Common car faults by make & model
Pick the car you’re looking at for the faults documented against it — the symptoms to notice, what to check at the car, and what each typically costs to fix. The 662 models from 46 makes most common on NZ roads have their own pages here, covering 11,558 of the documented faults in our catalogue.
Know the plate?
Skip the browsing. Enter a registration and see that exact car — year, engine, safety rating and register flags — free, no account needed.
Most documented models
Browse by make
Questions
What are the most common faults on a used car in New Zealand?
It depends entirely on the model. A Toyota Aqua and a Ford Ranger fail in completely different ways, and even two generations of the same nameplate share very little. That is why these pages are organised by model rather than by symptom — pick the car you are looking at and you get the faults documented for that model, with the symptoms to notice and what each typically costs to put right.
Is this free?
Yes. Every model page sets out two of its documented faults in full, and the rest of the list is free once you create an account — no card, no trial. What you pay for is different: the history of one specific car (its odometer record, whether money is owing on it, whether it is reported stolen, its ownership record and a market valuation), which no page about a model can tell you.
Where does this fault information come from?
Each fault is researched and verified against the model, its engine and its year range before it is published, then scoped so a car only ever sees faults that apply to its own generation and engine. A fault documented for a 1.4 petrol is not shown on the 2.0 diesel version of the same car.
How do I check one specific car rather than the model?
Enter its registration plate. You get that exact car named from the New Zealand register — year, engine, safety rating, running costs, and any damage or recall flags — free and without an account.