‘Everything just fails’: The cars that break down the most

Ever wanted to ask a veteran roadside assistance technician which cars they see breaking down the most? We did – and here’s their response.

Nothing gets attention like a car-reliability horror story, and there are plenty. And few topics are more anecdote-rich and data-poor than the reliability of cars, making it tricky to get a grip on which vehicles in the modern age are lemons, and which aren’t.

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There aren’t many Australians who would have a better first-hand experience of unreliable cars, however, than a roadside assistance technician – the very person people call when their car is kaput.

In this article, we spoke to Rob (interviewed on the condition of anonymity) who works for a major roadside assistance provider in a regional area and has done so for nearly 20 years. In this article, Rob revealed the vehicles he sees break down the most.

Keep in mind that this is the anecdotal experience of a single person – hardly a wide-ranging and reliable data set.

Holden Cruze and Captiva

Initially built in South Korea, the Cruze small car was made by Holden in Australia between 2011 and 2016, with 126,255 sedans and hatchbacks locally built. The Captiva, meanwhile, was a mid-size SUV made by GM Korea, previously known as Daewoo, and sold in Australia between 2006 and 2018.

Rob said avoid buying one second-hand. “It depends on the breakdown, but I’d say some of the Holden Cruze and Captiva are definitely the worst,” he told Drive.

“Obviously they have the nickname Craptiva, they’re probably the car that I have seen the worst breakdowns on,” he added.

“Everything fails on them. Wiring looms fail, batteries fail, alternators fail, everything just fails on those things. Wheel bearings, driveshafts, gearboxes – you name it, they break.”

Holden Captiva

Earlier Ford Focus

Rob counselled to avoid Ford Focuses built around 2010 – such as the second generation produced around 2005 to 2011 – which he has seen over-represented in his roadside assistance call-outs.

“We’ve seen a lot of Focuses,” he said. “We see cracking on the plastic inlet manifolds, a few electrical issues … we’ve seen quite a few security system issues. Maybe not the new Focuses, but around the 2010-ish, that sort of generation.

“Once that plastic in the engine bay starts to degrade, and it’s not all of them – it might be just the ones that go over bumps everyday – cracked intake manifolds aren’t uncommon.”

Some dual-cab utes

Think dual-cab ute and the image of a bulletproof vehicle comes to mind – one that can traverse the Simpson, tow an enormous boat and cart a tray of dirt from your local Bunnings, possibly all at the same time. Except, you’d be partly wrong.

Rob has seen his fair share of broken down dual-cabs.

“We see a lot of the highly strung, low capacity dual-cab utes,” he said. “Your 2.2-litre Amaroks, your Rangers, that sort of stuff. And everything – cracked intercoolers, blown turbos, holes burnt in pistons. The Rangers were really bad for it, they burnt holes in pistons like there was no tomorrow, the 3.2-litre [five-cylinder] ones.”

Older Nissan Navaras are also mentioned. “Navaras with their twin-sequential turbo set-up that they had, the compound turbo set-up,” Rob explained.

“They’d have a crack in the intercooler pipe and it’d over-spool the turbos a lot, and really just destroy those cars. And a lot more often than I really thought would happen.”

Second-hand Fiats, Chryslers and Jeeps

Buying a second-hand Fiat, Chrysler or Jeep might be something you later regret, said Rob.

“Thinking about what I wouldn’t touch, I’d say anything from the Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Fiat family,” he said.

“I wouldn’t even take one as a work car just because of the unreliability, a lot of electrical issues and stuff on those cars. We see lots and lots of issues with those cars, some of them are fixable, some of them are recalls, some get sent back to the dealership.”

Best to ensure yours has a warranty, we say.

What’s your new-car reliability horror story? Let us know in the comments below.

The post ‘Everything just fails’: The cars that break down the most appeared first on Drive.