Every fifth vehicle fails – these are the losers

One in five cars passed the TÜV on their first attempt last year. The Tüv 2021 Report again lists winners and losers in the individual classes: who is ahead?

Plus, you always get excited when your car goes to General inspection (HU) must? Sometimes a little worry is also appropriate. About one in five cars (19.9 percent) fall into HU Tüv with significant defects. And nearly one in three (about 29.6 percent) have defects. This is demonstrated by the report published by the TÜV Association (VdTÜV).

Road safety hazard

However, this serious shortage rate decreased by 1.6 percentage points from the previous year. The association sees this as a sign of increased durability and quality of the cars examined. However, one in five vehicles are driving with serious defects that put road safety at risk.

Testers attested to only minor defects in almost every tenth car (9.6%). At minus 0.1 percentage points, this is close to the previous year’s level. Without finding any defects, the test drivers sent 70.4 percent of the cars home. The value improved by 1.6 percentage points. About 14,000 cars (0.05%) had to be stopped immediately.

Older cars got a little better

TÜV inspectors complained more often of oil leaks in the engine and transmission. The problem particularly affected older vehicles. But there was also a lot to complain about the light. Here not only the function as such is important, but also the right attitude. Worn brakes or defects in the brake lines have also often led to failure.

Cars with significant defects must be repaired and brought back for inspection. However, the older vehicles performed better than the previous year. For example, the percentage of eight- to nine-year-olds with significant shortages decreased by 2.6 percentage points to 19.9 percent. Ten to eleven-year-olds fell 3.4 points to 24.8 percent.

German brands often have the advantage

Used car buyers should be interested in how the individual models fared. As in 2020, the Mercedes GLC has the advantage of being the overall winner in all vehicle classes. At 1.7 percent for two- and three-year-olds, it has the lowest rate of significant shortages. Three models follow in second place: Opel Insignia, Mercedes B-Class and Porsche 911 with 2.2 percent each.

German manufacturers are often at the fore in the five vehicle classes examined. But the victory in the compact class is for the first time the Hyundai i30 (2.5 percent). The mini and middle class are guaranteed by Opel with Adam (3.7) and Insignia (2.2). Audi provides the best small car with the A1 (3.3). With the B-Class (2.2), Mercedes is the best van and with the overall winner GLC (2.2) it is also at the top of the podium for SUVs.

With the classic 911 in several generations, Porsche once again occupies the top positions in the age group between four and eleven in terms of the rate of significant defects (2.7 to 9.6 percent).

Cheap cars at the end of the flagpole

The rear among the SUVs of all vehicle classes is the Dacia Duster with 11.1 percent for two to three year olds. Fiat parks twice in the rear: the Panda (7.9) is in the rear of the minis and the Punto (10.5 percent) of the small cars. Dacia models come in the back of vans with the Lodgy (10.9) and compact models with the Logan (10.4).

With the Kangoo, Renault supplies the model with the highest overall failure rate (37.5 per cent) among children aged ten to eleven. With the VW Sharan, a German manufacturer also has the worst among children aged four to five.

The Tüv 2021 report evaluates the achievements of 8.8 million car units that the Tüv made between July 2019 and June 2020. In addition to Dekra, GTÜ or Küs, the Tüv is just one of several HU suppliers.