The dictionary definition is 'able to be relied on', but what are peoples own views, as some cars seem to be less reliable than others but people still purchase these and sometimes purchase the make and/or model several times.
Is reliability based on the number of times something fails or the cost when it fails?. E.g car A fails 5 times in 10 years and costs an average of £150 per time to repair Car B fails only two times but costs and average of £800 to repair.
Also what do people thing defines lack of reliability, recently had to replace a switch on my car as it broke, some people would be saying the car was unreliable but I just took it as one of those things you get on running a nine year old car which has done over 100,000 miles.
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To me its simple, does it let your down or not? If it gets you from A to B 99.9% of the time without an issue then it is reliable. If it only manages to do it 80% of the time then it is unreliable.
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Reliability is .......Every time I turn the ignition it goes, and takes me to where I wanted to go without any problems or interruptions.
I'd also measure reliability by the number of times I'm inconvenienced by the car. If I was forever having to get it booked in asap to fix something, that would be unreliable. General wear-and-tear items don't count, because you can usually see them coming and plan ahead.
It's unreliable but not annoying if you get problems which have to be fixed but don't affect the direct running of the car. eg if something isn't working correctly but you could still drive the car every day perfectly legally
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Good question. It's the value you place on not needing to worry whether it will do the job you want it to, when you want it to, when Plan B would be more expensive in money/time/hassle.
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While agree it is the ability to always carry out the primary function of getting from A to B, there are also secondary functions which also shape my opinion of reliability. Such as instrument niggles or fault, and reliability of additional equipment such as radios, navigation units, seats, locks and handles etc... which are not relied on to get from A to B, but can easily let you down and make the car unreliable.
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I'd call a vehicle reliable if it performes it's day to day job without 'drama' of any description, and requires only it's normal servicing and no other visits to the garage throughout a reasonable term eg 10 years or 100K miles, if it can do that for double the mileage or life term it's a superb vehicle, and worthy of praise.
By 'drama', i mean no hiccups, juddering, flickering warning lights or any other worrying things to take away from the basic dependability and driveability of the car, that goes for all fitments to the vehicle too.
I don't call a car that does the above for it's 3 year warrany period reliable, it's the time after that makes the difference.
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What is reliability ?
no worrying about reliability
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Bell Boy says it all. It's what you don't think about if you have a reliable car.
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Yep, I'd agree... which by default means that the car always gets you to your destination on time... if it doesn't then, in my book, its not reliable... if that seems harsh to some, then I'd point out that I need it to get to work on time, and all you commuters rely on me being there otherwise you won't get to work/home!
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