German cars are not as reliable as their reputation suggests. That’s according to one warranty provider, which has studied its database to reveal the makes of cars most and least likely to have engine problems.
Warranty Direct, which with 50,000 policies on its books is the UK’s leading supplier of direct consumer warranties, claims that Audis, BMWs and Volkswagens have some of the least reliable engines available.
Indeed, among the cars owned by its policy holders, the only engines to have failed more than Audis were those from the now defunct MG Group. In total 1 in 13 of MG Rover motors failed in the past year, and problems presented themselves in 1 in every 27 Audi engines. Mini was the third least reliable with a failure rate of 1 in 40, while BMW finished seventh (1 in 45) and Volkswagen ninth (1 in 52).
The most reliable engines came from Honda, with a failure rate of just 1 in 344, with Toyota in second (1 in 171) and, maintaining some honour for the German brands, Mercedes in third (1 in 119).
The company also pointed out the high cost of repair that can be associated with engine problems. In its highest claim, which was for a Range Rover Vogue, an engine failure cost £12,998.46.
