Reliability is a critical component of motor vehicles. We rely so heavily on our transportation that an unreliable vehicle is useless to us. If we were only using vehicles recreationally, this wouldn't be too much of an issue, but with a semi-non-existent public transport infrastructure in South Africa, we are forced to depend on our cars every day. E-Hailing has only solved part of the problem, and consumers still want to own a car, be it for practical reasons or even just for the status associated with vehicle ownership.
Related: What car brand lasts forever?
No one deliberately buys an unreliable vehicle unless they do so with the intention of turning it into something reliable, but that's a very select few. We all want to know that our money has been well spent and we want the most reliable vehicle we can possibly afford.
Local market
Ascertaining what the most reliable brand is, isn't easy. The last Vehicle Quality Survey was conducted by IPSOS in 2017, a full 6-years ago. Many of the models surveyed in that study have since been discontinued. Several brands were also not surveyed, electing not to participate in the study. As such, this research covered an estimated 72% of the vehicles sold that year and included 17 different brands.
The biggest cause for concern over the more than 7 000 interviews conducted stemmed from fuel consumption. As we know, fuel consumption claims and real-world figures often vary significantly as drivers cannot replicate the test conditions in their daily commute.
Toyota was the overall winner, taking 10 gold awards, while Nissan was not too far off the pace with 8 gold awards. Here are your Top 7 brands:
1. Toyota - 10 Gold Awards
2. Nissan - 8 Gold Awards
3. Volkswagen - 6 Gold Awards
4. Audi - 5 Gold Awards
5. Ford - 2 Gold Awards
6. Opel - 1 Gold Award
7. Renault - 1 Gold Award
International studies
The international firm, J.D. Power, regularly conducts surveys into vehicle dependability, gathering information from VIN-verified consumers and looking at vehicles that are three years old to ascertain which brands have the lowest number of problems per 100 units (pp100). In their most recent study, Lexus came out on top. Naturally, the vehicles surveyed are not all available in South Africa and some are built in different plants to those made available in our local market. It also excludes vehicle brands unavailable in the USA, like Suzuki.
These are their Top 10 brands, as reported.
1. Lexus - 133 pp100
2. Genesis - 144 pp100
3. Kia - 152 pp100
4. Chevrolet - 162 pp100
5. Mitsubishi - 167 pp100
6. Toyota - 168 pp100
7. Hyundai - 170 pp100
8. MINI - 170 pp100
9. Nissan - 170 pp100
10. Dodge - 172 pp100
Industry average - 186 pp100
