The German Un-Reliability Thread

Right, I think as we see a few problems with Alfa's on this forum that we should have a post for "Reliable" German cars.

If you see a broken down German car or hear of one with problems post here. (Vauxhalls count as they are Opel).

Hopefully we can dispell the Myth that German cars are reliable.

I'll start off, I saw a Broken down Audi A6 today on the B4095 just outside of Bladon.

There is a mot broken - but sick C Class merc sitting in my driveway right now - problem with the electronic idle control gubbins attached to the throttle body.

Can't be a*sed getting it fixed TBH - too busy driving my 156 - but I guess I will need to sort it out soon so I can sell it!!

AN

Friend of mine has been back to the VW dealer with her Eos more times than she'd have liked......still says she'd buy another VW, though.....

Last German car we had was an Audi A4 estate that wasn't as bomb-proof as it should have been. Thing was, it felt so solidly built that you still thought of it as reliable.

Saw a 98 reg 318 being towed by the AA t'other day in barking. Also a MINI on the back of a pickup on the A13.

OA

Mercedes Diesels. Blown turbos. 'nuff said.

I thought Mercs were bullet proof? Who mentioned blown turbos?

I have an Audi A2....great, fun car to drive. But has needed two front suspension warranty repairs in 60k miles. Both shocks and upper steering bearings!

In the past I've had an A6 1.8T....did 230k miles in it. Was bombproof. All it needed was one replacement turbo and two oil pumps. Similarly, two VW passats and two golfs were pretty much faultless other than consumeables.

BUT this is not what you wanted to hear on this thread!

Brothers old Vauxhall Frontera had a whole collection of problems from new, also he had new Mini which he couldn't deal with having so many electrical malfunctions, so got rid.

Great thread byu the way, lets dispel this bl00dy myth.

One of the guys here has just had the radiator replaced on his one year old Golf because of unexplained water loss.

Needless to say, the problem is no better and the car is using just as much water as it did before they replaced the radiator.

So our 4 month old 120SE which we've put just under 10K miles on should break down soon then

Oh well......it's a company car so don't care

Problem is with newer German cars, especially some of the BM Wubblys is that they use "run-flat" tyres and don't carry a spare.

The after-service from this particular company is extremely good and they will come and pick the car up and take it to a garage to have the tyre replaced for you.
So a puncture isn't really a breakdown I'd say.

We had the BMW service peeps out at 11 o'clock on a Sunday night. Ms Emm had a warning light come on. Got the car home. I had a look and it was the low oil light. Yes after 7000 miles from brand new the oil needed topped up. We couldn't get 0W30 oil at that time of night so Ms Emm phoned the service number and pled ignorance.

The service knew what it was as it happens to a lot of brand new beemers as the engines aren't run in before you buy it like some manufacturers do.

They sent a man out at that time of night who left us 4 litres of oil (in case we needed it again later) for free.

Does that count as a breakdown ???

Originally Posted by marlon

Does that count as a breakdown ???

No, but it does count as pretty phenomenal service!

Originally Posted by marlon

Does that count as a breakdown ???

No, I'd say that's pretty good service.

Anyway, brother in law's golf - new engine in first 6 months, repeatedly breaking screenwash supply pipe to rear washer (inside c-pillar ), brake problems, generally niggly faults.

B -in-law's Impreza: new steering pump after one week.

Client's 5-series. Door handles, wiper arms and indicator stalks (yes, there are two of them) fell off in first year. Very poor service from dealer.

Colleague's mini cooper - two new steering wheels, complete brake system replacement, ABS fixes every few months.

Colleague's BMW 120d - New dashboard in first month.

Friend's Volvo S70 2.5T - New suspension, new aircon unit, niggly rattles.

Friend's Merc C-class estate - just generally poorly put together, rough trim edges, cheap plastic, rattly dash.

My Alfa 145 - nothing

My Alfa 166 - New engine and gearbox

My 156 - nothing

My 159 - nothing so far.

07 plate Audi A4 at work has had the RAC out to it twice!
Was electrics the 1st time and was fixed/rebooted in the work car park, but the 2nd time it needed towing!
Had my 147 about a year today and apart from about 3 new bulbs in various places -and the ubiquitous "REAR FOG LIGHT FAILURE!" -i've got no issues to report!

Great idea for a thread

Wife's Polo.
By 70k it had needed:

New gearbox
Head gasket
Water pump
CV Boot
Rear wheel bearings
Work to fix a noisy tappet
Pretty much dead now by 140k.


