Independent automotive warranty specialist Warranty Direct conducted a car reliability study covering more than 450,000 vehicles from 33 manufacturers in the USA and UK, and Mazda came out tops – with almost 92% of Mazda cars surveyed between 3 and 9 years old suffering no mechanical failure of any type.
Mazda’s failure rate was 8.04 per cent of all vehicles aged between three and nine years old. It’s Ford brother Land Rover scored 44.21 percent failure rates, which is ironic considering 4WD vehicles are supposed to be more hardy? Honda comes in at second place, close on Mazda’s trail at 8.90 percent, while Toyota is at third place with 15.78!
Of course, this survey does not reflect the likelihood of mechanical failures of new cars by these manufacturers as they cover old cars between 3 to 9 years old. But you may find this table useful if you want to purchase a second hand car.
Table after the jump.
Warranty DIRECT ‘Reliability League Table 2007
Number of mechanical failures reported by policy holders for every 100 vehicles aged between three and nine years old.
| 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 | Citroën | 25.98 |
After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.
For every 100 car of all types or same type? Mazda did not sell as many car as others.
wow, they're all japanese cars from 1~8 (except for kia)
woots! i
kia using mazda engine go 5th, ? vendor problem? anyway not bad for korean
suprisingly citroen 10th?, cant belive.
old mazda yes, reliable while a performance is a trade off,
quite good info, but then you sell more you get more damages. Sell less less damages. So its fair I guess
In usa, I saw quite many mazda cars(especially M3) around california, but moderate toyota cars around. From what I saw in months, i think, honda, nissan & toyota cars are in equal number, follow by mazda. However, for suv, there is very minor Harrier(RX330) is around town, but, Nissan Murano and FX35, Honda MDX, Pilot, CRV are many many many many, at least 10 times more than toyota !!!
This kind of survey should be carried out here.
Kudos to Mazda for building reliable and desirable cars! I am so glad to see Toyota is in 3rd place. Toyota cars are waaaay overrated!
Honda is more reliable than Toyota by one fold.
toyota way overrated??? hachi roku anyone?
it is still debatable cause there is no mention on the methodology and sample population. what i came across so far, some data suggest rating for continental cars are the worst (ie. VW passat and jetta); which may upset some VW cum proton proponent.
By the way… you guys know what kind of model they used in their statistics ? Example Toyota VIOS, Altis or Camry ? Or higher models like WISH, Alphard, Caldina ?
I am quite surprise that Honda is more reliable than Toyota ? Most people think Toyota is a more reliable car than most makes.
mayo…toyota is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overated!i see so many toyotas breaking down and still ppl can say so reliable. ridiculous!!
J said,
I am quite surprise that Honda is more reliable than Toyota ? Most people think Toyota is a more reliable car than most makes.
Thinking a car is reliable doesn't increases its reliability.
citroen in 10th place? unbelievable!!!
what happened to the Germans? Looks like their former axis allies have out-done them.
Here is the entire list…
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%
Now I have good "feeling" for Mazda
bobmarley,
is there any malaysia car in the list? maybe no 60 in the list….? lol XD
look like the VW also not so good either…. No.23
can anyone tell me where is Daihatsu ?
so it seem Ford group best bet would be a Mazda…
Whr's Proton and Perodua?
Yeah what about our malaysian cars?
Ricc & mlbl,
P1 and P2 export to UK, it should be in the survey list and ranking! I also ponder where are both of their listing in this survey? Likely to be "Top 2" count from back?
said,
January 31, 2007 @ 11:27 pm
I am quite surprise that Honda is more reliable than Toyota ? Most people think Toyota is a more reliable car than most makes.
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Bro, as i said earlier.. this kind of expectation only apply in SEA and 3rd world country
Toyota..JUARA KAMPUNG..prrrfthhh
^ Maybe P1 and P2 are so bad that the Brits just couldn't be bothered to test them?
P2 so bad??? How come top selling car.. No 1 manufacturer in Malaysia was not listed in the ranking???
yeahh… 3rd world country taste maaa…prrrfthhh
IMHO, P1 & P2 2nd hand car does not even exist in UK market… so it was never able to reach into this survey…. people just bought it because of the perks(given by distributor) they offered and throw(scrap) it away after say… 5 years of owning one….. just like tissue paper ?
quite sad for our nation pride!
malaysian thinking
P2=toyota..
if toyota in the 3rd place
P2 should be 4th or 5th place though ..
prrrfthhhh
dun worry, Brits has no time for Proton.. because the breakdown list is way too… long. Proton is the champ for most breakdown category.
if any of you have a proton, then u will agree with me..
the interial of my bro iswara (yr 05) is exactly the same as my mom 20yrs old saga.. so what u expect?
i hate it when proton come out with those face lift modal. they change nothing and hoping Malaysian will support them.
better buy a Myvi. at least it is more reliable.
Impossible, the legendary Lexus reputed for quality in 8th place ? Must be failure in electronic parts.
Wow.. cayalah mazda.. too bad no CKD mazdas here…. whoa.. this info reliable ka??. . hyundai at 12th place??.. Land rover at 32nd?.. F1 champion Renault, at 29th?? Mercedes at 20th?
ys said,
February 1, 2007 @ 4:18 pm
better buy a Myvi. at least it is more reliable.
