A good site to visit for this kind of thing, in my opinion, is the
www.reliabilityindex.co.uk site.
It gives rankings of most marques and models based on actual warranty claims rather than owner opinions. Just wanted to point out, only because this was brought up before, that the index is provided by an aftermarket warranty company so it's strongly in their interest to get this data right - if not, they pay out more. Also, it is
not created by What Car, only featured in the magazine.
Interesting to see that Audi are hardly streets ahead of Alfa:
http://www.reliabilityindex.co.uk/to...28339010848601
And that only
one of the German marques (Mini) makes it into the top 10:
http://www.reliabilityindex.co.uk/to...28339010848601
Personal experiences:
VW Golf Mk IV GTi - no issues at all
Audi A3 2.0 TDi - no issues but it was with us for less than 15,000 miles to be replaced with...
Audi A3 2.0 TDi Sportback - wheel bearing failure, engine mgt issues, gearbox failure...
VW Golf Mk V GT - oil warning light not operational, hole in roof so now the car stinks as the soundproofing rots... booked into the bodyshop to rectify...
Saab 9-3 Aero Saloon - no issues at all (I miss this one the most)
Peugeot 106 GTi - no issues at all, a cracking little car!
Peugeot 206 cc - no issues at all (apart from occasional embarrassment
)