4x4 Reliability

Audi’s A6 Allroad fared worst, with more than half recording a fault in a typical year. A third of those problems reported were suspension-related.
At the other end of the scale, Honda’s CR-V was revealed as the off-roader least likely to let you down, followed by the Suzuki Grand Vitara and Toyota’s RAV4. Mitsubishi and Kia make it a clean sweep for Far Eastern manufacturers in the top five.
The Volkswagen Touareg, despite winning the 2009 running of the famously tough Dakar at the hands of South African Giniel de Villiers, didn’t transfer its success to Warranty Direct’s study, finishing fourth from bottom with a quarter of faults down to electrical gremlins.
Warranty Direct’s study used its unique Reliability Index (www.reliabilityindex.co.uk), which takes into account how often vehicles break down, average repair cost and time spent in the garage to calculate its overall reliability. The lower the Reliability Index number, the more reliable the car.

Top 10 4x4/SUVs
Manufacturer Model Average Repair Cost Reliability Index Rating
1 Honda CR-V (01-06) Ł239.63 23.10
2 Suzuki Grand Vitara (98-05) Ł219.43 33.01
3 Toyota RAV4 (00-06) Ł330.58 42.69
4 Mitsubishi Shogun (00-07) Ł595.58 47.53
5 Kia Sorento (03-) Ł332.34 59.36
6 Nissan Terrano II (93-06) Ł277.25 62.81
7 Land Rover Freelander (03-06) Ł370.23 66.11
8 Lexus RX300 (03-09) Ł571.60 68.69
9 Nissan X-Trail (01-) Ł433.18 73.69
10 Toyota Landcruiser (03-) Ł525.01 82.78

The highest-placed European car is the newer incarnation of perennial 4x4 favourite, Land Rover’s Freelander, which has traditionally fared badly in Warranty Direct’s studies.
Warranty Direct’s Duncan McClure Fisher said: “It’s promising to see improvement from Land Rover’s flagship model, but it’s telling that the bottom 10 is dominated by European cars, and the top of the list populated largely by Japanese vehicles, which still hold sway overall. The biggest surprise must surely be the poor performance of the XC90. It’s not what you’d expect from a manufacturer with Volvo’s reputation, but I’m signing cheques every day on XC90 repairs.”
With an average repair cost of Ł595.58, the Mitsubishi Shogun (00-07) is the most expensive to fix but thankfully has a low incidence rate, with just under 8% per year suffering a glitch.
Meanwhile, a third of Nissan’s X-Trail problems are down to cooling and heating issues while almost 60% of enforced garage visits for Volvo XC-70 owners are due to suspension breakages.

Bottom 10 4x4/SUVs
Manufacturer Model Average Repair Cost Reliability Index Rating
1 Audi A6 Allroad (00-05) Ł516.03 281.60
2 Volkswagen Touareg (03-) Ł567.92 194.01
3 BMW X5 (00-) Ł517.30 193.36
4 Jeep Cherokee (01-08) Ł522.40 155.72
5 Volvo XC90 (02-) Ł522.83 153.88
6 Land Rover Range Rover (02-) Ł493.59 140.96
7 Land Rover Discovery (98-04) Ł332.17 120.11
8 Mercedes M-Class (98-05) Ł393.01 119.85
9 Land Rover Discovery (04-) Ł405.10 119.44
10 Volvo XC70 (00-07) Ł429.53 115.21

Reader Comments : (33)
• Suzuki
Luckily i have a suzuki Jimny so i have no worries..

Posted By: Jaques on 2010/08/16

• Lexus 4x4 soft but strong and relible
I got a 300 RX and will tell any one that it a beeter ride for gravel and small water crossing ,towning than my BMW X5. iT MAY BE HARD TO READ BUT TRY BOTH AND SEE YOUR SELF

Posted By: Gary on 2010/08/16

• Where is Scooby?
I own Impreza and Forester. Find them better than previously owned Honda, Merc, Toyota, VW, Colt, Nissan and more. How about a local survey?

Posted By: Leon Prinsloo on 2010/08/05

• Magic
You have to take a real 4x4 and mix it with reliability and see what you get. My Jeep wrangler is going for 130 000 km and if i can only show you my low maintenance cost, no major breakdowns, the places we been with this baby and competitions we won over the last 5 years you will change your mind.

Posted By: Joe foord on 2010/08/04

• KISS
Keep it Simple and Stupid.Hi-Tech for tar roads.Low-Tech for real 4x4'ing and Africa.Easy to maintain and fix ANYWHERE.Trusted gear that keeps on working.

Posted By: wPe on 2010/07/15

• SUbaru Supreme
reading this from Sunny Scotland and it struck me no one comments upon Subaru reliability. My Forester Turbo has done 100,000ks, left outside in the rain and snow, endured salted roads and towed garden machinery. 5 years of trouble free motoring, made better by subaru offering me an extended manufacturers warranty for an extra Ł800. Didn't take it... no need!

