German motors power on

The Germans rule the roost when it comes to buying cars and car parts on eBay.co.uk, fresh figures have shown, with more people buying German than French, Italian or even British.
Undated Handout Photo a Volkswagen,  PA Photo/Handout. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature MOTORING Motoring News.Undated Handout Photo a Volkswagen,  PA Photo/Handout. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature MOTORING Motoring News.
Undated Handout Photo a Volkswagen, PA Photo/Handout. WARNING: This picture must only be used to accompany PA Feature MOTORING Motoring News.

As many as 9,750 German cars or parts for them are sold through the online marketplace every day, equivalent to 400 sales per hour or seven every minute.

Ebay statisticians compared sales of cars and parts relating to auto brands from the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Korea, with Germany securing a clear first place.

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The nation, which is home to more car brands than any other European country, can boast the headquarters of BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Opel, Smart, Porsche and more.

We Brits are also fond of French cars, buying 4,718 items from Renault, Peugeot and Citroen per day - or 197 per hour - to put Gallic motors in second place.

And while the UK may no longer be the manufacturing powerhouse it once was, we’re still loyal to classic British marques like Land Rover and Vauxhall. Despite having foreign owners, sales of British car brands came third behind France and beat Italy, Japan and Korea.

Ranking of country by car sales per hour

1. Germany - 400

2. France - 197

3. UK - 174

4. Japan - 112

5. Italy- 64

6. Korea - 18

A third of all cars on the UK’s roads need repairs to their suspension every year, and the most likely to suffer suspension damage are Audi and Mercedes.

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The Audi RS6 and Mercedes R-Class came out worst in a survey of suspension damage, followed by the Fiat Multipla, Jaguar XK and Bentley Continental GT. Other cars that fared badly included the Mazda 5, Mercedes CL, Chrysler 300C, Jaguar XJ and Hyundai Santa Fe. These cars are up to 30 times more likely to need suspension work than the least prone vehicles - among these cars least susceptible to suspension damage are the Citroen C1 and Honda S2000.

The cause of damage to these cars’ suspension is attributed to the UK’s heavily potholed roads and a proliferation of speed humps in urban areas. It has led to a third of all cars in the UK requiring remedial work to their suspension every year with an average cost of £247 for repair work.

Warranty Direct managing director, David Gerrans, said: “It is almost unbelievable how much variation there is from one model to another when it comes to suspension damage. Any vehicle driven on damaged, poor surfaces regularly or used for commuting on routes littered with speed bumps will eventually come to grief. London is particularly bad for the latter.

‘The roads are as bad as ever but some cars are affected terribly, with components like bushes, track rod ends, drop links, springs and dampers all susceptible. Instead of cheap runabouts, luxury vehicles and stiffly sprung sports cars are most prone to breakdowns - with the exception of the Honda S2000.’

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Vehicles made by Honda, Isuzu and Toyota have the most robust suspension systems. Less than 3% of cars made by these manufacturers suffer failures annually. Bentley performs worst with 28% of its cars suffering suspension damage in a typical year.

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