Unreliable cars

Surveys reveal most reliable cars and best garages

reliable cars
Coming out of lockdown it’s important to have a trustworthy garage (Picture iStock/FG Trade)

Reliable cars are vital for most of us. And garages plus the quality of service they offer are just as important. The last thing you want is to buy a new car and find that it either lets you down or when you need help, the garage offers shoddy service.

There’s an easy way to discover how dependable cars and their dealers are and that’s by asking the people with real-life experience of owning the cars. This is where surveys come in. We’ve combed reports compiled by Auto Express and What Car? to distil the information you need to know if you’re buying a new car.

Best garages

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Buying a cheap car? Use this to avoid scams and choose with confidence

Buying a cheap car? Use this checklist to buy with confidence and avoid scams

Finding a cheap car isn’t difficult. There are more than 800,000 used cars for sale at any one time on websites such as Auto Trader, eBay, Exchange & Mart and Gumtree. And that’s in addition to other online sales sites both locally and nationally.

Buying a good one, however, calls for drivers to do their homework. We’ve created this checklist to help drivers buy the best motor for their budget and sort the good from the bad and the downright ugly.

Research the best cheap car for your needs

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How to choose a reliable used car – and avoid one that may break down

Reliable used car

Drivers may be tempted to imagine that the most reliable cars are the most expensive models from the poshest brands. But the latest independent surveys of car owners suggest otherwise.

Audi, BMW and Land Rover can be found languishing at the bottom of tables ranking the most and least reliable car makers. And budget brands, including Skoda and Suzuki, are often given the highest ratings.

It means that when buying a used or new car, drivers should do their homework carefully. If they don’t, they run the risk of their car being off the road and unexpected repair bills.

To help inform car buyers, we’ve got some top tips on how to choose a car that won’t let you down.

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Most reliable car makers – and they’re probably not who you think they are

Reliable cars

Cars like the British-built Honda Civic feature at the top of the reliability charts (Picture © Honda)

The Japanese might make the most reliable cars according to breakdown data but it’s the German car makers who have the reputation for dependability. A new study has revealed that people think German motors are more reliable than they actually are.

The data was released by WarrantyWise, a company that specialises in selling aftermarket warranties for cars. It surveyed 750 drivers for their perceptions about reliability. The results show that many people’s idea of who makes reliable cars flies in the face of reality. Continue reading

Halloween horror car: Think your car’s bad? Check out this nightmare

Halloween horror car

Fright Night: What the Halloween horror car looks like (Picture © Warranty Direct)

If you reckon you’re experiencing woe on four wheels, check out the Halloween horror car. It gives up the ghost every other month and costs nearly £500 every time it needs repairing. Thankfully this dodgy device doesn’t actually exist. It’s a Frankenstein’s monster of an unreliable motor that’s been put together by car guarantee company Warranty Direct.

The firm has imagined just how unreliable a car could be. It has taken data from 50,000 live policies and put together a motor built of components from the worst performing models in each category of its Reliability Index. Surprisingly, Japanese motors – usually feted for their bullet-proof reliability – feature prominently.
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