UK Insurer Dreams Up Unreliable Monster

When we think of these sorts of models that combine different parts from a number manufacturers, we usually end up with something along the lines of the W12-powered Golf GTI from a few years back. However, when you work in the insurance industry, you look at a car and think: “Hmm, that part’s going to break every 6 months.”

British insurance firm Warranty Direct decided to tell us what a car that combines the most unreliable components of all the models sold in the country would look like. It decided to check out its database of 50,000 live policies on cars aged five years on average. The result: a contraption with four wheels that breaks every other month and needs an average of £2,050 ($3,270) to put right each time.

The car has the suspension of an M3, an MG TF engine up front, unreliable electrics from a Renault Megane, dodgy air-conditioning system of a SEAT Alhambra, the heating system of a SEATToledo, the ignition of a Mercedes V-Klasse, the steering system of a Volvo C70, the gearbox of a Land Rover Freelander and the brakes of an Audi A8.

“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,” said Warranty Direct managing director, Duncan McClure Fisher.

The company’s findings reveal that almost 40 percent of BMW M3 need repairs to axle and suspension components alone each year, while the same proportion of Renault Meganes need their electrics sorted out.

Isn’t it amusing how we haven’t mentioned any Italian cars?