I’ve been slightly involved with a national newspaper doing a freedom of information request when it comes to MOT test failures. I provided some of the comments on what the stats revealed and it bears repetition. These are 2015 cars that had their first MOT last year and there needed to be at least 5000 tests for that particular model.
Without printing out a boring table, let’s dig into the results. My eye is drawn to the models least likely to fail and yet again it is a win for the older buyers with their favourite little runabout, the Honda Jazz. They love them and look after them. The real surprise is the Vauxhall Viva, a model that is mostly invisible in the marketplace, but again oldies remember the name from the 1960s and 1970s, buy ’em and then make sure they are looked after.
The Hyundai i20 is another old favourite, an inoffensive car that just gets on with the job and has a suitably reassuring warranty, so yet another one to tempt private buyers, especially the more mature ones.
Otherwise, it is a big win for perceived German build quality, as you only get what you pay for with Audi, Volkswagen and Mercedes.
Good news, then, for Audi with the Audi TT, Audi A1 and Audi Q3 taking the fourth, fifth and sixth spots, and the Audi Q5 making an entry at number nine. These are costly cars usually bought by companies or people who can afford to run them, so no real surprise there. The SUV invasion is confirmed, because there are strong showings from the Mercedes GLA, Honda CR-V and Volkswagen Tiguan.
At the troublesome end of the table, the first two entries from Citroën and Ford on the list of those most likeautoly to fail are hard-working people-carriers, the C4 Grand Picasso and Ford Galaxy, which lead tough lives, sometimes as taxis. The Dacia Sandero, however, is marketed as a bargain buy, but a low price seems to suggest low quality and more breakdowns. It may also be cheapskates skimping on regular maintenance. The appearance of the VW Volkswagen Passat at number four is a surprise because they rack up huge mileages.
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Subaru LPG
Savings from LPG: good, but not that good
You will indeed save money with LPG, but not quite as much as that. The reason being there's less energy in a litre of LPG than in a litre of petrol: around 20% less according to DriveLPG's calculator. It will always use a little petrol to start as well. Personal experience of LPG was a little worse than 20% overall: over a few brim-to-brim comparisons I'd put it nearer 25% for a factory-fitted conversion in a 2.5 Subaru Outback. Using your figures for mileage, I'd guess nearer £700 in savings than £1,000. And less range in my experience; higher consumption and usually smaller tank capacity. However, an upside is somewhat lower C02 emssions as LPG is cleaner. See https://www.drivelpg.co.uk/about-autogas/savings-calculator/
There can be other problems: in the worst case there can be big bills from valve problems that wipe out the savings. Some models suffer this more than others. Mine did at around 70,000 miles, and its was expensive: at least a year's worth of savings. I wasn't aware of this when I bought an LPG car. Worth a check to see if anyone reports problems for your chosen make/model. On the other hand, it didn't cost any more to insure.
Finding LPG on the forecourt is getting harder; over the few years I had my Outback it was dropped by all but one petrol station within a 20-mile radius of where I live and from almost all motorway services I used regularly. I often had to switch over to petrol as I couldn't find anywhere to fill up.
It can still be a good thing to do, but go in with your eyes open. Personally, when the time came to change I went for a hybrid rather than another LPG car. Comparable costs, much better range, universally available supplies and well-tested, reliable drivetrains. I don't regret the decision.
Another reference for LPG
Can't see how to edit my post to add this scarier point of view:
http://www.amrautos.co.uk/index.php/lpg-systems
Has a useful table of problem cars; my Subaru on there but no reported issue with Vauxhalls. But the points on cost are interesting.
Another reference for LPG
I was wrong. They do say problems with Vauxhall post-2006 in the article.
HughL wrote:
My dad bought a forester from a main dealer that had the complete lpg system removed and heads replaced, the dealer didn't rate it at all for the valve issues you mention, infact I'm sure they said Subaru paid for the removal,may be wrong, though they had a few cars on the forecourt that had this carried out. This was about 5 years or so ago.
I like the notch back styled
I like the notch back styled 146, always preferred it to its breadvan 145 brother, had a go in one when they were new and really liked it.