Had four Vauxhalls, all top spec, very few issues and none have ever let me down. Still have an eleven year old Astra which has been completely reliable since new.
Also have our second Ford. First one was the most expensive car to keep on the road that we have ever owned. Cost over £1000 in first year out of warranty. Glad we did not have to pay for the repairs during the warranty period as it was always in the garage. (07 plate). The second one we now have is the same model and has been reliable except for the odd electrical fault which appears to be the car characteristics and design fault as Ford have been unable to fix. Overall though much better than the first.
So in general I would say it is luck of the draw though in my experience it has been Vauxhall that has been the most reliable.
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Had 15 years with a selection of Fords, followed by 20 years with a selection of Vauxhalls before moving up to premium sector.
IMO, the old RWD Fords were more reliable than the British designed/built RWD Vauxhalls of the same era but when they both switched to FWD and Opel took the lead role in GM Europe, the FWD Vauxhalls were the better.
As a family, we bought new or nearly new and ran them to end-of-life passing them between family members.
Fords always get better road tests because enthusiast journalists prefer their handling but the new Astra is getting excellent reviews and geniunely seems to have moved the bar upwards and the same can be expected from the other models due in the next few years.
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Had 15 years with a selection of Fords, followed by 20 years with a selection of Vauxhalls before moving up to premium sector.
IMO, the old RWD Fords were more reliable than the British designed/built RWD Vauxhalls of the same era but when they both switched to FWD and Opel took the lead role in GM Europe, the FWD Vauxhalls were the better.
As a family, we bought new or nearly new and ran them to end-of-life passing them between family members.
Fords always get better road tests because enthusiast journalists prefer their handling but the new Astra is getting excellent reviews and geniunely seems to have moved the bar upwards and the same can be expected from the other models due in the next few years.
Spot on.
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In the car warranties direct reliability index ford has the ka & focus and Vauxhall has none in the bottom 10 neither has any cars.
So thats good news for both.
Review wise Vauxhall is getting good press for once , so I would say it's fairly good news for both.
It takes a while for the index to react to a changing trend so may be in a few years time we will see Vauxhall in the top 10.
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I always reckoned Vauxhall for engines, Ford for gearboxes, my son has had two hire cars recently, raves about the Ford ecoboost, but nothing on earth would get him back in the new Astra..
As to reliability....
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I always reckoned Vauxhall for engines, Ford for gearboxes, my son has had two hire cars recently, raves about the Ford ecoboost, but nothing on earth would get him back in the new Astra.. As to reliability....
Things are never that simple though. Ford and Vauxhaul both have good and bad news engines. Thankfully the bad ones in the past now.
People of my age remember the Vectra that Vauxhall basically beta tested on the general public and was a total PR nightmare.
With 14 or was 15 recalls within the first two years and many lesser things like tempresure guages that could not tell the tempresure. The poor dealers ended up swamped with repairs and angry customers.
At the time the car Vauxhall ran a close 2nd to Fords Mondeo for rep wagons. They lost market share and never recovered despite the Vetra becoming a nice car relaible car.
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Opel/Vauxhall lost it with the Vectra-B (mk1 Vauxhall Vectra) as it was a backward step in most ways from the excellent Vectra-A (mk3 Vauxhall Cavalier) and many Vauxhall fanboys moved away at that time - in my case I bought a nearly new Cavalier instead and then on to an Astra-G.
We've still got a Vectra-C in the family - takes all the abuse my son gives it.
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Just my opinion but it seems to go in phases.
In the late 50's and 60's Vauxhalls had a terrible reputation - diff failure and even more rust prone than Fords.
In the 70's Vauxhall caught up with Vivas and Victors being about as reliable as Escorts and Cortinas. (I'm thinking 'Transcontinental' rather than the FD)
In the 80's, Vauxhall pulled ahead with Opel's greater input and I think Astras and Cavaliers were ahead of Escorts and Sierras reliability wise. Vauxhalls of this era certainly felt better built and more solid than Fords. Certainly the Carlton and Senators were quite well regarded, apart from the one with horrendous digital dash!
