2017 What Car? Reliability Survey
In our 2017 Reliability Survey, we asked more than 14,200 people to tell us about any faults their cars have suffered during the past year. These are the results for MPVs aged 0-3yrs...
MPVs
Ford's B-Max may not have styling that sets the world alight, but it partly makes up for that with good reliability. Only 17% of cars suffered faults and, while they spanned both minor and more serious issues, including the Quickclear screen and the steering system, all were fixed under warranty.
Its big brother, the C-Max, is almost as robust, according to owners; 18% of cars had faults. These were mostly non-engine electrical problems that were minor enough to keep cars driveable. The majority of cars were put right fairly swiftly for free.
Volkswagen’s Golf SV isn’t quite as bulletproof; 23% of owners told us about a fault. However, the areas affected weren’t too serious and all cars were fixed under warranty in less than a week.
Just over 35% of Mercedes-Benz B-Class owners reported faults. They encompassed important areas – such as engine, engine electrics and gearbox/clutch – that rendered the cars undriveable and took more than a week to put right.
Electrical issues affected the Citroën C4 Picasso and Grand C4 Picasso; 37% of cars had problems. Of those, 22% were non-engine electrical faults relating to areas such as air-con. The fairly high proportion of suspension faults (15%) is also a concern, along with the small percentage of repair bills that exceed £1500.
Volkswagen’s Touran isn’t susceptible to a lot of faults; only 20% of cars had problems. However, its service departments took more than a week to fix 75% of cars, even if work was carried out under warranty.
Reliability for MPVs aged 0-3yrs
| Rank | Make and model | Score |
|---------------|--------------------|---------------------------| | 1 | Ford B-Max (2012-present) | 91.6% | | 2 | Ford C-Max (2010-present) | 90.0% | | 3 | Volkswagen Golf SV (2014-present) | 83.2% | | 4 | Seat Alhambra diesel (2010-present) | 78.4% | | 5 | Volkswagen Touran diesel (2015-present) | 65.2% | | 6 | Citroën C4/Grand C4 Picasso diesel (2013-present) | 56.8% | | 7 | Mercedes-Benz B-Class (2012-present) | 46.2% |
