I have been comfortable with the notion that Audi has drastically improved the reliability of their cars, especially with the beginning of the A naming scheme.
I was shocked, then, when JD Power & Assoc. ranked Audi well below average among all carmakers for long-term reliability. I believe they looked at reliability over a 3 year period for each model.
I'm interested in your thoughts on the report and how much weight I should give it.
The recent coilpack fiasco probably has something to do with it. Besides, even if Audi has, in fact, "drastically improved the reliability of their cars," as you say, they're still behind Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, on average. I say "on average" because all companies turn out lemons, some more than others. My '00 Accord was less reliable than my '01 A4. Fit and finish of the Accord (EX V6) left much to be desired as well. But I guess I am an exception to the rule.
My advice: Don't buy an Audi if reliability is your main concern. Do buy an Audi if you want to enjoy the driving experience.
Cheers,
Pete
As a general rule, buy German if you want an amazing driving experience along with slightly below average reliability. But Japanese if you want reliability and little other than scheduled maintenance.
This is coming from a guy who owns a VW (2001), Audi (1998), and Nissan (1995). Definately holds true.
-Jeff
I don't put too much credence in the JD survey. While it may be usefull for comparing extremes on the scale of reliability, eg is and Audi more reliable than a landrover freelander, then yes the survey could be usefull. But at the top end there is very little to seperate Toyota, Honda, Mercedes, BMW and Audi. Remember the JD survey ranks the cars on more than just reliabilty but also looks at things such as customer service.
When deciding which car I wanted reliabilty was a major point to consider, therefore a choose an Audi. In the UK at least they have a good track history on reliability.
Was it the American or the British survey.
---snip---
Actually, I think it's only for the first 90 days, for the first owner only. Basically rating a brand new car, while the emotions are hot. I personally don't put much weight into JD or CR, owner reviews seem to do a much better job.
Romy
Don't know about the survey source; having gone over the Power ratings and Edmunds et al you see that a high mark is 9.5 and a low mark is
9.3 for the vehicles you have listed. Maybe a bad lunch can mark down a 9.5 to at 9.3 with a particular reviewer.At a particular price point one should expect a level of performance, reliability, ergonomics etc.
If you want to drive a couch, get a Japanese. If you want to drive, get German.
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