Posted By: Torquil Mathewson on 2010/07/11

• where is the Champ?
In every other survey I have seen the SUBARU Forrester is hailed as the most reliable where is it in this survey?

Posted By: Chris Moll on 2010/07/09

• Rubish article
This article does not belong to be in LW but indeed in the sensation press that old ladies are reading while having their hair done.

Posted By: Mark Reklom on 2010/07/07

• grand cherokee
where is this car in your survey?the best all rounder in the world,5.7hemi,jewel of an engine.will have 100000km at the end of this week,simply superb on and off road

Posted By: dany on 2010/05/18

• Tata vs quality
Agree Gary. You simply cannot mention TATA and quality in the same sentence(oeps!).I have to wait 5 weeks for gearbox parts on my under warranty vehicle.No replacement vehicle offered.Rather buy a second hand Toyota,Isuzu,Nissan.At least if these vehicles break down ,you can have it repaired.

Posted By: Tata my money on 2010/05/10

• Tata Xenon quality issues
Beware the Tata Xenon!!! I bought a new Xenon 4x4 D/cab at the end of Feb this year. It lasted one day before it packed up with turbo and braking problems which couldn't be fixed. A month later, I received a replacement vehicle which was fine for a month and then needed a new steering box. As I write today, the vehicle is back at the dealership because the windscreen wipers stopped working on Saturday night. To cap it all, I have never once received any reply to numerous emails and phone calls that I have made to Tata SA over the last couple of months. You just get fobbed off with an automatically generated message stating that Tata management will "be in touch with you shortly". Unless you really, REALLY want a Tata, avoid it like the plague - it's cheap for a reason!

Posted By: Gary Williams on 2010/05/10

• Hilux engine bullet-proof
From my own experience,I have tried to kill Toyota's Y-series engine,even daily exceeding the maximum speed written on the speedo,they are unbreakable.

Posted By: SA's stallion on 2010/04/16

• RANGER
I OWN A 07 FORD RANGER SUPER CAB 3.0 TDCI 4X4 NOT A REALIABIL 4X4 AT ALL,SUFFERING FROM REAR AXLE FATIGUE,3X GEARBOXES REPLACED,FRONT CV BOOTS BROKEN AND SOFT FRONT SUSPENSION,NEXT VEHICLE WILL BE A TOYOTA EITHER A CRUISER OR HILUX MUCH MORE REALIABIL.

Posted By: Wilhelm Lund on 2010/04/02

• Reality & Facts
It’s good to see enthusiast’s fighting spirit in the responses, but it’s even more frightening to see how many respondents misses the objective and criteria here. The information gathered for this report comes from 4x4’s in an uncontrolled environment, meaning: who knows and cares what the owners do with their 4x4’s when it’s in a working condition. The next time the dealer will hear from him/her will be the time when the 4x4’s needs attention or repairs of some sort. Now that’s where the data came from. We all know that there are soft roaders and serious off roaders, but this report does not differentiate.

Posted By: Johan Nel on 2010/03/01

• Not Real Off-roaders !
No Nissan Patrol or Pathfinder ?

Posted By: Gary Lewis on 2010/02/23

• Jeep
I owned a Jeep Cherokee 3.7 Limited for 6 years and 150 000Km and the only reliability problem I had was a dead battery (understandably) about mid way through the 6 years. Otherwise a superb vehicle to own.

Posted By: Neal on 2010/02/19

• Mazda Reliablity
How come i see no Mazda on the list. The vehicle might be plain vanilla, but i hardly breaks down. Even if it does, any bush mechanic can bring it up. Just see how many are still moving in Zim campared to the highly acclaimed cruisers. To me thats realibility fo sho

Posted By: Thabani on 2010/02/18

• Toepassing
Ek het nie die artikel in die Jan uitgawe gesien nie, het dus maar net kommentaar hierbo gelees. Britse verslag - Britse omgewing? Ek dink dit vertel alles.

Posted By: Johan on 2010/01/21

• OUCH!
Articles like this will always hit a few nerves. LC owners have a lot of exposed nerves that are very exposed. LC is great, maybe the best, but never let anybody tell you LR or Pajero is better. Take it on the chin guys, this report is relevant as most LC never make it to Uganda and so the CRV. This report is based on the average use of vehicles for the average way of using them. (Now I have to trade my LC for a CRV as I do not want a break down on the way to the mall.)

Posted By: Leon Vervey on 2010/01/19

• Landcruiser here means Prado
In the UK the Prado is called a Landcruiser and what we call a Landcruiser an Amazon. The context here is frequency of repairs, not whether you want to take the car to Botswana..

