Question of the week: Why don't breakdown companies provide data on how reliable cars are?
Fri, 29 May 2026
Dear Honest John,
"ADAC, the German breakdown company, produces a report detailing the number of cars they have attended by make and cause.
Why don’t the AA or RAC do something similar? I feel we are being short changed."
- PP
Dear PP,
An independent report on breakdowns from UK-based companies would be a useful tool for current owners and prospective car buyers, but there are a few reasons why this is not currently something that is provided.
ADAC is an independent organisation with millions of members and a mandate to provide this kind of information to its customers, whereas the majority of the UK's breakdown providers are privately owned and also have contracts to provide breakdown services to car manufacturers which could present a conflict of interest.
Additionally data collected by UK breakdown providers is more tightly controlled by privacy policies, so they may not have the authority to provide this data.
It is also worth bearing in mind that breakdown data is just one aspect of reliability and should not necessarily be treated as a definitive measure.
Cars that are driven further are statistically more likely to break down, while ADAC's own data suggests that 40% of breakdown callouts are due to 12v battery failure, which is not necessarily a reflection of reliability and can be affected by maintenance or user error.
As an alternative we would suggest looking at our own Satisfaction Index which takes feedback directly from our readers to provide information on their own experiences with several aspects of ownership including reliability. You can read the results here - https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/guides/reliable-cars/most-reliable-cars/
