Reliable cars?

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
chipperd
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by chipperd »

CoAndy wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 8:30 am I currently drive a 2012 Honda Accord that I bought new. 114k miles and have not spent a single dime on anything other than maintenance.
Are there other categories on spending for a car other than maintenance, insurance and gas (I assume you spend on all three)?
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Honnus
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by Honnus »

2006 Camry with 331Kmiles. Still running and is not costing :moneybag me anything in repairs - yet.
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Sandtrap
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by Sandtrap »

Datsun B-210
Dodge Dart: straight 6 or 318 V8
Toyota Camry or Corolla or pickup

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Onlineid3089
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by Onlineid3089 »

I guess it really comes down to the individual car. My 2006 GMC Canyon is a couple years older with about 30,000 more miles than my wife's 2008 Lexus ES. Her 'reliable Lexus' car has had way more issues than my 'unreliable GMC' truck in terms of trips to the shop and definitely cost to repair.

My family has taken multiple Jeep Grand Cherokee's to over 300,000 with a handful more to over 200,000. They're supposed to be 'unreliable'. I didn't read the thread but I bet someone has already listed Jeep as garbage.
dbr
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by dbr »

Onlineid3089 wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 11:59 am I guess it really comes down to the individual car. My 2006 GMC Canyon is a couple years older with about 30,000 more miles than my wife's 2008 Lexus ES. Her 'reliable Lexus' car has had way more issues than my 'unreliable GMC' truck in terms of trips to the shop and definitely cost to repair.

My family has taken multiple Jeep Grand Cherokee's to over 300,000 with a handful more to over 200,000. They're supposed to be 'unreliable'. I didn't read the thread but I bet someone has already listed Jeep as garbage.
I did because that what you see in the survey's. I personally don't have strong opinions of my own about good and bad makes of cars.

Probably a reasonable observation is that as things go there is no product out there that is asked to do so much with so little care under so much use and yet is so problem free as automobiles now are. It might mean that asking what is the most reliable car is not a useful question because the answer is they all are.
armeliusc
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by armeliusc »

chipperd wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 10:35 am
CoAndy wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 8:30 am I currently drive a 2012 Honda Accord that I bought new. 114k miles and have not spent a single dime on anything other than maintenance.
Are there other categories on spending for a car other than maintenance, insurance and gas (I assume you spend on all three)?
Maintenance is for wear-and-tear items, something you'd expect to wear out over some expected time / mileage and replace. "Repair" is for something that needs to be fixed because it's broken, or worn out before the expected time.
GP813
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by GP813 »

We are a Toyota family, they just last and are easy to fix and maintain.

I really hope they can marry Toyota reliability with their upcoming electric range. For me that would be the best of both worlds.
CoAndy
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by CoAndy »

armeliusc wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 12:33 pm
chipperd wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 10:35 am
CoAndy wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 8:30 am I currently drive a 2012 Honda Accord that I bought new. 114k miles and have not spent a single dime on anything other than maintenance.
Are there other categories on spending for a car other than maintenance, insurance and gas (I assume you spend on all three)?
Maintenance is for wear-and-tear items, something you'd expect to wear out over some expected time / mileage and replace. "Repair" is for something that needs to be fixed because it's broken, or worn out before the expected time.
Correct
dbr
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by dbr »

Expenses can also include collateral expenses to cope with delays, being stranded somewhere, missing events, etc.

I once had a nice vacation in an unnamed very small town in an unnamed state waiting for a replacement camshaft for a vehicle. The upside was that by chance said unnamed very small town by some miracle had a really good mechanic. In fact he prevented the engine from blowing up later on down the highway by figuring out what was really wrong (a flat cam).
tibbitts
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by tibbitts »

