How's your day?

[LizzieM 9,539]

When we lived in Hertfordshire I never ever caught a bus ANYWHERE.  There was (apparently)  a few a day into nearby towns but I had the use of several cars so never even thought about it.  I did get a speeding ticket about 400m from home though, rushing to get the kids from school.  So annoying!! 
Our youngest boy, (the one currently with Malaria in Africa),  worked the system as a youngest, after a night out in Berkhamsted, he’d go into a takeaway shop, order some food to be delivered and then hop into the vehicle the delivery guy was using.  That kid had all the angles.  

[Oztalgian 3,402]

6 hours ago, Brew said:

The only cars that should be allowed on the road are Black, made in Germany and have a three-point star on the bonnet

If it wasn't for the brave lads that fought in WWII you would have only been able to get that sort of car.

By the way do know that Merky Donkeys were the third most recalled cars in 2023 with 31 recalls.

A long way behind Ford and Chrysler and just one recall ahead of that other "prestige" German brand BMW on 30

[Brew 5,485]

Not sure where you got your figures Oz but a quick Google (at 3am), gave these:

 

Honda: 6,334,825 vehicles potentially affected

Ford: 6,152,614

Kia America: 3,110,447

Chrysler: 2,732,398

General Motors: 2,021,033

Nissan North America: 1,804,443

Mercedes-Benz USA: 478,173

Volkswagen Group of America: 453,763

BMW of North America: 340,249

Daimler Trucks North America: 261,959

 

and the reasons for the recall.

 

Electrical systems

Equipment

Structure

Power train

Steering

Air bags

Exterior lighting

Suspensions

Service brakes, hydraulic

Back over prevention - no idea what that even is.

 

It's not easy to find accurate figures I have to admit and different sites quote quite large differences.

 

Having said all that the  number plate on my car (MB07) indicates it's the 7th S Class I've owned, (9 MBs overall), and I've never had one break down, even balls out at 150+ on the autobahn.

The only recall I've ever had was to fix the emission cheat in the software.

[mary1947 2,107]

21 hours ago, Beekay said:

@Mary1947, To be hones, Iv'e found it better to lay the dartboard on the floor, then stand on the Oche to drop the darts onto the direction of the board. The the only downside to that is, nowadays the floor is too far away for me to reach. I don't bend as well as I used to. Would have to bring a litter picker to retreive my darts.

Your servant ma'am.

BK you say the floor is too far away to reach. Do you find that when you try to put your socks on,, that your feet are getting further away from your body?

[mary1947 2,107]

Brew it is obvious you know about cars  you mention breakdowns? our first car was a mini countryman made by British Leyland (I think) the fault it had was the distributor was just in front of the grill and if you were out in the rain water would get into the distributor and the car would grind to a halt, to over come this we placed tin foil over the grill it worked for a while.

[DJ360 6,771]

On the subject of cars..

My 20 year old inscrutable Japanese Honda.. apart from things like punctures and failing exhausts.. has let NEVER let me down.  Even with a failing ECU, it still ran, and the 2 litre engine had enough power to get me home despite binding front brake calipers.. which is a known issue. All sorted for a couple of hundred quid.

There was recall to do with the Steering Wheel Airbag a few years ago.  The local Honda Dealer sorted it quickly and painlessly.

 

Along the way.. I've owned assorted vehicles, mostly at the cheaper end of the market. Vauxhalls, several Simca 1100s, and numerous Fiats.  It's easy to mix up 'reliability', with 'durability'. In my experience, all properly maintained vehicles are reliable.. in the sense that they do not just 'break down'. On the other hand, it's true that some models just don't have the durability or build quality of others and tend to suffer more from corrosion, or electrical niggles.. etc.

Fiats are very good value for money, perform well etc..and are FAR more corrosion resistant than they used to be, but in the end, you get what you pay for.. up to a point.

[DJ360 6,771]

7 hours ago, Brew said:

Not sure where you got your figures Oz but a quick Google (at 3am), gave these:

 

Honda: 6,334,825 vehicles potentially affected

Ford: 6,152,614

Kia America: 3,110,447

Chrysler: 2,732,398

General Motors: 2,021,033

Nissan North America: 1,804,443

Mercedes-Benz USA: 478,173

Volkswagen Group of America: 453,763

BMW of North America: 340,249

Daimler Trucks North America: 261,959

 

and the reasons for the recall.

