LEADING fleet manufacturers have asked Lex Vehicle Leasing to provide more details on its 1998 Reliability Survey after the UK's largest contract hire business showed that company car reliability had declined during the past year. Nissan and Toyota are just two of the car makers investigating the survey further, amid Lex's contention that the average company car driver now faces a one in four chance of suffering a mechanical breakdown.

The 1998 survey assessed the mechanical reliability of Lex's 88,048-strong fleet of L to R registered vehicles and found drivers experienced 21,620 mechanical faults over a 12-month period, equivalent to 24.5 mechanical breakdowns per hundred vehicles (MBPHV). Lex found drivers stood a one in five chance of their vehicle breaking down in last year's Reliability Survey.

Nissan has asked Lex for a meeting to discuss the survey at the earliest possible opportunity after the disappointing reliability of the Primera. Toyota has also asked for clarification on its performance after Lex showed it had slipped to 12th most reliable manufacturer.

Mitsubishi once again topped Lex's table as the manufacturer of the most reliable vehicles with a MBPHV score of 5.8 thanks to the Shogun, and Jaguar moved up into second place with a score of 7, ahead of third placed BMW on 8.2.h