“God protect us from storm and wind and cars that are from England” – this saying has a core of truth, as the new negative hit list of a British guarantee provider shows. But the British make most of the problems with a German brand.
“Call 911” is the title of the British guarantee provider Warrantywise’s latest reliability analysis, roughly translated as: “Call the emergency call.” Although the emergency services can actually be reached at this number in the USA and not in Great Britain. In England it’s officially 999, although a 911 is said to be forwarded to the emergency center in the cell phone network. In any case, the British did not want to resist the pun with the 911. Because the car brand that performs worst in the hit list and is therefore supposedly Britain’s most unreliable car brand is, of all things, the German cult manufacturer Porsche.
How does the result come about? Warrantywise has analyzed its more than 131,000 warranty contracts. The British sell extended warranties for used cars where the manufacturer’s warranty has expired. A score was then calculated from damage and repair costs that only occurred after the end of the manufacturer’s warranty. The lower the score, the worse a brand performs. With 35.1 out of a possible 100 points, Porsche is in the negative top position. The evaluated cars were a maximum of 10 years old.
The British brands Range Rover and Jaguar performed hardly less badly than Porsche, with Range Rover in particular devouring more than twice as much money as a Porsche repair when it comes to repair costs: The highest registered sum for a warranty repair was almost 24,000 for the British pounds, the equivalent of around 27,000 euros. There were more warranty cases at Porsche, but the highest cost was “only” around £11,000.
In the negative ranking, Jaguar is followed by Alfa Romeo and then Audi, BMW and Mercedes. On the other hand, Asian brands such as Honda, Toyota and Hyundai perform best. “The data clearly shows that premium pricing in cars really does mean premium costs,” said Warrantywise CEO Lawrence Whittaker. The high repair costs are also due to the fact that modern luxury cars have increasingly complex technologies and assistance systems on board.
Every year, TÜV, DEKRA and GTÜ check the defect rate of used cars with new statistics. FOCUS Online evaluates all available reports for you. Here you will find the most recent overviews from 2016.
The result of the British is still surprising – after all, Porsche and Mercedes, for example, usually get excellent results in the German TÜV reports. Also in the important US index of “Consumer Reports” there was not a single Porsche on the negative hit list 2021 and only two German models with VW Tiguan and Mercedes GLE. However: Of the 28 car brands examined, Porsche came in 13th in Consumer Reports, only just in the upper midfield. Also there at the top of the reliability ladder: Japanese manufacturers like Toyota.
Most car manufacturers offer follow-up guarantees themselves. Porsche, for example, is significantly extending the two-year factory warranty, of course for an extra charge: “The Porsche Approved Warranty is available for vehicles up to 15 years old and with a maximum mileage of 200,000 km. It includes all vehicle components and reliably protects against unexpected repair costs for a period of 12, 24 or 36 months.
Extension or used car guarantees are generally more worthwhile for expensive and complex cars than for small cars, because the possible repairs are expensive. However, as the vehicle ages, repairs are only paid proportionately; the older the car, the lower the share of the costs that the insurance company will assume in the event of a guarantee.
