Would the back room members agree with this list of mostly German cars which suffered mostly from emission and fuel problems.

Seems a bit vague, certainly more so than would, by itself, put me off any of them if my heart was set.

But it would surely come as no surprise that issues affecting an A1 would also affect an A3 given the crossover of parts.

And given the A110 shares engine and DCT box with the Megane RS, it seems inexplicable that Alpine is mentioned yet Renault isn't?.

Would the back room members agree with this list of mostly German cars which suffered mostly from emission and fuel problems.

Alpine 2018

Audi A1 2010 -18

Audi A3 2012 -20

Audi A3 2020

BMW 1 2019

BMW 5 2011 -23

MB C class 2014 -21

Don't subscribe to Which. Seems strange though that Audi didn't do well, when Škoda, SEAT and VW don't get a mention (despite sharing Engines as well as many other parts). Or could the issues be caused by the drivers not driving with a degree of mechanical sympathy?

The problem with many of these 'reports' or 'surveys' IMHO is that they are very subjective, and often (if not always) don't take into account:

The level of tech on a car (the more it has, the more to go wrong and more complex interactions that are likely never to have been tested during the R&D phase;

The age and condition of the car when bought;

What type of car it is (performance, off-roader, standard, luxury etc) and how it has (previous owners) and is being used - as intended, sympathetically or otherwise (even if unintended), and includes local driving/storage conditions that can impact on reliability and mileage;

The quality of the maintenance undertaken (not just now under its current owner);

The mix of engine and fuel types.

I wouldn't be surprised if many car owners distort the truth about their ownership experience - good and bad - to fit their narrative about their situation, including pretending an average car is still a 'great buy' to make their abilities to seek out good cars far better than it actually is, blaming the local dealer for issues caused by unsympathetic driving, making a proverbial mountain out of a molehill on certain issues, etc.

It's why most reviews these days tend to be a mix of 10/10s and 1/10s. It's the same reason why most drivers think they are 'above average' in terms of ability.

I stopped subscribing to Which some years ago. In one year of Which "best buys" I made the point that all small & family cars featured were deisels, and that the Which subscribers were likely to be older and as such low annual miles, which would result in problems for diesels. The response from a Which person was that her company car was problem free.

Tesla model S - one star

Re VAG I wonder what Audi do so different to other VAG cars A1 & A3 mostly one star? Seat, Skoda, and even VW generally better - except the one star VW Tiguan & Golf SV.

Lexus and Toyota top of the bill though....

"Would the back room members agree with this list of mostly German cars which suffered mostly from emission and fuel problems."

"Agree" doesnt seem an appropriate term.

My understanding is they report the experience of their members, as "data". Likewise the warranty outfits report on their claims, as "data"

This is not a matter of opinion, so its not something that I, or anyone else, can "agree" or "disagree" with.

Edited by edlithgow on 27/05/2024 at 03:47

Depends on the 'fault' and the 'rate'. I never look at these surveys as the only faults I'm interested in are ones that occur suddenly out of the blue which stop the car and require recovery, and those costing more than £100 to fix. It never ceases to amaze me when travelling long distance in the UK on busy crowded roads how few broken down cars are seen waiting for rescue. The rate of such immobilising faults must be vanishingly small in most makes of car these days. In hundreds of thousands of miles over the past 40 yrs I can remember only two occasions when the car had to be trailered home. One was my fault for replacing a length of corroded fuel line with a spare length of rubber from a sc***ped washing machine. Little did I know the fuel pressure was high enough to rupture it! The other was a sudden snapping of the front anti-roll bar on my first Audi - after well over 100,000 it had developed a crack which had rusted.

Edited by John F on 27/05/2024 at 10:47