Two Chinese car brands were among the top 5 brands in terms of reliability in Russia

According to an assessment of the frequency of common malfunctions among cars manufactured since 2015, two Chinese brands were among the five car brands with the least number of identified shortcomings. This was reported to Izvestia on October 30 by analysts at the Brannor brake systems laboratory, who, together with specialists from Avtdom and Avtospeccenter groups of companies, studied the results of car diagnostics during trade-in (based on data on 13 car brands).

Fresh Chinese cars entered the trade-in most often with complaints about multimedia and suspension performance. The best result among brands from China was shown by Jaecoo (221 points and third place in the overall standings), ahead of Exeed (235 points; fifth place) and Omoda (271 points; seventh place). It is noteworthy that all of them are part of the Chery concern. The lower the score in the rating, the higher the reliability indicator.

Audi showed the highest reliability among German brands with a score of 173 points, becoming the leader in the overall standings. The top frequent faults are relevant mainly for models manufactured before 2018. They most often had problems with the timing chain mechanism (25%), turbine oil leaks (20%) and accelerated wear of the brake discs (20%).

Porsche cars showed good reliability (211 points; second place). The most common malfunctions were oil leaks, which are detected in a quarter of the brand's cars (especially 8-10-year-old Cayman/Boxster), as well as increased wear on the brakes (20%). BMW and Mercedes-Benz scored lower (297 and 277 points, respectively). For BMW, antifreeze leaks (25%) and iDrive system failures (25%) were among the most frequent malfunctions. Mercedes-Benz experienced steering rack malfunctions (25%) and increased wear on the front ball bearings (22%).

"Highly abrasive brake pads are more often used on German cars, which provide better braking (compared to Japanese and Koreans), but have a much shorter service life, and also actively wear out the brake discs. According to our statistics, the more "active" the brand's image is, the more often the owners actively apply the brakes. And the wear of the system occurs faster at the time of heating. Therefore, owners of Porsche and BMW are often interested in improving brakes, but owners of Mercedes-Benz take care of brake system improvements much less often," said Anton Metelichenko, an expert at the Brannor laboratory.

Mazda showed the best result among Japanese brands (223 points; 4th place in the top 10). However, her used car collected a top list of chassis malfunctions. Diagnostics often identified extraneous noise in the rear suspension (20%), increased wear of the ball bearings (21%) and wear of the front stabilizer bars (19%). Nissan cars received a score of 238 points, with more critical and expensive breakdowns in the top of the faults. For example, 24% of cars are characterized by malfunctions (jerks, vibrations) of the variator, and for a quarter there is a problem with the phase shifters and the braking system.

Kia was ranked ninth among Korean cars, while Hyundai was not in the top 10 (293 points against 339). Hyundai cars were diagnosed with problems with phase regulators and ball bearing wear (25% each), oil fogging under the valve cover (20%) and problems with the automatic transmission (20%). Kia repeated this list with slightly lower figures, but added frequent ABS sensor failures (20%).

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Earlier, on October 28, it was reported that the BMW brand became the leader of the Russian car market in sales of new premium cars by the end of September 2025. The last time she had this status was in April 2022.

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