Thirty years ago, Auto mobile Magazine launched the first automotive press reliability survey. An exclusive study that remains essential for choosing your next car with complete peace of mind. Each year, we therefore update it to give you the most accurate feedback possible. The 100 models analyzed are mentioned here, the complete ranking being to be discovered in L’Automobile magazine n°897, on newsstands or digitally.
Despite the upheavals that occurred in 2020 , the manufacturers ensure that they have not spared their efforts to offer reliable new products and to solve the problems that the models already on the market may have experienced. However, recent years have seen the appearance of numerous epidemics, among others in electronic functions, the number of which continues to grow . Missteps due to the constant search for savings in development and manufacturing, but also to shortened study times . Because brands are multiplying new products. If our 2021 edition includes 16, we have already placed under surveillance 31 models that have appeared in the last eighteen months! And even if, overall, the development of novelties is progressing, we often notice, after two or three years, multiple problems .
The lack of reliability over time is, according to most of the specialists we consulted, the direct consequence of the savings made upstream. If we cannot yet speak, unlike other sectors (telephones, computers, etc.) of planned obsolescence, it sometimes looks like it.
Our methodology
To establish our ranking, the models are only judged against their direct competitors . Indeed, the purchase and maintenance budgets, the perceived quality and the general services necessarily vary between, for example, a small car, a road car and a compact SUV. The position of each car in this top 100 is linked to the assessment of its reliability, the result of the breakdown rates observed, and their severity.. Thus, a model of which 1% of production experiences engine failures will be judged more severely than another faced with multimedia bugs. All of the damage observed on the versions currently on the market is therefore taken into account. In addition to official reminders, this survey is mainly based on the analysis of confidential technical notes, collected over the months in the networks of manufacturers and equipment manufacturers, as well as feedback from workshops or independent experts from Anea and proprietary questionnaires. Finally, our assessment of manufacturing quality makes it possible to decide between cars with equivalent reliability.
MINIS: Italian Split
Fiat achieves two feats this year. The first consists in presenting two models which, although based on the same basis, are at the antipodes of the classification. The second is the crown taken by the Panda from the Kia Picanto . Overall, the overall level of reliability in this category continues to increase.
We were eagerly awaiting the results of the new star of the Diamond – the Renault Clio . Despite a general presentation at the top, it displays some dysfunctions and therefore does not reverse the past hierarchy.
SUV & URBAN 4×4: First crown for DS Automobiles
The DS 3 Crossback is not afraid to dominate the Mini Countryman , a little, and the Audi Q2 , a lot. Behind, the Asians neglect appearances too much to hope to take their place on the first step of the podium.