Sandtrap wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 11:38 am Datsun B-210
Dodge Dart: straight 6 or 318 V8
Toyota Camry or Corolla or pickup

j🌺
Since you mentioned the Dodge products that I had some experience with, I actually didn't find the ones that I drove that reliable, even in the context of the era. They weren't terrible, but I know I experienced a fair share of no-starts and other reliability issues with them.
chipperd
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by chipperd »

armeliusc wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 12:33 pm
chipperd wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 10:35 am
CoAndy wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 8:30 am I currently drive a 2012 Honda Accord that I bought new. 114k miles and have not spent a single dime on anything other than maintenance.
Are there other categories on spending for a car other than maintenance, insurance and gas (I assume you spend on all three)?
Maintenance is for wear-and-tear items, something you'd expect to wear out over some expected time / mileage and replace. "Repair" is for something that needs to be fixed because it's broken, or worn out before the expected time.
I see. Definitions of repair vs maintenance seems subjective.
IE: If one replaces a timing belt at 80,000 miles is that a repair of maintenance? Brakes at 25,000 miles, repair or maintenance?
"A portfolio is like a bar of soap, the more it's handled, the less there is." Dr. William Bernstein
Vtsax100
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by Vtsax100 »

Maybe I have just been lucky. Ive always had used cars, various makes. Two different Oldsmobiles, Chevy, Ford, Nissan, Subaru. Ive never had a car that I thought was unreliable.
tibbitts
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by tibbitts »

Vtsax100 wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 4:51 pm Maybe I have just been lucky. Ive always had used cars, various makes. Two different Oldsmobiles, Chevy, Ford, Nissan, Subaru. Ive never had a car that I thought was unreliable.
Unreliable is relative of course. I think of it as frequently behaving unpredictably - for example not starting or stalling. For the most part, my cars were reliable - until they weren't.
EnjoyIt
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by EnjoyIt »

dbr wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 12:14 pm
Onlineid3089 wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 11:59 am I guess it really comes down to the individual car. My 2006 GMC Canyon is a couple years older with about 30,000 more miles than my wife's 2008 Lexus ES. Her 'reliable Lexus' car has had way more issues than my 'unreliable GMC' truck in terms of trips to the shop and definitely cost to repair.

My family has taken multiple Jeep Grand Cherokee's to over 300,000 with a handful more to over 200,000. They're supposed to be 'unreliable'. I didn't read the thread but I bet someone has already listed Jeep as garbage.
I did because that what you see in the survey's. I personally don't have strong opinions of my own about good and bad makes of cars.

Probably a reasonable observation is that as things go there is no product out there that is asked to do so much with so little care under so much use and yet is so problem free as automobiles now are. It might mean that asking what is the most reliable car is not a useful question because the answer is they all are.
Reliable I guess now depends on what one plans to do with the car. Some people buy new cars every 3-4 years. For them Reliable means zero issues during their ownership. I think most cars on the market today can handle 3-4 years without issues. Other people want their car to go for 200k miles without major repairs. I don't think a lot of brands can do that consistantly.
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rockstar
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by rockstar »

EnjoyIt wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 8:33 pm
dbr wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 12:14 pm
Onlineid3089 wrote: Tue Sep 21, 2021 11:59 am I guess it really comes down to the individual car. My 2006 GMC Canyon is a couple years older with about 30,000 more miles than my wife's 2008 Lexus ES. Her 'reliable Lexus' car has had way more issues than my 'unreliable GMC' truck in terms of trips to the shop and definitely cost to repair.

My family has taken multiple Jeep Grand Cherokee's to over 300,000 with a handful more to over 200,000. They're supposed to be 'unreliable'. I didn't read the thread but I bet someone has already listed Jeep as garbage.
I did because that what you see in the survey's. I personally don't have strong opinions of my own about good and bad makes of cars.

Probably a reasonable observation is that as things go there is no product out there that is asked to do so much with so little care under so much use and yet is so problem free as automobiles now are. It might mean that asking what is the most reliable car is not a useful question because the answer is they all are.
Reliable I guess now depends on what one plans to do with the car. Some people buy new cars every 3-4 years. For them Reliable means zero issues during their ownership. I think most cars on the market today can handle 3-4 years without issues. Other people want their car to go for 200k miles without major repairs. I don't think a lot of brands can do that consistantly.
People are keeping their vehicles longer these days. I'd want 8-10 years without any major mechanical repairs and a low cost of ownership. That's my threshold now for reliable.
z91
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by z91 »

Lexus.
Scooter17
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Re: Reliable cars?

Post by Scooter17 »

Toyota
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