15 least reliable cars

[Achtung]

2 hours ago, khosasi said:

a lot of my friends said subaru is not worth. is that true ?

Probably the low OMV. Plus that farking irritating Ah Huat adverts.

1 hour ago, Mkl22 said:

Worst car in Sg should always include all the French and U.K. brands. Too bad no more Fiats Cars here. Else they would be on the list too. Next will be 2nd and third tiers like vw and opel and Volvo . Then followed by top tier Germans of bmw, Audi then Mercedes. 
I agree that Mitsubishi and Subaru for the Japanese. Appalling poor quality materials used for even made in japan Mitsubishis. 

Personally, best reliability based on the cars I owned was Mercedes. I do not agree Fiats are bad. My first car in the UK was a Panda. In Singapore, I owned the Panda too, for a couple of years. Only issue was the electric steering which TTS quoted me 9K to repair. I asked em fark off, took the steering rack off, sent to UK for repair. Courier all inclusive was only SGD1.5K. Sent this Saturday, next Saturday returned. In short, a lot also depends on the AD. TTS back then was simply, terok.  

[Vinceng]

@Pocus

You missed out Volvo, Peugeot, Ford, Jaguar, Alfa, Maserati, Geely, Hafei, Chana.

[inlinesix]

5 hours ago, Thaiyotakamli said:

Simply because conti has more electronic hence resulting in more electronic issues

 

engine also producing more horsepower than average japanese cars, operating at higher temperature leading to early failure of components in engine bay. 

Having more electronic does not necessary means more electronic issues.  Rather, current 12v electrical system may not properly support heavy usage of multimedia console.

Regardless NA or force induction, German engine has always running on higher temperature than equivalent Japanese car.

[Thaiyotakamli]

5 hours ago, Toeknee_33 said:

Err, not true. Motor companies in UK do supply long-term test cars to motoring publications. for a period of several months. Autocar and Car UK, for eg, has a whole fleet of these LTT cars. The editor will appoint a caretaker journalist, who will be in charge of evaluating the car's character over the months.

Prominent motoring hacks like Harry Metcalfe or Tiff Needell are also "given" cars for long term evaluation.

True sg car journalists only get to rend half day or a day maybe. 
 

moreover sg road has limitation, cant really test car handling and performance

[Volvobrick]

Personal experience says Japs > Swedes > Germans > Italians (exclude Lancia). 

Hearsay will add British and French to the Italians. 

[Thaiyotakamli]

47 minutes ago, inlinesix said:

Having more electronic does not necessary means more electronic issues.  Rather, current 12v electrical system may not properly support heavy usage of multimedia console.

Regardless NA or force induction, German engine has always running on higher temperature than equivalent Japanese car.

Not really. More tech, more electronic, tend to fail more. 
 

example electronic handbrake faulty, advanced multimedia system go haywire, electronic seat cant move. All these wont happen in b&b jap cars as those cars doesnt even have one. 

 

also due to higher temp the conti DME tend to fail faster than japanese cars. Esp those older merc whereby their ECU on top of the engine. 

[Mkl22]

6 minutes ago, Thaiyotakamli said:

Not really. More tech, more electronic, tend to fail more. 
 

example electronic handbrake faulty, advanced multimedia system go haywire, electronic seat cant move. All these wont happen in b&b jap cars as those cars doesnt even have one. 

 

also due to higher temp the conti DME tend to fail faster than japanese cars. Esp those older merc whereby their ECU on top of the engine. 

100% agree. Take away cost and drive enjoyment and all that.
Just focus on pure reliability. Japanese still wins. Conti always have weird failures. Like the ECU failures you mention. That’s the last thing I would expect to fail within a 10year lifespan of the car. 

Koreans used to be more like the Japanese, but lately to compete in Europe, their cars are now designed like the Europeans and moving towards those conti problems. That’s how I see it. 

[Contipro]

38 minutes ago, Mkl22 said:

100% agree. Take away cost and drive enjoyment and all that.
Just focus on pure reliability. Japanese still wins. Conti always have weird failures. Like the ECU failures you mention. That’s the last thing I would expect to fail within a 10year lifespan of the car. 

Koreans used to be more like the Japanese, but lately to compete in Europe, their cars are now designed like the Europeans and moving towards those conti problems. That’s how I see it. 

in addition to praise the European/ US market, korean brand's design also like all foreign contaminated.

so I think only Japan still hold to their own team. But how it will last, unknown... 

 

[Thaiyotakamli]

47 minutes ago, Mkl22 said:

100% agree. Take away cost and drive enjoyment and all that.
Just focus on pure reliability. Japanese still wins. Conti always have weird failures. Like the ECU failures you mention. That’s the last thing I would expect to fail within a 10year lifespan of the car. 

Koreans used to be more like the Japanese, but lately to compete in Europe, their cars are now designed like the Europeans and moving towards those conti problems. That’s how I see it. 

Conti cars are designed for autobahn, their tech hence are more advanced than japanese cars. However higher tech lead to more problems. Just like smartphone it can get hang easily unlike nokia last time wont die or spoil easily like todays smartphone. 
 

