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Seven popular car models must be recalled over 'prolific' faults, Which? says

Nissan
Nissan

Seven popular car models from brands including Land Rover, Nissan and BMW should be recalled over claims of a range of problems such as faulty batteries and unreliable computer software, according to Which?.

The consumer rights organisation polled 47,013 car owners and found "prolific faults which it claimed indicate "a weakness in the manufacturing process that should be addressed immediately".

It found that some car makers had failed to fix long-standing problems.

Tesla's Model S, Nissan's Qashqai and the BMW 5 Series Touring, all had the same issues that drivers reported in a survey last year.

More than one in five owners of Qashqais less than three years old said they had to replace the battery in the last 12 months.

Two other Nissan models also had high breakdown rates with 28 per cent of Pulsar owners reporting battery issues and 20 per cent of Juke owners experiencing problems with the fuel component system.

The Japanese carmaker said it had contacted 35,000 Qashqai owners to inform them about potential propblems and offer a free vehicle upgrade.

Respondents to the poll reported fault's with Tesla's £50,000-plus Model S electric car. Some 18 per cent of drivers of Model S built between 2013 and 2017 had issues with pop-out door handles, Which? found.

Harry Rose, editor of Which? Magazine, said: "It is completely unacceptable that these trusted car brands continue to take customer cash without fixing these widespread faults, many of which are already well-known thanks to our comprehensive survey of UK motorists.

"Currently, car owners will have to foot the bill for faults once their car goes out of warranty, but it is not right for anyone to have to pay for production mistakes that these manufacturers are aware of."

Meanwhile, 21 per cent of Range Rover Velar and 17% of Range Rover Sport owners reported problems with the on-board computer software in vehicles up to three years old, Which? said.

Of the 280 car models Which? had reliability data for, the BMW 5 Series Touring car, produced between 2010 to 2017, had the second-highest fault rate linked to one single problem.

Its survey found that 26 per cent of the model's owners reported issues with their car's suspension in vehicles aged three to eight years old.

Which? has now called on manufacturers to issue a recall on the affected models.

Responding to the survey, Tesla told Which? it reviewed every vehicle before it leaves the factory and that its warranties cover any repairs or replacements necessary for door handles for up to four years.

Land Rover said it took product quality "seriously" and that it was introducing software to all of its new vehicles, allowing for remote updates.

The company said it "understands" only 0.12 per cent of Range Rover Velar and 0.22 per cent of Range Rover Sport customers were surveyed, which it did not believe was "representative of the vast majority of satisfied customers".

BMW said it has carried out analysis of all warranty claims from launch to the present day which "confirmed nothing usual" about suspension claims across the 33,000 vehicles sold.

The company said: "We encourage any dissatisfied Which? reader, whether they participated in this survey or not, to contact BMW UK on 0370 505 0160, making reference to Which?, so that we can investigate their concerns."

Additional reporting by PA news agency

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