It's Official: Toyota Prius And Porsche 911 Are Germany's Most Reliable Cars
One of the most closely watched quality indicators in Europe and especially in Germany is the annual TÜV-Report. With German thoroughness, the report tells exactly which cars were naughty or nice. It’s the law: Three years after you buy a new car in Germany, it must be inspected by the Technischer Überwachungsverein. Thereafter, every two years. This is not your run-of-the-mill drive-to-the-gas-station-get-a-sticker exercise. At the TÜV, each car undergoes a thorough and invasive physical. Fail the physical, and it’s back to the shop. Fail again: No inspection sticker, get that POS off the road. No wonder that a date with the TÜV is considered as even less attractive than a meeting with the proctologist. One out of 5 cars fail the test on the first attempt.
Once a year, the TÜV compiles its TÜV-Report, using the actual results of the check. This is no J.D.Power CSI. This is the real world, a report compiled with screwdrivers, flashlights, emission probes, brake testers. Executives at automakers await the report with high anxiety. Bad positions on the list can be career-ending.
The TÜV-Report 2012 will be published on December 16. Some results are already dribbling out, but the list itself remains under wraps. We twisted some arms and finagled an advance copy (your Teutonic old boys network at work.) Let’s see who will be promoted and who should polish his resume.
7,779,312 million cars were inspected between July 2010 and June 2011. We focus on two groups of cars: New cars, which are checked after 3 years. And, as the super long term testers, 10-11 year old cars. We will only show you the nicest and the naughtiest to avoid data overload. The percentage number means how many of the cars tested failed and were sent back to the shop. Lower is better.
TÜV-Report 2011, 3 year old cars
RankTypeComplaints1TOYOTA PRIUS1.9%2TOYOTA AURIS2.6%2MAZDA 22.6%4PORSCHE BOXSTER/CAYMAN2.8%4VW GOLF PLUS2.8%6FORD FUSION3.0%7TOYOTA COROLLA VERSO3.1%8 MAZDA 33.2%9 OPEL AGILA3.3%9 SUZUKI SX43.3%…118 KIA SORENTO9.2%119 PEUGEOT 4079.4%119 ALFA ROMEO 1599.4%121 CITROEN C49.5%122 HYUNDAI ATOS10.0%123 HYUNDAI SANTA FE10.1%124 CITROEN C511.5%125 FIAT PANDA11.6%126 RENAULT ESPACE12.2%127 DACIA LOGAN12.5%If you own a newish Toyota Prius, the TÜV test won’t scare you. For the second time in a row, the Prius takes the top spot . Says Auto Bild:
“Especially impressive: The complex hybrid technology of the Toyota Prius works perfectly. In second place, also a Toyota: The Auris usually masters the first TÜV check without fail.”
Interesting: The Top 10 look like a remake of the axis, with the Italians AWOL: Six out of the ten best are Japanese, the remaining four are German. If you are looking for the axis partner gone AWOL, check the bottom of the list.
TÜV-Report 2011, 10-11 year old cars
RankTypeComplaints1 PORSCHE 9119.5%2 TOYOTA RAV410.0%3 TOYOTA YARIS16.8%4 TOYOTA AVENSIS17.6%5 MAZDA MX-517.9%6 MERCEDES SLK18.1%6 TOYOTA COROLLA18.1%8 SUZUKI VITARA18.4%9 MERCEDES S-KLASSE20.7%10 HONDA ACCORD21.0%…63 OPEL ZAFIRA31.6%64 MERCEDES E-KLASSE31.6%65 VW PASSAT32.2%66 FIAT PUNTO32.3%67 CITROEN BERLINGO32.4%68 ALFA ROMEO 15634.4%69 FIAT BRAVO/BRAVA36.0%70 VW SHARAN36.5%71 SEAT ALHAMBRA36.7%72 FORD GALAXY37.9%73 FORD KA38.9%Now for the oldies. Which ones don’t show their age? The Porsche 911 leads the Top 10 of the seniors (with the usual Japanese/German mix).
The Porsche 911 also takes top billing in 6-7 years and 8-9 years. No wonder, it is usually babied and serviced by mechanics with white gloves. Don’t just assume it will hold up forever. Spoil the car like an elegant lady, and she will win the biannual beauty contest.
And which car is the worst you ask? Let’s quote Auto-Bild on that contentious topic:
“The loser in all classes is the Ford Ka. No car has a higher number of serious faults. 38,9 percent of Ka cars between 10 and 11 years leave the TÜV without the sticker. For the third time in a row, the catastrophe-Ford is last on the list.”
For data nerds: Look at the godawful showing of the Volkswagen Sharan, the Seat Alhambra, and the Ford Galaxy. Same car. The first generation (tested here) were all made in the Ford/VW joint venture plant in Palmela.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
More by Bertel Schmitt
Comments
Join the conversation
The TUV information must be put into context. It checks the vehicle for flaws that primarily would affect its safety at the time of the inspection: corrosion, brakes, lights, etc... If cars are having other types of reliability issues, they might not show up here. Nobody's going to take their car to the TUV with a badly leaking main seal, or a blown transmission, or a broken shaft on a Boxer engine, or a whole host of maladies that folks have to take their cars to the shop for. That's not to say the TUV inspections don't provide useful info, but it's not the same as a true reliability survey of issues that owners needed to fix to keep their cars running or functional.
Wow, if you went by the Hyundai astroturfers on websites that shall not be named you'd think the friggin' Santa Fe would be on the top of that list instead of being one of the worst possible new vehicles. Seriously, I've never had to drive a worse vehicle than the one time I had to drive a Santa Fe and I've driven plenty of terrible vehicles.