spectacularly and sprayed petrol all over the back half of the car. The 407 needed new sensors every other month, a new gearbox and would occasionally just not start. Eventually given back under 1/2s and 1/3ds due to an impossible to diagnose howling noise as it drove.
Audi A6 2.8 - engine blew up after a month. It was only £600 and everything screamed to run the other way so my fault really.
Honda Accord - awful thing, it ate clutches and dmf's (i've never had to replace a clutch so I discount my driving style), cracked manifolds, constant limp mode, awful dealers.
Seat Alhambra - great bus, not that reliable as I had to have a top end rebuild after it overheated and warped the head. Also had a new turbo, maf and alloys as they buckled.
Had a few other cars in between.
Current MB is too soon to tell.
If kia, hyundai or lexus did the sort of car i wanted I'd happily have bought another.
Each to their own but French cars are crap for a 700 mile a week commute, well I certainly would not want to drive one 700 miles a week
I have a 5008, say what you want but it is incredibly comfortable and extremely practical, I would happily drive it 700 miles a week
A sportier car will eat tyres and brake pads, and need various suspension bits replacing at regular intervals - they are essentially consumables. And as noted earlier, more features, more to go wrong or be replaced when the time comes. That said, I used to own a first gen SLK that leaked like a sieve. The water would collect around the extremely expensive central locking unit, frying the electronics, a well known fault. So much for German engineering. More gizmos seems to mean more dead batteries too.
I wonder where Porsche would come on that graph?
I completely disagree, Sports cars; often lighter weight, are very low on tyre wear, brake wear and suspension wear. I ran an NB Mazda MX5 VT Sport for nine years and replaced the battery, put on four tyres and that was it. On the other hand my Boxster needed the electric hood fixing, blew fuses every time I adjusted the seat, throttle bodies rebuilding and suspension was on its way out. Again, a Jap V’s German thing.
I’d imagine the tyre and brake wear etc depends on how you drive it, and of course what tyres you run. More wear is the received wisdom but if you’re gentle with it then yes, the lack of weight could help. The MX5 is famously dependable, though not the fastest which may help too. That said I owned one myself (a Mk 1) and it was certainly fast enough in the corners and great fun.
I’ve read that Porsche owners should budget £1500p/a for maintenance and take it as a bonus if they don’t use it, and save it up for the next really expensive thing. Still tempted all the same. My current e86 BMW seems pretty solid, give or take the aforementioned battery munching of many modern cars.
I have had 6 BMWs
318i E30 , used , zero faults over 1y
325i conv E30 , new , zero faults over 3y
535i E39 , used , crankshaft position sensor, owned 3y
X5 3.0d , new , zero faults over 2y
M5 v10 , used, zero faults (but bought warranty as it was only a matter of time) owned c 5 months ( I reallyhated it)
X3 2.5i, very used Normal wear & tear over 9 years
I use the x3 as a tow / snow car and over the last 9 years I've had to buy about 3 coil packs , discs pads a pair of a calipers springs and struts. Not too bad for a 16 year old car . So my experience with the marque has been quite good (apart from the M5)
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