Car industry's secrets revealed

---

A leaked car industry report has revealed which models are the subject of the most complaints, and which owners are the most satisfied.

No matter what claims advertising makes, the car industry has always known its own secrets.

They are contained in a hard-headed and pragmatic guide to the reliability of every model.

For decades, this information has been available only to very senior executives, so they could compare with competitors.

Now we can all know, after the leaking of a bombshell report revealing the car industry's darkest secrets and a list of the most faulty new cars on our roads.

According to motoring journalist Paul Gover, it is information that has plunged the automotive industry into chaos.

"This is a listing of faults across all sorts of cars," Mr Gover said.

"It's an initial quality survey, so it's people giving feedback on their new car. It could be something very, very minor, or it could be something quite major."

While you could be forgiven for thinking buying a new car would guarantee trouble-free motoring, the car industry knows that is not the case and thousands of Australians like Joe Anastasio agree.

"I'll never ever buy a new car again," Mr Anastasio said. "I spent $36,000 on it and it's the worst thing I've ever bought."

From day one, Joe's brand new Holden Rodeo proved faulty. Electrical problems meant the car would not even start.

Two years on, the problem persists, despite the vehicle being returned to the dealer eight times. It is no wonder he has demanded drastic action.

"Holden need to give us our money back," Mr Anastasio said.

"They can take the car back, we don't want it anymore, it's just been too traumatic."

Car enthusiast and motor vehicle assessor Joe Vojtek is another motorist whose brand new car has been nothing but trouble.

After buying his XT Ford Falcon in March last year, he found the car would vibrate at speed and make a droning noise.

Again, the dealership has been unable to rectify the problem, even though it had the car for eight months.

"All I want is for the car to be fixed," Mr Vojtek said.

"I'm not asking for a Commodore or a Mitsubishi, I'm asking for a Ford that I like to drive and I just want the problem fixed, or replace the vehicle, one or the other."

According to a top secret industry survey, which was conducted in the first six months of last year, it is obvious Joe is not alone when it comes to problems with his Ford.

In fact, a whopping 51 per cent of Ford Falcon owners registered faults with their vehicle in the first five months of ownership.

The Holden Commodore did not fare much better, with 47 per cent found faulty, while the Hyundai Grandeur frustrated 40 per cent of owners.

The best-performing large car was the Nissan Maxima, still 21 per cent had faults.

The Toyota Camry and Honda Accord were equal second, with 36 per cent causing headaches, and the Mitsubishi 380 was problematic 37 per cent of the time.

If you are in the market for a new small car, you might be wary of the Volkswagen Beetle: 51 per cent of them sold registered faults in their first five months.

The Ford Focus and Holden Viva had quality issues in 45 and 43 per cent of cases respectively.

The Nissan Tiida can claim to be the least faulty small car, although 21 per cent of owners complained, followed by the Hyundai Elantra and Mazda 3, with 26 and 27 per cent of their customers respectively heading back to the dealer.

The worst performer in the compact off-road category was Suzuki's Grand Vitara, with 52 per cent of owners having problems in the first five months.

The Hyundai Santa Fe registered complaints in 38 per cent of cases, while the quality of Nissan's X-Trail was questioned 35 per cent of the time.

Mitsubishi's Outlander topped the list of compact off-roaders, despite 25 per cent of its vehicles registering faults.

The Hyundai Tucson and Subaru Outback also pleased the majority of owners, with 26 and 28 per cent of complaints respectively.