Posted By: RG, Midrand on 2010/01/13

• wrong index
The nissan xtrail and honda CRV can never be called more reliable than a landcruiser.The index is just plain wrong..a review would do

Posted By: John Karuri on 2010/01/11

• Article
I'm afraid you are dead right. This article does not belong in a 4x4 magazine. Maybe Huisgenoot or Sarie.

Posted By: Emile on 2010/01/08

• Skewed picture
This index leaves me with more questions than answers.Using average repair cost skews the results in favour of vehicles with cheaper parts.This does not indicate reliability.It indicates cheaper/more expensive parts.Similarly time spent in the garage indicates the level of back-up service provided by the manufacturer,or maybe the level of complexity of the repair.(Again with more expensive vehicles probably more complex and thus requiring more time).For real reliability I would want to know how many times a vehicle left it's owner stranded and how many times it needed repairs not assosiated with normal services or accidents.I suggest Warranty Direct call this a Cost of Mobility index.

Posted By: Andre W on 2010/01/08

• bad journalism
why are LW printing this so 'matter of factly', and why are the readers taking it so seriosly, it's a case of printing rubish, which in this context from an off road magazine is totally out of context. this areticle doesn't seem to have any thought behind it from LW. The headline had me expecting something really meaty and worth reading. I am critical of LW for this because, it seems like a cut and paste job

Posted By: Charl on 2010/01/08

• Cruiser dinosaur
Mpho, you wanne tell me the 2010 Land Cruiser 200 VX or Land Cruiser Prado are tech dinosaurs, or are you singling out one Cruiser model, i.e. the pickup? And yes, I also have a day job and my high-riding mean looking 4x4 with low range and diff-lock (not a Cruiser) does spend most of its km’s on tar but you know what that doesn’t matter to much. I work to play and I know that often enough I can hit the dirt tracks and go places where most can only dream of going.

Posted By: Low Range junky on 2010/01/08

• LC is a tech dinosaur
To those who are crying that this comparison is unfair because the LC is not on top are missing the point!! The same people are quick to compare a technological dinosaur like LC to vehicles that are a decade ahead in tech. Manufacturer will always appear to be superior in reliability when they copy and perfect what others have done 10 yrs earlier. If what these drivers are after is reliability alone, why can't they go out and buy tractors instead. Any person with a day job cannot tell me their 4x4 do not spend the majority of their time on roads.

Posted By: Mpho R on 2010/01/07

• Article
Subjected to the fact that all vehicles were subjected to the same conditions the article makes sense. If you buy a Cruizer and don't apply it for what it was designed for you wasted your money. If you do apply the Cruizer or any proper 4x4 with low range etc for what it was designed for you can't compare its brake downs with the Honda's figures, cause the Honda will not last a day in the real sticks. So that’s the point: These are all good vehicles but they don’t belong in the same list just because they are so called “4x4’s”!

Posted By: Emile on 2010/01/07

• Real overlanding
I would take on real overlanding with only one vehicle out of all 20 mentioned - the Land Cruiser ! The criteria for the evaluation is not applicable to real world off road situations

Posted By: Willie, Pretoria on 2010/01/07

• Softroaders
Read the article, not just the lists. The criteria aren't reliability in the sticks, but "how often vehicles break down, average repair cost and time spent in the garage". Anyway, I've been in difficult situations with my Honda CR-V but it has never let me down. The little after sales service I needed, was also excellent.

Posted By: Jan Stemmett on 2010/01/07

• Useless info
I agree with Bob. This information is absolutely irrelevant as the comparisons could just as well include 4x2 vehicles. How on earth can a Honda CR-V be a more reliable 4x4 than a Cruizer! The Honda CR-V is an excellent vehicle but it is not a hardcore 4x4. Neither is a BMW X5 or Audi A6. This study clearly underlines the misconception that any 4wd driven vehicle is rated as a 4x4, capable of traversing the unknown - absolute nonsense!

Posted By: Emile Viljoen on 2010/01/07

• Reliability one thing...
can only hope you do not need a spare part to repair a KIA Sorento. It might be shipped (right: using a ship!) from Korea. If it is a vital part, you can not use your car for weeks!

Posted By: Dieter Graml on 2010/01/07

• 4x4 Reliability
I wonder if the people who conducted the study have ever heard of a Subaru.It's reliability is legendary.The Landcruise may be expensive to service but it must be one of the most reliable 4x4's ever made.

Posted By: Roy Honeyborne on 2010/01/07

• realiability
Am I missing point here - the most "reliable" are all softroaders while the least reliable are hard core 4x4's. Does this not suggest that the "reliability" issue is tainted by the fact that the bulk of the top 10 only ever get exposed to the odd pavement climb at Sandton City?

Posted By: Bob Bartholomew on 2010/01/07