motoring guide

Modern cars are so reliable, so who needs call-out cover?

So, you drive a relatively new, modern car; you have it serviced regularly and you make a point of staying on top of those little car maintenance jobs that most of the rest of us tend to shirk – especially during the cold, winter months when the last place we want to be is under the bonnet of a car. You're doing everything you should be to make sure your car stays on the road, so there's really no point in buying breakdown cover, is there? You'd just be wasting your money.
Well, you might think so, but one of the biggest hidden dangers to UK motorists is reliability syndrome, or the belief that your car is so well maintained and reliable that nothing can possibly go wrong. Think again.

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Analysis shows that one on four cars will suffer some form of mechanical failure during years four and five of owners – and that includes so-called "reliable" vehicles too. Funnily enough, that timescale coincides with the point in a vehicle's life when its manufacturer's warranty tends to run out, leaving the driver to pay for the repairs.

This perfectly illustrates another issue facing motorists: Sod's law. Sod's law is something we're all familiar with: it's that unwritten law that states that breakdowns will always happen when:

• we're in a hurry for an important appointment/flight
• we're dressed in a business suit or flimsy dress
• it's raining
• it's dark
• we're a long way from home and our destination
• all of the above!

Sod's law applies to us all – and remember: even the most reliable of cars suffer blow-outs!

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Most and least reliable cars?

Of course, there is one thing you can do to try and beat Sod's law: you can seek out and buy the most reliable car on the road. According to The Automotive Unit of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (July 2007), your chosen car would probably be a Honda: the manufacturer swept the board in this year's Which? Car reliability survey, the biggest-ever owner satisfaction survey in the UK, with almost 100,000 cars rated.
The least reliable new car, meanwhile, is one you possibly wouldn’t expect: the Land Rover, which, according to the Which? Survey sits at the bottom of the reliability scale, just behind Renault and Fiat.

The Warranty Direct Top 100 Most Reliable Used Cars ranks the Honda Accord as top car with Daihatsu the most reliable manufacturer overall - with UK manufacturers coming bottom of the league.
You don't necessarily have to buy a brand new car in order to reassure yourself about reliability, though. According to the Annual Car Reliability Survey, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Centre, some nine and ten year old vehicles report less problems than their newer counterparts, with five and six year-old vehicles causing the most problems: it's no accident that this is the age at which many motorists consider selling their cars.
Again, older Hondas tend to be the most reliable, with Toyotas also rating highly for reliability, even at an age when many drivers would have long-since considered trading them in for a newer model.

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13 Dec 2007