In the 90's Ford pulled ahead again with new Mondeo and Focus. The Vectra B 2002-8 had a very poor reputation for reliability but was more comfortable and refined than Mondeo.
This continued for 10 years or so, but I think Vauxhall have drawn level again. Talking to my BiL, a Ford mechanic and Workshop Foreman, there are plenty of horror stories around at the moment with Ford mechanicals.
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On a par with other mass market european producers IMHO, Pug/Cit, VW group, Fiat group i would say, some have different strengths and weaknesses at different points, then it all changes and others take over in both camps.
None have had enough faith in their own products to put 5 year warranties as standard except for Fiat i believe with certain models and Vaux with their short lived 100k lifetime warranty now gone by the wayside, as always happy to be corrected as new cars are not my choice so not up to date on current trends re warranty cover.
To my mind, until the main eurpoean makers show enough faith in their own products to put proper 5 year minimum warranties on all their vehicles then they must view their products are not as reliable, in their own eyes, as the Japanese and Korean competition...this applies to all maker at any price range so includes the more expensive brands too.
Edited by gordonbennet on 10/05/2016 at 14:03
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Just my opinion but it seems to go in phases.
In the late 50's and 60's Vauxhalls had a terrible reputation - diff failure and even more rust prone than Fords.
In the 70's Vauxhall caught up with Vivas and Victors being about as reliable as Escorts and Cortinas. (I'm thinking 'Transcontinental' rather than the FD)
In the 80's, Vauxhall pulled ahead with Opel's greater input and I think Astras and Cavaliers were ahead of Escorts and Sierras reliability wise. Vauxhalls of this era certainly felt better built and more solid than Fords. Certainly the Carlton and Senators were quite well regarded, apart from the one with horrendous digital dash!
In the 90's Ford pulled ahead again with new Mondeo and Focus. The Vectra B 2002-8 had a very poor reputation for reliability but was more comfortable and refined than Mondeo.
This continued for 10 years or so, but I think Vauxhall have drawn level again. Talking to my BiL, a Ford mechanic and Workshop Foreman, there are plenty of horror stories around at the moment with Ford mechanicals.
The digital dash was great - my Senator had one!
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It was 1972 when I took possession of my first company car, a Ford Escort 1.1 litre petrol. No carpets, just rubber mats. No radio. Plastic seat trim. But at the time I thought it was marvellous!. Since then I have had Ford, Vauxhall, Austin, MG, Audi, Honda(3 times), Peugeot, Renault, Toyota, VW and Skoda. Personal cars have included Triumph, Lancia, Porsche and Nissan. I can honestly say that none of these vehicles let me down badly. Some had issues with niggling faults, French electrics etc etc. but for general reliability I always felt confident with the vehicle I had at the time. I suppose it only proves that most vehicles from most manufacturers are very reliable up to a point. If you get a 'lemon' then you are very unlucky. In the early days the Vauxhall/Ford seemed to be on a par and it would seem that way now too. Cheers Concrete
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I had a Mk2 Fiesta and was constantly dipping into my pocket paying for repairs on it. Missus had a Mk2 Astra with the 1.4 lump which she managed to get up to 140k miles before trading it in for a Mazda MX3 1.8V which was a lovely little mover. My one foray into the world of Vauxhall and Ecotec engines was an expensive mistake and as for Nissan enough said other than never again.
And the most reliable brand I have driven, get this, Rover.
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there are plenty of horror stories around at the moment with Ford mechanicals.
No change there then!
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there are plenty of horror stories around at the moment with Ford mechanicals.
No change there then!
Random comment. Im sure a 2012 VW 1.4tsi owner with DSG verse a ford focus 1.0 ecoboot with Power shift, the latter would be considered in a better place.
Currently Ford & Vaxhaull seam to be holding the mid ground regarding faults.
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VAG still seem to be riding on the old "Vorsprung" mantra when trying to sell their cars when the reality can be somewhat different.
It just goes around in waves, for a few years VAG are top for reliability, then Ford, over to Volvo.... then after a few back to VAG again and so on.
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My preference is a vauxhall . Present car an Astra, owned for four and a half years with no problems. previous one Focus.
small sample of only two cars though.
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