Out old t25 Camper.
Dead by 140k. (Big ends)

Our old Mk 2 Golf.
By 110 k it had needed a new head gasket and kept cutting out. Sold because it wasn't reliable enough.


Oh yeah.. While I'm at it.
Next door's 05 Golf TDi- Killed by a deep puddle
Colleague's 04 Passat TDi- Killed by a deep puddle.

My 10 year old Golf VR6 is in perfect working order.

yeah great idea,

my daughter's Bravo has been a PITA (Off Topic I here you cry), but wait, the faults, and there have been a few, have all centred around the Bosch fuel injection/ignition system, the reason its been so hard to find the underlying fault is because the 6 month old Bosch throttle actuator has packed up. OK its getting changed under warranty, but to get it checked over will have cost as much as the part (£150), so in less than 7 months the car will be on its third. The Bosch coil packed up and one of the injectors was under fuelling.

Rest of the car, the Italian bits? in fine fettle, no rust, all the electrics work, the 1.2 engine loves a good thrashing as much as I do and none of the trim has dropped off. And the dealer has been good too in helping sort it.

I do not want bratwurst in my lasagne thank you.

and I'm off to watch my Dambusters DVD, at the moment, its a 'feel good' film.

next doors Golf has unstable idle issues, mates TT blew the whole engine on the motorway, (oil light was on, but thought he could get to the next junction, so maybe he's just a c*ck), next door other side Merc estate, auto box packed up, £2000 repair, (more than my 166 ), its replacement arrived on a tow truck a couple of months back as the front suspension had snapped on the motorway.

in summary

VW unrelaible
Merc unreliable twice over
Audi unreliable and driven by d*cks
BMW just plain ugly and driven by d*cks

I worked on BMW motorcycles (BMW Park Lane workshops in Brentford), BMW cars (Milcars Mill Hill, Prophets Gerrards Cross) Alfa Romeos (Alfa Romeo London Sales plus 3 local Alfa Specialists) and was Chief Technician at Star Rayners Lane Vauxhall.

ALL the workshops were ALWAYS busy with breakdowns.

I have seen everything from front wheels falling off due to bearing failure, to recalls for rusty suspension bits, to rods through the cases, to footwells full of water, poor Bosch earths on all the makes (they ALL used essentially the same bits), poor paintwork, rubbish track rod setups, air con going ping, alledged handling difficulties (driver error) failure to start, failure to stop, failure to go round corners, failure to go in a straight line . . . . . . . . . . well, you get the picture!

They are all the bloody same and I for one am dead pleased I don't do it anymore.

Most customers are a bunch of bleating prima-donnas who would not recognise a good car if it ran them over and would have no idea of what to do with one if you paid them to take it away.

When explaining our resolution of a problem to one young lady I was asked "why did you take it in the workshops?".

Go on . . . . tell me I am wrong! 'Cos I don't care, it ain't my problem any more!

I've been there, seen it, done it but couldn't be arsed to pick up the free T shirt.

Car companies spend millions upon millions of whatever the local wonga happens to be on R&D and trying to get it spot on but NONE of them can get it right all the time.












I do apologise I think I went off into a little rant there!





No Symonh, no make is better or worse than any other and any sensible bugger (like yourself for instance) will understand that fact!

Trebbies excepted of course

Paulus

God I needed that!

Originally Posted by marlon

So our 4 month old 120SE which we've put just under 10K miles on should break down soon then

Oh well......it's a company car so don't care

Problem is with newer German cars, especially some of the BM Wubblys is that they use "run-flat" tyres and don't carry a spare.

The after-service from this particular company is extremely good and they will come and pick the car up and take it to a garage to have the tyre replaced for you.
So a puncture isn't really a breakdown I'd say.

We had the BMW service peeps out at 11 o'clock on a Sunday night. Ms Emm had a warning light come on. Got the car home. I had a look and it was the low oil light. Yes after 7000 miles from brand new the oil needed topped up. We couldn't get 0W30 oil at that time of night so Ms Emm phoned the service number and pled ignorance.

The service knew what it was as it happens to a lot of brand new beemers as the engines aren't run in before you buy it like some manufacturers do.

Yep all BMWs are like that. When I used to work for BMW all the 3 series needed to have the oil topped up after the first few thousand miles!

And relax........

Originally Posted by Paulus

No Symonh, no make is better or worse than any other and any sensible bugger (like yourself for instance) will understand that fact!

Trebbies excepted of course

Paulus

Yes they are!

My Rover 600 has 163k on it and has not broken down. It hasn't really needed anything that wasn't a service item.

My old Mondeo reached 182k with just a power st