Most reliable cars?
Discussion
buzzer said:
I did fair bit of research about this many years ago. One car stood out. The late 90's corolla with the 1.3 or 1.6 engine.
Old now, but these had no inherent faults, and i have seen many over 300k miles!
I bought one about 10 years ago... And stil have it. Even now its still only done 50k miles and is mint! Everything works, its always been serviced on time, and a few years ago i even did a clutch on it as we were going to Italy in it and i didnt know how the first owner had treated it! Took it out and it was of course perfect, but i put a new one in anyway.... Even the air con has been services every few years and works perfectly!
Its been sitting in the garage unused for a couple of years... Not sure what to do with it, in real terms it worth very little...
Mine was unbreakable in spite of my abuse. I moved on to more fun to drive things but as a functional device which would never let you down, it was without peer.Old now, but these had no inherent faults, and i have seen many over 300k miles!
I bought one about 10 years ago... And stil have it. Even now its still only done 50k miles and is mint! Everything works, its always been serviced on time, and a few years ago i even did a clutch on it as we were going to Italy in it and i didnt know how the first owner had treated it! Took it out and it was of course perfect, but i put a new one in anyway.... Even the air con has been services every few years and works perfectly!
Its been sitting in the garage unused for a couple of years... Not sure what to do with it, in real terms it worth very little...
When nuclear war strikes, all that remains will be cockroaches and late-90's Corollas.
For a modern equivalent? If you don't care about driving fun you could do a lot worse than a Prius.
I've always thought the likes of German and Japanese cars tended to be considered reliable. That said no car is perfect and I've known owners of both have issues so I don't think you can avoid repairs on a used car.
I bought a Saab 9-3 diesel last year with over 130k on it, certainly seems very well put together and everything seems to work perfectly well. It has needed some maintenance repairs but normal things you'd expect with the mileage. Time will tell as to how the reliability is with it in another 12 months or so.
As mentioned, I'd be inclined to look through the history of the car, if it's had a clutch, recent cambelt etc You'd like to think it wouldn't need anything major but you can never bee 100% certain.
I bought a Saab 9-3 diesel last year with over 130k on it, certainly seems very well put together and everything seems to work perfectly well. It has needed some maintenance repairs but normal things you'd expect with the mileage. Time will tell as to how the reliability is with it in another 12 months or so.
As mentioned, I'd be inclined to look through the history of the car, if it's had a clutch, recent cambelt etc You'd like to think it wouldn't need anything major but you can never bee 100% certain.
Digby said:
aka_kerrly said:
Put simply, the most reliable cars are the best maintained ones.
Even the cars which score highly in reliability tests in their first 3 years will quickly become unreliable of they are neglected!
I wouldn't always agree with that. In terms of being neglected and abused but sucking it up and carrying on regardless, you still can't go wrong with many Japanese cars.Even the cars which score highly in reliability tests in their first 3 years will quickly become unreliable of they are neglected!
I would rather be left at the side of the road in an abused and "unreliable" twenty + year old Honda knowing that it just stripped a belt, than spend thousands on something French to keep it going for more than five years so I could declare it reliable.
I have 2 mates that have had Alfa's that needed constant repairs. One spent 7k in his first year of ownership.
On the flip side I tend to get Mondeo's as the family car, and they just seem to go on for ever with very little maintenance. The last one we owned 10 years and apart from wearing items we had 110k of trouble free motoring. I rarely serviced it and it was dependable as hell. In all I would say I've had 20+ years of trouble free motoring from Mondeos.
Mazda have always done us proud as alternative cars or run arounds. Mazda 3 that was seven years old never had any issues other than a clutch and that was due to poor driving. No rattles, no electrical issues, no bulbs bowing and no issues with air conditioning, water pumps or suspension. Was pretty good with tyres and brake pads.
With regards to Alfas I think it makes more sense to buy the smaller and simpler cars. Same car be said for any manufacturer though. The bigger the car the bigger the bills typically. Over the years I've never spent a penny on any Alfa faults (two 145 Cloverleafs and a Mito Cloverleaf Carbon Edition).
Lexus seem to be one of the only companies who can make a large complex barge whilst keeping it fairly reliable. Even then, I have heard stories of £6000 steering rack replacements! (On the LS I think it was).
The only way to guarantee never getting a large bill is to keep things SIMPLE. Smaller, light cars with few functions and toys, low weight keeping the stress off components etc.
Lexus seem to be one of the only companies who can make a large complex barge whilst keeping it fairly reliable. Even then, I have heard stories of £6000 steering rack replacements! (On the LS I think it was).
