What Car? Reliability Survey - Nissan to Porsche

Nissan
• League position: 4th
• Claims per 100 vehicles: 13.3
• Average age (years): 5.13
• Average mileage: 46,959
• Average repair cost: £227
• Average time for repair (hours): 1.8

Nissan is fourth in the all-Japanese top five in this year’s reliability survey.

The company has done well to climb four places up the table from last year’s eighth place.

Nissan owners now make 10 fewer claims per 100 vehicles and pay on average £136 less for repairs than they did a year ago.

Nissan has also made a huge leap forward in terms of how long it takes to fix its cars. Last year, mechanics spent nearly five hours on average putting problems right, now they spend just 1.8 hours.

These good results are in spite of the fact that the Nissan models in the survey are among the oldest here, at just over five years.

Verdict: ***** Yet another excellent showing for the Japanese – and a deserved climb up the league table for Nissan.

Peugeot
• League position: 16th
• Claims per 100 vehicles: 30.8
• Average age (years): 4.44
• Average mileage: 48,593
• Average repair cost: £228
• Average time for repair (hours): 2.2

Peugeot sits well above the other French marques at 16th place in the survey, but there is still some way to go before it can compete with the best.

Its claims rate is high at 30.8 cars for every 100, but this is an improvement on last year’s 32.9.

Its performance is erratic, though, because its two newest models in the survey sit at opposite ends of the table. The 206 CC (2000-) is in 11th place overall, while the 406 (1999-2004) is 78th.

When it comes to the claims, the axles and suspension systems are the main culprits, accounting for just over 30% of the total.

While electrical gremlins and problems with the heating and cooling systems follow close behind.

Verdict: *** Peugeot needs to become more consistent if it hopes to improve on this position in the future.


Porsche
• League position: 14th
• Claims per 100 vehicles: 29.6
• Average age (years): 4.16
• Average mileage: 33,333
• Average repair cost: £972
• Average time for repair (hours): 4.9

This is the first time Porsche has been included in our reliability survey and the Boxster (built from 1996 onwards) is its main model on Warranty Direct’s books.

Its cars have the lowest mileages here, but its claims rate is relatively high at 29.6 per 100 vehicles.

As you’d expect, Porsche’s costly average repair bill of nearly £1000 is the highest in this year’s survey. Owners also have the second longest wait – nearly five hours on average – for repairs to be carried out.

Porsche Boxster axles and suspension systems and the engines are the most likely components to need attention, with each accounting for 22% of the claims.

The Boxster sits exactly halfway up the individual model table, in 50th place.

Verdict: *** This performance is not quite what you’d expect from a prestige brand – owning a Boxster can be both expensive and time-consuming.

Click here to see how the manufacturers compare.

Click here for top 10 most reliable models.

Click here for top 10 least reliable models.