===============
prrrfthh
i told you rite.. P2= toyota..
but only malaysian(3rd world country) been thinking toyota is reliable…prrrfthh
Myvi has its own share of QC issues but so far as I know, nothing really major. I'm proud to own a myvi and I can say with certainty that it is a value buy. At least I believe it won't have major QC issues like proton cars. Will never buy them unless they improve their QC drastically.
Probably Proton was not in the list because:
1) there is less than 100 Proton cars in UK
2) all Proton cars are less than 3 years old (send to scrap before they reach that age)
Mazda6 anyone?
So how about P2?? no 1 manufacturer in Msia???
prrrfthhh
These news make no surprise.. If you follow very closely on What's Car magazine, these facts has been published out every year. Infact, the year 2004, Mazda was still 1st and Honda is 2nd. In 2005, Honda overtake Mazda for the most reliability car. I'd guess, above information is for year 2006.
I owned a Mazda6 for 6 months already and so far there is no major problem. Honestly, can't comments much as the car still very new and you will see more when you are reached 3rd year…
One thing that I quite impress on Mazda cars.. is the FC, my Mazda 6 are quite close to my brother's Toyota Avanza… of course on KL drive..
These news came no surprise, If you follow very closely on What's Car magazine, these facts are well published every year. Infact, in 2004, Mazda also in the 1st follow by Honda. In 2005, Honda overtake Mazda as the most reliable car. I'd guess the above info is for last year 2006.
I have owned a Mazda6 for 6 months now, So far there is no major problem. I can't comments much as the car still very new. You can see more things when the car come to the 3rd year…
1 thing that I really impress on Mazda cars, is the FC. My Mazda6 is quite close to my brother's Toyota Avanza… of course on KL road..
peyno…..what is prrrfthhh??
just wondering…
too bad unable to get any mazda car below Rm100k.
Rather than risk making unfounded comments, did some research and found this..
http://www.reliabilityindex.co.uk
Its pretty clear why there is no proton or perodua in the list.. Its because they were not included in the survey at all.
Being a list for the UK (only 32 manufacturers) and US (no malaysian cars there), this survey cannot be used to judge malaysian cars for reliability at all, because malaysian car owners were never sampled.
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anyways.., if you pick 10 surveys, you will get slight different results from all..
example, a survey that actually included proton.. i couldnt find the actual results.. but only bits and pieces here and there.
http://www.newcarnet.co.uk/Proton_news.html?id=58…
"According to a recent study by consumer data experts Wegener DM, Proton Cars UK is in the top five car manufacturers when it comes to customer satisfaction.
The Malaysian manufacturer achieved a rating of 68% in the 'very satisfied' car owners section placing it fourth out of 28 manufacturers."
http://www.wegenerdm.co.uk/?pag=180&item=70
"Of the 46,627 people that answered the car satisfaction section of the survey the top two spots for satisfied customers were held by Japanese manufacturers Honda and Toyota, 76 per cent and 74 per cent of whose customers respectively reported being “very satisfiedâ€. At the other end of the scale only 45 per cent of Fiat customers reported being very satisfied, and 44 per cent of Daewoo customers."
As the survey was conducted in UK & US, I dun think it is wise to entirely assume the data could be applied to our local shores or anywhere else.
For example, mercs these days are assembled in India; mercs are fine machines at it's own right but at the end of the day, reliability or quality of the car will rely heavily on the assembly plant's workers' skill and the scrutiny of the QC engineers onsite.
The fact that mercs are placed at 20th place astonishes me.
On the other hand, Mazda that apparently tops out in this shootout takes reliability really seriously as for example, rotary engines in the past are notorious for breaking down. Till this day, Mazda engineers are still finding ways to improve the RX-8 renesis engine's reliability. Mazda also takes the responsibility to recall any affected vehicles should there be any technical alterations required.
RX-8 Recall: "We will not walk away from any Mazda Owner"
http://rotarynews.com/node/view/826
Maybe the quest for improved reliability has engraved a working culture in Mazda to deliver nothing but the best?
If we look at the list at another crude perspective i.e. grouping the manufacturers' by country of make and range throughout the list the following is the result based on the 33 entries for cars between age from 3 to 9:
japanese (8 makes) 1-15
korean (3 makes) 5-12
british (5 makes) 9-32
french (3 makes) 10-29
american (3 makes) 14-33
german (5 makes) 16-27
italian (2 makes) 17-30
swedish (2 makes) 22-31
scandinavian (1 make) 25
spanish (1 make) 28
In other words, QC and aftermarket support is paramount. Two very basic things that P1 till now still struggles at.
Huh? Citroen actually ended up in the top 10, above Peugeot and Mercedes to boot. Totally unexpected :p It's no surprise the Japanese cars come up tops in reliability, though in terms of how well the car and chassis holds together after so many years, the continentals will win i think.
Try to search P1 under Super Sportscar………..
I think they listed P1 under Lotus Cars P.L. ……..their proud heritage…..hehehe………no wonder their rating sky high………
aesthari said,
February 3, 2007 @ 8:35 am
though in terms of how well the car and chassis holds together after so many years, the continentals will win i think.
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Such assumptions are old school. Most people always think that continental cars are better made coz they still see the older cars on the road but these are almost always the old Mercs or Beemers, where they costs more and got more love and care from their owners. I'm sure the more expensive Japanese cars last just as long if they're well taken care of. I recently saw a 1st gen Prelude that is almost in mint condition. Says alot for a 30 yrs old Japanese car.