The only way to guarantee never getting a large bill is to keep things SIMPLE. Smaller, light cars with few functions and toys, low weight keeping the stress off components etc.
BGarside said:
Had a '98 Mazda 323F for 4 years which I took from 62k to 93k miles and was totally reliable. I think the late 90s Jap cars were more reliable than the later ones, perhaps because they were also simpler and shared less engineering with other marques.
I currently run a 23 year old BMW E36 as the simplicity and DIY potential appeal to me. Hard to find simple modern cars. Maybe a Dacia Sandero but not much fun to drive.
Fords are not that reliable but cheap to insure and parts are dirt cheap. Petrol Focus or Mondeo 2.0?
Breadvan Civic 2.0 Type S?
1st gen. Lexus IS200?
Skoda Octavia petrol? Any Toyota Corolla. '90s Nissan Primera.
Mercedes 190e. £3-4k for the best.
Find a good one for much less than your budget and keep some cash back for maintainance.
I had a 1990 323F GT which was pretty good. Only real issues were CVs (you have to buy the entire driveshaft for £700 per side), steering wheel covering came loose on the frame (swapped for an MX5 one on a mates company car when he returned it as it was the same wheel) and ignition leads. For the CV joint I was going to NZ to see family and went to the local dealer. They also only sold genuine full driveshafts but had acknowledged the problem and sourced 3rd party CV joints which they used so bought a pair of them instead - cost £58 each. I currently run a 23 year old BMW E36 as the simplicity and DIY potential appeal to me. Hard to find simple modern cars. Maybe a Dacia Sandero but not much fun to drive.
Fords are not that reliable but cheap to insure and parts are dirt cheap. Petrol Focus or Mondeo 2.0?
Breadvan Civic 2.0 Type S?
1st gen. Lexus IS200?
Skoda Octavia petrol? Any Toyota Corolla. '90s Nissan Primera.
Mercedes 190e. £3-4k for the best.
Find a good one for much less than your budget and keep some cash back for maintainance.
Just been looking at the reliability index list. There are some surprises there.
Ford at no. 7 reflects what we are hearing here that Ford are reliable.
Renault at 11 and Peugeot at 13 was a surprise.
Biggest takeaway is if you want a reliable car - buy Japanese.
If you want trouble then buy BMW or Mercedes, both at an incredible 28 and 31.
Ford at no. 7 reflects what we are hearing here that Ford are reliable.
Renault at 11 and Peugeot at 13 was a surprise.
Biggest takeaway is if you want a reliable car - buy Japanese.
If you want trouble then buy BMW or Mercedes, both at an incredible 28 and 31.
I too would buy something petrol from Japan, Probably a Lexus IS, Honda Accord or Toyota.
Just spent 2 weeks in Japan recently and it was lovely to hear no clattering PD's rolling down the
city streets, Vehicles whispered pass it was great. I would say 99% of vehicles were petrol and a huge chunk of that was stuff were large 4 cylinders/6 cylinders, They were doing it right I felt.
But anyway back on track, Honda for me personally, Have owned 5 Honda road cars in the last 7 years, about 15-20 trackdays combined and one never broke down, I had to replace the distributor on my DC2 however.
Just spent 2 weeks in Japan recently and it was lovely to hear no clattering PD's rolling down the
city streets, Vehicles whispered pass it was great. I would say 99% of vehicles were petrol and a huge chunk of that was stuff were large 4 cylinders/6 cylinders, They were doing it right I felt.
But anyway back on track, Honda for me personally, Have owned 5 Honda road cars in the last 7 years, about 15-20 trackdays combined and one never broke down, I had to replace the distributor on my DC2 however.
tom scott said:
Just been looking at the reliability index list. There are some surprises there.
Ford at no. 7 reflects what we are hearing here that Ford are reliable.
Renault at 11 and Peugeot at 13 was a surprise.
Biggest takeaway is if you want a reliable car - buy Japanese.
If you want trouble then buy BMW or Mercedes, both at an incredible 28 and 31.
Down the line Fords tend to rust. This wont show on a short renters survey of issues.Ford at no. 7 reflects what we are hearing here that Ford are reliable.
Renault at 11 and Peugeot at 13 was a surprise.
Biggest takeaway is if you want a reliable car - buy Japanese.
If you want trouble then buy BMW or Mercedes, both at an incredible 28 and 31.
I'll join the masses of people recommending almost anything Japanese with a petrol engine.
My family have been through a whole medley of car makes over the years with varying amounts of trouble free experiences. However our current lineup is an almost entirely Japanese affair. This wasn't a conscious choice but a consequence of the fact they just don't seem to die!
