In recent years, the Ipsos 'best of vehicle quality' awards (previously under the Synovate banner) have become a yardstick in determining the initial quality offered by new vehicles after they roll off the showroom floors.
The international research specialist has just announced the results of its 2013 survey.
Ipsos automotive director Patrick Busschau said that encouraging thing about this year's results is that models that were placed in lower positions in previous years have now moved up and are throwing down a serious challenge to the traditional front-runners.
The Ipsos study is the biggest of its kind in the country and its research involves talking to over 10 000 South Africans every year.
Respondents are interviewed three months after buying their new vehicle and are asked to list any problems that they have experienced with the vehicle in this time. Ipsos then calculates PP100 (problems per 100 vehicles) score, which it uses to rank vehicles within their segment.
Naturally, the lower the score, the better the quality!
The car with the least problems overall was the Lexus IS with just 11 PP100. It was closely followed by the Mercedes-Benz C-Class petrol (12) and Audi A3 (13).
Here's how they ranked by category:
ENTRY SEGMENT
Gold: VW Polo Vivo sedan (18 PP100), VW Polo Vivo hatch (25)
Silver: Chevrolet Spark (27), Chevrolet Spark Lite (27)
Bronze: Toyota Yaris 1.0 (23)
SMALL HATCH
Gold: Mazda2 (13 PP100)
Silver: Toyota Yaris 1.3 (23)
Bronze: Ford Fiesta (27), VW Polo (27), Peugeot 207 (28)
HATCH
Gold: Audi A3 (13 PP100)
Silver: Merc A-Class (17), Audi A3 Sportback (17), Toyota Auris (18)
Bronze: Audi A1 Sportback, Ford Focus (24 - 25)
SMALL SEDAN
Gold: Chevrolet Sonic, Toyota Corolla 1.3 (24 - 25)
Silver: Chevrolet Aveo (41)
Bronze: VW Polo (47)
TOP SEDAN
Gold: Mazda3 (16 PP100)
Silver: Toyota Corolla (21)
Bronze: Renault Fluence (30)
COMPACT EXECUTIVE
Lexus IS (11 PP100)
Merc C-Class (petrol 12, diesel 14)
Volvo S60 (27)
TOP EXECUTIVE
Gold: Merc E-Class, Audi A6, BMW 5-Series (16 - 19 PP100)
SPORTS COUPE
Gold: Audi A5, BMW 1 Series (14 - 15 PP100)
Silver: Merc C-Class, Merc SLK (20 - 21)
Bronze: VW Scirocco (24)
SMALL RECREATIONAL
Gold: BMW X1 (15 PP100), Kia Sportage (15)
Silver: Toyota RAV4, VW Tiguan, Audi Q5 (23 - 25)
Bronze: Nissan Qashqai (28)
LARGE RECREATIONAL
Gold: Audi Q7 (12 PP100)
MULTI PURPOSE
Gold: Chevrolet Orlando (28 PP100), Merc B-Class (28)
Silver: Toyota Avanza, VW Touran (42 - 44)
Bronze: Toyota Verso (54)
LIGHT COMMERCIAL:
THREE-QUARTER TON
Gold: Nissan NP200 (56)
Silver: Chevrolet Utility (85)
ONE-TON
1. Isuzu KB
2. Toyota Hilux
3. Ford Ranger