Can’t get le satisfaction
September 18th, 2009 by Richard Aucock
WHICH? Car today reveals SIX of the least 10 popular cars in the UK are French, according to owners.
Renault and Peugeot dominate the bottom of the latest Owner Satisfaction League.
Worst of all is the Renault Espace, which one owner described as a ‘fantastic car, if only it would work longer than a month at a time.’
Its satisfaction result, according to 77,000 Which? members, was 57 percent.
Compare this with the cars in the TOP 10: the most satisfying car in the UK to own is the Audi A5, with a dazzling score of 97 percent.
Skoda’s Superb came in second, with 96 percent, just ahead of the Mazda MX-5. Indeed, five out of the top 10 most satisfying cars in the UK are Japanese.
‘It’s no surprise that owners love their Japanese cars,’ said Which? editor Richard Headland. ‘They’re reliable, reasonably priced and cheap to run.
‘But down in the Which? Car hall of shame, owners of some French cars seem to be less than enamoured with their motors.’ Indeed, one Megane owner said their car was ‘a pile of rubbish.’
Another Laguna buyer said it was ‘an impulse buy… regretted ever since.’
Headland did point to Audi’s bottom-raking in the Which? Car reliability survey, though.
‘It’s the honeymoon period for the relatively new Audi A5 – smitten owners may soon fall out of love with it if reliability doesn’t improve.’
Audi has since responded to this through Car Dealer Magazine.
Top 10 most popular cars
1 Audi A5 (2007 on) 97%
2 Skoda Superb (2002-2008) 96%
3 Mazda MX-5 (2005 on) 96%
4 Porsche Boxster (2004 on) 96%
5 Mazda MX-5 (1998-2005) 96%
6 Honda Jazz (2008 on) 95%
7 Toyota Yaris Verso (2000-2005) 95%
8 Audi TT (2006 on) 94%
9 Honda Jazz (2002-2008) 94%
10 Fiat 500 (2008 on) 94%
Bottom 10 least popular cars
286 Rover 200/25 (1995-2005) 66%
287 Citroën Saxo (1996-2003) 65%
288 Renault Espace (2003 on) 65%
289 Renault Laguna (2001-2007) 65
290 Fiat Punto (1999-2006) 65%
291 Kia Rio (2001-2005) 64%
292 Jeep Cherokee (2001-2007) 61%
293 Renault Mégane (1996-2003) 61%
294 Peugeot 307CC (2003-2008) 61%
295 Renault Espace (1997-2003) 57%
Tags: Audi, mazda, peugeot, Renault, satisfaction, skoda, which