 

Electrical systems

Equipment

Structure

Power train

Steering

Air bags

Exterior lighting

Suspensions

Service brakes, hydraulic

Back over prevention - no idea what that even is.

 

It's not easy to find accurate figures I have to admit and different sites quote quite large differences.

 

Having said all that the  number plate on my car (MB07) indicates it's the 7th S Class I've owned, (9 MBs overall), and I've never had one break down, even balls out at 150+ on the autobahn.

The only recall I've ever had was to fix the emission cheat in the software.

 

Surely, without knowing how many cars from each manufacturer are sold there in the US, it's pointless comparing numbers? You need percentages.

[Brew 5,485]

3 hours ago, DJ360 said:

Surely, without knowing how many cars from each manufacturer are sold there in the US, it's pointless comparing numbers? You need percentages.

Which was my point. The league table for reliability for years was topped by Toyota as the most reliable closely followed by Honda. The table I posted shows it from a different perspective. Basically, how are they measuring reliability?

 

Col raises a good point - age, how old before they drop off the chart? 

For years my cars were changed at about three years old and certainly under 40k miles. 

 

My present car will probably be my last (though I keep eyeing a Bentley as a last hurrah), it has just turned 40k trouble free miles, though i did have a bit of a contretemps with the dealers in Nottingham over some issue with the battery.

 

Generally cars are way better than they were. No more silver Cortinas shedding their skin, or camshafts made of cheese, no more Vauxhalls rusting away before you could get them home. No more Fiats with dodgy wiring. No vinyl roofs peeling off... All this and cars are cheaper now than when we were young.

[IAN FINN 835]

My best and reliable car was my 1960 minor 1000 i could trust it to go anywhere and it did.

[PeverilPeril 3,309]

Like brew, I used to change cars every 3 years, however I was clocking ~ 40k p/a. The two most unreliable were Mercs! One, a 320 E class estate had 30 problems during its 3 years, including having a cylinder head replaced at 30k! I also had a couple of LR's and they only had one small fault each. I had a Saab  9000 for 3 years without a single fault - still not found a car with such well designed seats. Various other cars with nothing special to report. We now have a fairly new runabout for Mrs PP and my fishing wagon - a 20y/o X Trail, which suits my needs perfectly. 

[Beekay 5,273]

For what it's worth, I have stuck with Citroen for the last 18 years. Been highly satisfied with all of 'em.

[philmayfield 6,301]

I’ve had a number of Mercs over the years and have always found them reliable. I’ve had at least 3 S Class and in my experience there’s nothing better. Prior to my present Merc I had an F Type Jag coupe which went back 8 times in three years, twice on a trailer. My previous Porsche 911 was trailered back twice in three years. The best family cars we had were Mitsubishi Shoguns of which my wife had a number. My best recent ‘fun’ car was a Lotus Elise which I bought for my 70th. birthday present. It was great for track days and people were surprised to see this grey haired old git climbing out of it after thrashing it round the circuit! 

[Oztalgian 3,402]

On 6/10/2024 at 12:00 PM, Brew said:

Not sure where you got your figures Oz but a quick Google (at 3am), gave these:

Brew, It is not about the number of cars recalled as per your table. My data was about the number of recalls a manufacturer has had.

Of course, a manufacturer who makes more cars will likely have a higher number of vehicles recalled for any given fault. 

The number of recalls per manufacturer speaks to how rigorous the design, testing and manufacturing process is at the vehicle assembly and component level is and also to how the assembler trains its workforce, manages its systems and supply network as many recalls are due to components supplied to the VAP's.

If we look at the data another way, the number of recalls and the number of vehicles produced then the top five looks like this.

