Share your car reliability and service experiences

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Ancalagon

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Hi all,

So I'm looking to buy a new car in the next few months, and I want to start doing some research. I'm looking for a hatchback or similar small sedan from R150k to R250k. Please could I ask people to share what vehicle they have, how long they have had it for, how reliable it has been, and what the service levels offered by the dealership has been like.

The reason is, everyone always says that French cars are so bad in SA. So I want to hear from owners of all cars, not only French cars, what their reliability experience has been like.

Bonus points if you can give us an indication of how much your monthly insurance cost is!
 
Toyota Auris 1.6RT 2008 (I am the second owner and I have it for 3 years now)
Reliable: I never had a problem with this car, ever.
Service levels: Not sure what you are asking for here.
 
Renault Scenic (Bought new in Feb '01) - Very reliable. 248000km
Renault Megane ('00. Bought 3rd owner in '08) - No issues as well. 278000km
Audi A6 ('04. Bought in '08) - Very expensive to maintain. 125000km
Renault Koleos ('10. Bought in '12) - No issues, maintenance plan so no costs for service. 65000km
 
ahoudet said:
Renault Scenic (Bought new in Feb '01) - Very reliable. 248000km
Renault Megane ('00. Bought 3rd owner in '08) - No issues as well. 278000km
Audi A6 ('04. Bought in '08) - Very expensive to maintain. 125000km
Renault Koleos ('10. Bought in '12) - No issues, maintenance plan so no costs for service. 65000km
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Renault...... had a few, cost me an arm & leg every time i went past the dealership
 
By service levels, I mean what kind of service does the dealership offer? Do you have to wait ages for spare parts? Do you constantly need to send your car back in because they don't sort problems out the first time?
 
Ancalagon said:
By service levels, I mean what kind of service does the dealership offer? Do you have to wait ages for spare parts? Do you constantly need to send your car back in because they don't sort problems out the first time?
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In that case, no not at all. In my experience with this car I never had to send it back and there was never a shortage of parts.
 
Renault Sandero Stepway, 2012.

Constant hassles from the start, everything from malfunctioning boot locks, interior lights staying on, gearbox issues, high fuel consumption, and power loss. Fuel consumption actually went above 13 / 100 once.

Centurion service was useless, took them a year to find out that freaking mudflaps exist. Hatfield (Nissan) was better, they actually had them in stock and were better at service somewhat, though the gearbox issue it was taken in for was fixed, a different gearbox issue arose within a month.

I would avoid if given a choice again. No idea on the quality of the new one however
 
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If you are looking for reliability then I would say go japanese, honda, hyundai, toyota. Can't really go wrong.
 
I was never that impressed with Hyundai's service. It was actually shocking at times. Also, they will make up all kinds of excuses, to get out of a warranty claim. At the time when I owned my i20, there was also no third party brake pads available. Original ones were ridiculously expensive and did not last long. Tyre size used was also rather expensive. I would say stay away from Korean... I'm certainly never buying another one.
 
I have owned 18 cars from 6 different manufacturers.

The worst, by far, was a Chev (Opel), fortunately I lived on a hill with the Chev dealer at the bottom.

The best in reliability, service, and if they are needed, spares, has got to be Toyota.

Which is probably why I currently have my eighth Toyota.
 
ahoudet said:
Renault Scenic (Bought new in Feb '01) - Very reliable. 248000km
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Renault scenic 2003 model, bought 2008 from family member, very reliable. Only one dealer issue in the 6+ years but it was ultimately resolved in my favour.

I never had to wait for a part. Even when getting emergency work done before a long trip. Only delay ever was having to return the car a day later to get a cracked front windscreen replaced.
 
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FartyMarty said:
Renault...... had a few, cost me an arm & leg every time i went past the dealership
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Are any cars cheap to service? I'm yet to hear of any friends express how happy they were at how little they spent when getting a service. Unless they are on a service plan... and paid already.
 
FartyMarty said:
Renault...... had a few, cost me an arm & leg every time i went past the dealership
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Certain dealerships aren't / weren't good. Renault Bryanston was a problem for the first few years, Sandton was quite good but closed down and R24 gave us good service... Now, Bryanston is fairly good. Parts in my experience have been easy to get. Pricing isn't too bad IMO (cheap compared to the Germans and relatively on par with Nissan). What I would recommend though for someone willing to buy a French car is to either maintain it yourself or find a good mechanic.

I've got 4 Renaults and I really like them. I haven't had much trouble and they've been more reliable than both one Nissan I have and an A6 I had...
 
ahoudet said:
Certain dealerships aren't / weren't good. Renault Bryanston was a problem for the first few years, Sandton was quite good but closed down and R24 gave us good service... Now, Bryanston is fairly good.
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Interestingly enough Bryanston was where I got the emergency work done. Problems on the Wednesday, had to drive to Durban Friday, all sorted before I left and they were most understanding of my urgency and very helpful. This was about 3 years back.
 
Honda Civic, Ford Focus, VW Jetta all start under R250k. Much better options than the Kia/Hyundai competitors, which start at around the same price or more. The Koreans don't have a price advantage anymore and most of the other guys now also come with most things as standard.
 
Dubes said:
Interestingly enough Bryanston was where I got the emergency work done. Problems on the Wednesday, had to drive to Durban Friday, all sorted before I left and they were most understanding of my urgency and very helpful. This was about 3 years back.
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They were bad at the time they first opened (Not too sure when they opened up)... Had one dead coil and they managed to destroy all four in the process of testing which one it was... We avoided them in the mean time and as we use mechanics to maintain the Meganes and the Scenic, we mostly bought parts from them with the odd repairs etc. lately and have had a good experience. Now with the Koleos, we use them for servicing and all seems good.
 
Quantum Theory said:
Frenchies are nice, but those resale values... Eina.
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That's why you buy them used:D Bought the '00 Megane in '08 for R30k (was a good deal - If I remember correctly, it was worth about R40k at the time) and that's more or less what I can sell it for now.

The low resale value just means you get a newer car at a lower price when buying used:p
 
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