SecondhandSense: Citron C4The rising star of world motoring was fifth in the table with an incidence rate of 17.4 per cent.
Donal Byrne
Last year was one Citroën would rather forget, but the cloud which hung over its sales here has a silver lining for those on the look out for a second-hand bargain. When Citroën had a truly innovative range of cars on offer the company tried to maximise sales by offering all sorts of discounts, a move that infuriated those who had paid full price for their car and which quickly dragged down the value of all Citroën cars.
This year Citroën is avoiding all novelty offers in an attempt to correct its second-hand values but this will take a long time to achieve. In the meantime anyone seeking an alternative to the big names in the medium car sector - the Volkswagen Golf, the Toyota Corolla and the Ford Focus - should take a serious look at the Citroën C4 hatchback.
As a Citroën design fan, I was taken by it the moment I saw it. A bold front accentuated by a sloping rear and lovely lines in between created a visually impressive car that was matched by a lovely interior.
Not everyone appreciates Citroën's radical approach, but something radical was certainly needed after the terminally dull Xsara. This car did nothing to attract new customers and is best consigned to the history books as something that never worked. The C4, on the other hand, is a truly modern car that won't lose its looks for a long time and whose interior shows up everything that is dull about the Corolla or the Golf.
The five-door hatchback version of the C4 (as distinct from the three-door coupé) is a car that cuts an elegant dash as a family car, although the rear is slightly cramped and does not accommodate three in comfort. It has excellent ride and handling abilities and it is an extremely comfortable car, as one would expect from a Citroën. It comes with a choice of 1.4 petrol and a 1.6 HDi diesel engine that's good for economy and performance.
What really sets the C4 apart is its interior design. Some won't like the centrally located digital display that replaces the conventional dials, but this one is easy to read and is not affected by sunshine as some displays are.
There are six airbags and plenty of extras and cubby holes for storage. The higher specification models have extras, including cruise control and climate control, but the basic package is also good.
The car has a five-star rating in the EuroNCAP crash test programme, which made the C4 a leader in its class at the time of its launch in 2004. Overall safety levels were very good. There are, however, some recall problems caused by brake linkages, the ABS system and non-deploying front airbags.
A 2005 five-door model with a 1.4 petrol engine and 25,000 kilometres on the clock is priced at €15,950; a 2004 model with the 1.6 HDi engine and 35,000 kilometres on the clock is priced at €19,950, and a 2005 1.4 coupé with 28,000 kilometres is priced at €14,000. These are garage prices and open to serious negotiation. Daniel Attwood
One of the world's largest car reliability surveys, which studied over 450,000 cars, has ranked the Japanese manufacturer Mazda the highest. Asian manufacturers dominated the top 10, with eight of the most reliable marques made by carmakers from Japan or Korea.
The only two European marques to reach the top 10 were the British-built Mini, which is owned by BMW, and the French carmaker, Citroën.
The study was carried out by automotive warranty provider, Warranty Direct, and looked at 450,000 vehicles produced by 33 manufacturers.
Bottom of the pile was off-road specialist, Jeep, which came just ahead of another 4x4-maker, Land Rover.
The survey revealed that almost one in two (46 per cent) of the 16,427 Jeep models recorded a mechanical failure during a given 12-month period. That figure was nearly six times worse than Mazda, which topped the table with a frequency of failure of just 8.04 per cent.
According to Warranty Direct, the most common failure items found on the Jeeps were transmission, electrical and gearbox problems.
The league table was based on the number of failures reported for every 100 policies sold to owners of vehicles aged between three and nine years.
In other words, vehicles no longer covered by a manufacturer's warranty.
However, a spokesman for the OHM Group, which imports Jeep into Ireland, pointed out that the survey looked only at older vehicles that were produced before DaimlerChrysler, which owns Jeep, addressed quality issues.
"We have seen a significant improvement in the quality of the vehicles over the past five years, which is reflected in a dramatic drop in warranty work we carry out," he said.
"This has shown to be the case year on year in independent quality surveys carried out by independent companies like JD Power."
Korean manufacturer Kia proved that budgeting does not necessarily mean corner-cutting when it comes to reliability.
In eighteenth place, BMW was placed at the top of Germany's "Big Three" ahead of Mercedes-Benz (20th) and Audi, which was languishing in 27th spot.
"The performance of some of the world's largest manufacturers in terms of reliability is there for all to see," said Duncan McClure Fisher, managing director of Warranty Direct.
"Off-road may mean rugged, but the data suggests that it may not always stand for reliability if you consider the specialists. This is unique data based on real cars, driving real miles. It is the kind of information manufacturers would probably rather you didn't see."
But the reliability survey does not always reflect a marque's popularity among Ireland's car buying public. Statistics for the first two months of this year reveal that while Irish motorists still favour the Japanese Toyota Corolla, which tops the sales charts here, it is the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf that make up the remainder of the country's top three new cars.
Ford came 14th in the reliability survey, and Volkswagen 23rd.
But league topper Mazda has seen record sales in the past six months, with over 1,260 new cars sold in January - a record for the company. "Mazda has been justifiably proud of both the build-quality and long-term reliability of its vehicles for many years," says David McGonigle, managing director, Mazda Ireland.
"This survey clearly endorses our own views and confirms that Mazda reliability is not just very good - it's the very best."
FOR: Great design and modern interior
AGAINST: Residual values, cramped rear