By John Simpson 12 July 2011
![Scarily bad - The Monster Mk1 is the result of all the worst car parts being thrown together - [click to enlarge, if you dare]](http://images.rgdcdn.co.uk/9/9/2011-07-image34.png/0/0 "Scarily bad - The Monster Mk1 is the result of all the worst car parts being thrown together - [click to enlarge, if you dare]")
What would happen if you brought together the world’s most unreliable car parts and built a single vehicle from them? Well it’s likely you’d get something like this.
Dubbed ‘The Monster Mk1’, this hideousness would be sure to cause you plenty of headaches if it featured in your fleet, konking out every other month with annual repair costs of £2,050.
With a reliability index in excess of 500 – five times the average car – this dismal drive features the engine of an MG TF, the gearbox of a Land Rover Freelander, the suspension of a BMW M3, an Audi A8’s brakes, the steering of a Volvo C70, the electrics of a Renault Megane, a SEAT Alhambra’s air-con and the heating/cooling system of a SEAT Toledo.
The ghastly car-eature was assembled by Warranty Direct to illustrate how an otherwise perfectly reliable vehicle can gain a bad reputation because of a single weak component.
Duncan McClure Fisher, Warranty Direct MD, said: “The Monster Mk1 represents the worst-performing vehicles in every sector, from suspension to electrics, on our roads today.
“The wide range of cars included in our special blend highlights how mostly reliable cars can be dragged down by one problem part.”
The company drew on its 50,000-strong database of live policies on cars aged five years on average to create the car.
Gremlins
Almost four in ten BMW M3s need axle or suspension repairs a year, with the same number of Meganes suffer an electrical fault.
20% of Audi A8s call for brake repairs, the same proportion of Land Rover Freelanders that experience gearbox gremlins.
Nearly 25% of MG TF engine will require garage attention while one in eight SEAT Alhambra models need their air-con seeing to every year.
In March, the Peugeot 207 was named Europe’s most reliable car [full story] with just one in 17 breaking down.
The Toyota Corolla currently sits at the top of the UK’s most reliable models with a rating of 4.00, followed by the Suzuki Alto and the Honda HR-V.
Categories: Fleet news
If you ever need an example of how far the car and automotive technology has come in a single generation, just reach for the gear lever in your car. A mere 25 years ago, you would most likely have the choice of five gears…
There are a great many considerations to take into account when looking at your next company car. Some are purely financial and others will be environmental, either because of monetary reasons or because of your conscience.…
Hot hatches have been through a few ups and downs in the time the class has properly existed. From must-have 1980s accessory to untouchable, uninsurable liability in the early 1990s, the sector has been on the rise again…
The sound of silence is something usually reserved for the luxury end of the car market, but sat here in a Vauxhall Zafira Tourer there is an eerie lack of audio interruption. Before you think we need the tender care of…
The past few days has been a triumph and disappointment for young people as Paris Brown has gone from youth champion within the police to being investigated for some dubious tweets. It has also been a poor week for young…