1. Jaguar

2. Chrysler

3. BMW

4. Mercedes Benz

[mary1947 2,107]

WELL!!!!!! it was great when my grandson came to visit for the day, first question ;   what have you got for our dinner gran?  he was ok with a slice of ham in sandwhich and a pkt crips,  next Q   what pudding have you please gran?   well there are cakes, ice cream , pie n cream,   is it ok if i have a cake ? yes help your self, WELL he looked at the cakes turned his nose up nar!! don't want any of them there old fashioned,    WHAT!!!!! these cakes of mine were home made fruit cake, cheery cake, rock cakes, mince pies, and all out of my BE_RO cake book.   Q/   no answer

[Oztalgian 3,402]

3 hours ago, mary1947 said:

is it ok if i have a cake ? yes help your self, WELL he looked at the cakes turned his nose up nar!! don't want any of them there old fashioned,

I just love rock cakes. One of our major bakeries in Adelaide does a brilliant one 

[Brew 5,485]

6 hours ago, Oztalgian said:

The number of recalls per manufacturer speaks to how rigorous the design, testing and manufacturing process is at the vehicle assembly

What I'm saying  Oz is that the number of recalls and the number recalled have little or nothing to do with the numbers that come to a grinding halt when out and about which is how I would judge reliability.

 

 

[Cliff Ton 10,565]

You could almost argue that a high number of recalls is a good thing. It indicates that the manufacturer will fix a potential problem before it happens, resulting in fewer on-road breakdowns.

[Oztalgian 3,402]

34 minutes ago, Brew said:

What I'm saying  Oz is that the number of recalls and the number recalled have little or nothing to do with the numbers that come to a grinding halt when out and about which is how I would judge reliability.

Sorry that the numbers do not agree with your perception Brew. The number of recalls, the number of vehicles recalled have nothing to do with the reliablility of a vehicle.

In the What Car UK reliability survey for cars up to five years old Toyota came #1 with the Lexus at 99.8% and #2 with the RAV4 also at 99.8 

The worst models for reliability were #1Cupra, a SEAT sporty brand with a rating of 82.4%. Alfa Romeo scored 85.6%, Vauxhall was third worst with 86.9% 

Mercedes was 8th worst for reliabilty on 89.8% with the diesel A class being the main culprit as more than a third of owners experienced problems.

When it comes to Luxury vehicles the Mercedes GLE 2019 to present came worst with a rating of 87.6% with 44% of owners experiencing at least one problem.

The data does not say how many were disabled and had to be towed or were able to get to the dealership or repair shops under their own power.

[philmayfield 6,301]

There were never any recalls for my F Type Jag which went back 8 times in three years. The faults ranged from badly fitting panels, electrical (where it went into limp mode) and oil leaks. It was probably the most unreliable car I’ve ever had. I swapped it for a Merc estate with just 1,000 miles on the clock (E350D 4 Matic AMG Edition) and the trade in was still more than the Merc was selling for.  I bought an electric folding bike with the £1,000 bonus. I’ve done just 29,000 in 5 years and would normally have changed it but I can’t find anything better or more practical for my lifestyle where I always seem to be carrying long or bulky loads to one child or the other!

[plantfit 7,687]

I think I will stick with my little Toyota, never gives me any trouble so I got nowt to write about it on here 

 

Rog

[philmayfield 6,301]

Very wise Rog. I’ve just paid £850 for a ‘B’ service. That was done by an MB specialist. Heaven knows what MB Nottingham would have charged! It did include £60 for collection and delivery as my wife is recovering from a cracked wrist and can’t drive at the moment.

[IAN FINN 835]

Easy to maintain dependable economical cant go wrong just sold my 2010 Corolla all i did was servicing the only thing i changed was the wiper blades battery and tyres we brought a 2024 Hyundai Kona N suv like it so far but it has big shoes to fill to be like a Toyota.

[Brew 5,485]

3 hours ago, philmayfield said:

I’ve just paid £850 for a ‘B’ service. That was done by an MB specialist. Heaven knows what MB Nottingham would have charged!

£850 is still exorbitant for the work involved. At MB Nottingham the bill £would have been £1200 and you get a nice (useless), video of the underside of your car, no idea why...

[philmayfield 6,301]

Yes, I’ve been there. I moved to MB Nottingham at Colwick when the warranty expired. It’s a smart set up.

[denshaw 2,880]

My Hyundai electric is £89 for a yearly service. That's expensive for just topping up the screen wash.