Jaguar most likely to suffer brake failure according to Warranty Direct

Jaguar has been revealed as the car manufacturer most likely to suffer brake problems, according to automotive warranty specialist, Warranty Direct.

The performance of brake systems has been in the spotlight since Toyota announced it is planning to recall several hundred thousand of its popular petrol-electric hybrid, the Prius, with braking issues.

But an analysis of Warranty Direct's 80,000 policies on three to eight-year old cars showed that the Japanese manufacturer actually fares very well when it comes to brake reliability, coming 12th in a list of 36 manufacturers.

Meanwhile, 3.73% of Jaguars require a brake-related garage visit in an average 12 month period - Chrysler, Fiat and Peugeot are the next worst performers.

At the other end of the Scale, Warranty Direct has no recorded cases of brake failure on any car made by South Korean firm, Hyundai, while Rover and MG, both brands that have changed hands recently, also perform well historically.

Warranty Direct's Reliability Index (www.reliabilityindex.co.uk) also revealed that, overall, the Peugeot 407 is the individual car most likely to have some kind of brake failure, with 8.6% needing repairs each year.

Next worst is the Jaguar XK8, a powerful sports car, while 7.4% of Fiat's six-seat family car, the Multipla give cause for concern.

Warranty Direct's Duncan McClure Fisher said: "When it comes to safety-critical car parts, the brakes are top of every motorists list of items that should never fail.

"Not every brake problem will be a catastrophic failure though - brakes can have issues ranging from calliper malfunction to servo failure. These kinds of issue can be expensive to put right but they don't always mean you're going to have an accident."

The analysis is based on Warranty Direct's database of 80,000 policies on cars between three and eight years old.