It accurs to me on browsing down the makes of cars featured in the forum Technical section that it would provide an interesting ongoing record of the comparative reliability of makes and models.
For instance, I have just scanned back through several pages and cannot find a single Volvo problem for any model, old or new. That presumably means they are either very reliable, or have all been scrapped as hopelessly unreliable.
Does anybody keep a running total? Would it tell us anything useful?
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Couldn't it just mean that there are only two Volvo drivers here and thirty seven thousand Ford drivers or whatever?
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>>comparative reliability ofmakes and models.
Which source would you use for your statistics?
What Car magazine relentlessly plugs Land Rover models, but I understand they are not terribly reliable.
J D Power (if I've got the name right) surveys? These seem to be very subjective.
Which? is my personal favourite, but I am sure they would take a dim view of all and sundry having access to their information without paying for it.
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Which? is my personal favourite but I am sure they would take a dim view of all and sundry having access to their information without paying for it.
Thats one reason I'm not all that convinced about the results in Which when it comes to cars - their database compared with such as the JD Power survey will be quite small for just that reason, whereas the JDP was open to everyone who wanted to take part....
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>> Which? is my personal favourite >> JDP was open to everyone who wanted to take part....
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Wouldn't a statistician say someting to the effect that as the JDP participants are self-selected, the information provided by them is not statistically valid?
Edited by drbe on 17/06/2008 at 19:45
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Wouldn't a statistician say someting to the effect that as the JDP participants are self-selected the information provided by them is not statistically valid?
Surely so are the Which participants?!
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>> >> >> Which source would you use for your statistics? >>
As I said, the technical section of this forum. If you scan down the lists of cars you do start to notice trends or absenses.
It can't simply be the total number represented, because some of the questions relate to cars that are far from popular mass-market models.
I just womdered whether anyone was keeping a score.
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The German TUV website gives good comparisons of reliability.
www.anusedcar.com
alfalfa
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Only vaguely on topic Cliff, but out of curiousity I have recently checked all the old family number plates I could remember on the Autotrader database. If it is accurate, my Dad's Volvo 144 which he had from new in 1970 is still alive and kicking. The in joke at the time was that as a child he let me help him fill out the order form for it. I inadvertantly managed to tick the the option for yellow paint without him picking up on it. I think he wanted gold or something. As quite a conservative chap he never really settled to that cars colour ! Must have liked it otherwise though as had had four or five more Volvos in succession after that.
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The German TUV website
Hmmm... there seem to be a lot more German cars among the usual Japanese suspects toward the top of the list. Maybe the support / servicing for domestic manufacturers is better in Germany??
I went to Germany recently for the first time in a few years, and it struck me again just how many cars on the road are domestic brands. It seemed every other car on the road was VAG, Mercedes or BMW (in that order). Quite a few Opels, fewer Fords, and the rest mixed between Renault, Peugeot and Volvo. Hardly saw any Japanese cars at all in the fortnight I was there.
Edited by DP on 17/06/2008 at 10:49
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Be interesting to compare this to the total sales of each model/make.
The traditional image of a volvo driver is someone elderly which used to mean they are less likely to be computer literate...however more and more retired persons are going online, so is this still true?
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See my post from March 07
tinyurl.com/6784d6
It would be interesting to see somebody do an in depth study.
However it probably says more about the profile of the users of this site, than the reliability of cars in the population as a whole!
pmh
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Be interesting to compare this to the total sales of each model/make. The traditional image of a volvo driver is someone elderly which used to mean they are less likely to be computer literate...however more and more retired persons are going online
And more Volvos are driven by younger people these days. I drive one at 32.
Cheers
DP
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Generally I read a combination of the CBC, JD Power and the very useful owners reviews on the Parkers website to get a good overall view of a particluar car.
What I found when looking for a faultlesly reliable car for my sister was that there are few cars that have no inherant faults to expect, but they do exist and only by reading every scrap of info you can find from various sources, can you get a good overall view.
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And more Volvos are driven by younger people these days. I drive one at 32. >>
32 mph, DP?
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Perish the thought.
km/h.
The human body would be crushed due to the pressures that occur beyond those speeds. Everyone knows that. ;)
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it struck me again just how many cars on the road are domestic brands
That's true for most countries (who manufacture cars).
UK is probably only exception.
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I haven't been to Paris recently but last time I was there I was struck by the fact that most cars were French and lots were red, white or blue - patriotic in car colour as well as brand I thought.
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I declined to put in any quetsions or comments about my Volvo S40 (bought new), since I would have filled up the database quota with the number of problems I had with it. Worst car I've ever had in my life - and I had a Lancia Beta at one point!
Maybe Volvo drivers are just too scared or proud to admit some of their cars (especially those not built in Sweden) have problems.
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