Australia's Most Reliable Cars Revealed in Latest Choice Magazine Survey

According to a survey conducted by Choice magazine, the 1990-92 model Toyota Cressida, Honda Civic, Toyota Tarago, Mazda 323, and Mazda 626 are Australia's five most reliable cars. However, locally made cars such as Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores have emerged as the least reliable, with 77% of Australian-made cars free of problems compared to 88% of imported cars. Despite improvements in reliability, Australian-made cars still trail behind their imported counterparts.

Key Takeaways:

• The 1990-92 model Toyota Cressida, Honda Civic, Toyota Tarago, Mazda 323, and Mazda 626 are Australia's five most reliable cars, according to the survey.
• Locally made cars such as Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores are the least reliable, with "worse than average for reliability" in several aspects.
• Nissan and Toyota were the most reliable locally made car brands, while Mazdas and Hondas were the most reliable imported car brands.
• Australian-made cars have shown improvement in reliability, with 77% of cars free of problems compared to 88% of imported cars of the same age.
• The most reliable locally made cars were Nashnalt brand, ironically, Nissan stopped making cars in Australia in 1992.
• Public relations manager at Nissan, Mr. Brad Leach, attributed the reliability of Nissan cars to their low costs and commitment to quality.

Statistics:

• 77% of Australian-made cars between 1990 and 1992 were free of problems compared to 88% of imported cars.
• 23% of locally made cars under three years of age had broken down or spent time off the road for repairs during 1993, a reduction from 31% in the previous survey.
• 6923 `Choice' subscribers responded to the survey, representing 34.6% of the total 20,000 subscribers approached.
• 9397 cars were included in the survey analysis.

Sources:

• "Australia's Most Reliable Cars Revealed" (Choice magazine, 1993)
• Brad Leach, Nissan public relations manager, as quoted in "Choice" magazine
• Michael Case, RACV's chief engineer, as quoted in "The Age"