 

also conti cars are more suitable for winter. Theres a reason why peugeot last time has a very poor reliability in sg. Peugeot said that recently newer peugeot cars are designed and setting set to suit tropical countries. Hence Nowadays peugeot cars will have less issue with overheating compared to last time. 
 

The overheating has led to many different issues like electronic failure and even lead to aircon not cold. Thats why u realise japanese cars aircon more cold than conti cars lol

 

 

 

 

 

to add on, korean car last time very cui. My family kia rio radiator always spoil. Grand carnival has issue with fuel tank. but hyundai and kia has invested billions in mid 2000s thats why nowadays korean car are getting much better in term of reliability, almost on par with japanese cars. In fact some japanese brands nowadays on decline in term of reliability like Nissan, subaru and mitsubishi 

Edited May 9, 2020 by Thaiyotakamli
Add last para

[inlinesix]

56 minutes ago, Thaiyotakamli said:

Not really. More tech, more electronic, tend to fail more. 
 

example electronic handbrake faulty, advanced multimedia system go haywire, electronic seat cant move. All these wont happen in b&b jap cars as those cars doesnt even have one. 

 

also due to higher temp the conti DME tend to fail faster than japanese cars. Esp those older merc whereby their ECU on top of the engine. 

Other than Merc, which other German have DME failure?
German car on the same spec as Jap B&B, would it be as reliable as Jap?

[Thaiyotakamli]

9 minutes ago, inlinesix said:

Other than Merc, which other German have DME failure?
German car on the same spec as Jap B&B, would it be as reliable as Jap?

Bmw. My friend bmw f02 has dme failure at 7 or 8th yr ownership. Cost ard $4k if i remember correctly. 
 

also u often hear audi, vw and bmw has mechatronic issue too. This is something that cvt in jap cars wont face lol

 

and if german car spec on par with jap, Jap still win as again with higher engine operating temperature would not last in Harsh start stop condition in sg. Moreover conti cars majority are turbocharged. Turbocharged cars tend to spoil faster somehow lol

[inlinesix]

2 minutes ago, Thaiyotakamli said:

Bmw. My friend bmw f02 has dme failure at 7 or 8th yr ownership. Cost ard $4k if i remember correctly. 
 

also u often hear audi, vw and bmw has mechatronic issue too. This is something that cvt in jap cars wont face lol

 

and if german car spec on par with jap, Jap still win as again with higher engine operating temperature would not last in Harsh start stop condition in sg. Moreover conti cars majority are turbocharged. Turbocharged cars tend to spoil faster somehow lol

Where are F02 DME located? Same as old Merc you mentioned?
I thought Harrier also got CVT problem.

I am not sure whether summer in temperate country or our start/stop traffic is harsher.

[Nav14]

10 hours ago, Pocus said:

Based on feedback from my family, friends and colleagues. This could be the unofficial top 10 most unreliable brands in SG. Feel free to disagree.

10. Subaru
9. Volvo
8. Mitsubishi 
7. Citroen
6. Mercedes Benz
5. Renault
4. Audi
3. Mini
2. VW
1. BMW

Disclaimer: not bashing brands, tiagong only. Dun sue me.

I own 2 of the 10 listed makes (No 6 and 10) and all i will say is that this is utter rubbish. No issues with my E250 and Outback. And i have owned various makes over the past 30 years .

[Thaiyotakamli]

24 minutes ago, inlinesix said:

Where are F02 DME located? Same as old Merc you mentioned?
I thought Harrier also got CVT problem.

I am not sure whether summer in temperate country or our start/stop traffic is harsher.

Not sure where F02 dme located but my F02 last time has mechatronic issue at 4th year. 
 

harrier has Faulty torque converter issue in first 2 yrs production. But they has rectified the prob. 
 

for sg, our harsh climate plus start stop make car worse! Thats why lambo or ferrari shouldnt idle or get stuck in long traffic jam. Might face overheat issue. In sg many ferrari or lambo caught fire by itself. 

[Ct3833]

10 hours ago, inlinesix said:

My Mini broke down once when i was working in Beijing.

Other than, it is reliable.

That explains,  even when a car is not driven , just being parked there also can break down 😅😅

[Thaiyotakamli]

25 minutes ago, Nav14 said:

I own 2 of the 10 listed makes (No 6 and 10) and all i will say is that this is utter rubbish. No issues with my E250 and Outback. And i have owned various makes over the past 30 years .

E250 not bad, better than xf and 5er in term of reliability

 

my e200 and e250 also no issue one but my relatively new f10 breakdown twice a year lol

[Brass]

5 hours ago, khosasi said:

a lot of my friends said subaru is not worth. is that true ?

 

Subaru no good, dun buy lol 😂.

That perception is really due to MI poor marketing, unlike Trans Eurokars.

It really depends on preferences.

I thought that the new ones are nice (esp spacious, unlike the Mazdas, which I also like for design) , they are value for money and quite highly specced.

Insurance isnt as expensive as people thought to be. My comprehensive insurance is less than $800, 50% NCD.

 

 

[sake]

I was pleasantly surprised that my 911s were more reliable than my Merc S350 (W221).

Renewed COEs for the 911s but sold the S350 end of the 10th year.