My Mazda has nearly 160k on it now and the only non perishable which has needed replacing is the alternator and that wasn't an expensive fix. More remarkable is my fathers old beat up Daihatsu Hijet. To say it gets abused would be a massive understatement but it just keeps doing what is asked of it faultlessly. It genuinely should of died years ago. It's so reliable he wants a small army of them, presumably to kit out himself and his surviving loved ones with working vehicles after the apocalypse.
Only thing i will say is that nearly all our Jap cars are suffering from rust to some degree so if you do end up buying one and intend to keep it long term, to reach big miles, then spend some of the money you'll save on repairs on rust prevention every few years.
My family have been through a whole medley of car makes over the years with varying amounts of trouble free experiences. However our current lineup is an almost entirely Japanese affair. This wasn't a conscious choice but a consequence of the fact they just don't seem to die!
My Mazda has nearly 160k on it now and the only non perishable which has needed replacing is the alternator and that wasn't an expensive fix. More remarkable is my fathers old beat up Daihatsu Hijet. To say it gets abused would be a massive understatement but it just keeps doing what is asked of it faultlessly. It genuinely should of died years ago. It's so reliable he wants a small army of them, presumably to kit out himself and his surviving loved ones with working vehicles after the apocalypse.
Only thing i will say is that nearly all our Jap cars are suffering from rust to some degree so if you do end up buying one and intend to keep it long term, to reach big miles, then spend some of the money you'll save on repairs on rust prevention every few years.
k-ink said:
Down the line Fords tend to rust. This wont show on a short renters survey of issues.
I haven`t seen many/any mk2 focus`s, mk6 fiestas or mk3 Mondeos rusting and these have now been superceded by later models. I think Ford have now sorted the rust issues that were badly affecting their 80`s, 90`s and early 2000 cars and in the last 10 years or so they seem to be as good as anything else and actually less effected by rust than BMW`s & VAG cars are from around 2005 etc.I've owned:
2000 Seat Leon Sport 1.8T 20V (Brilliant Engines. Before I sold it got upto 120k without any issues. Still going strong.)
2006 Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCI (I hated the car. I brought the car with 20k miles on it and the headgasket went, the garage paid for it but didn't want to keep it, so I swapped it for the Type R
2002 EP3 Type R (bulletproof engines the K20. Not had a single issue. Only issue I had with the car was the immobilizer, after buying a new key didn't have any more issues. Sold the car on 112k. Still on the original timing chain.)
2003 Volvo S60R (only owned the car a year. Drove to France the first week I brought it and not had a single issue with engine. I'm on 100k miles and still going strong. Only thing I've had to replace was wheel bearing. I know alot of people have issues with the angle gear (4wd). I've not had any issues and touchwood I won't.
2000 Seat Leon Sport 1.8T 20V (Brilliant Engines. Before I sold it got upto 120k without any issues. Still going strong.)
2006 Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCI (I hated the car. I brought the car with 20k miles on it and the headgasket went, the garage paid for it but didn't want to keep it, so I swapped it for the Type R
2002 EP3 Type R (bulletproof engines the K20. Not had a single issue. Only issue I had with the car was the immobilizer, after buying a new key didn't have any more issues. Sold the car on 112k. Still on the original timing chain.)
2003 Volvo S60R (only owned the car a year. Drove to France the first week I brought it and not had a single issue with engine. I'm on 100k miles and still going strong. Only thing I've had to replace was wheel bearing. I know alot of people have issues with the angle gear (4wd). I've not had any issues and touchwood I won't.
I'd also weigh in with the 2003-2005 era V70 D5s
Post 2003 because that resolved any early electrical niggles, and up to 2005 because of the Euro3 engine for no DPF to worry about, and they give about 10%-15% better fuel consumption.
The auto box isn't considered the best for reliability and is worse on fuel.
Go on forever, very comfortable, and available for a lot less than £13,000!
Very practical too, lots of nice touches for family / dog / tip duties and plenty of space.
I've recently put my (small sum of) money where my mouth is in fact:
Post 2003 because that resolved any early electrical niggles, and up to 2005 because of the Euro3 engine for no DPF to worry about, and they give about 10%-15% better fuel consumption.
The auto box isn't considered the best for reliability and is worse on fuel.
Go on forever, very comfortable, and available for a lot less than £13,000!
Very practical too, lots of nice touches for family / dog / tip duties and plenty of space.
I've recently put my (small sum of) money where my mouth is in fact:
lee_erm said:
My advice would be to avoid anything German if you want a reliable car. The most reliable none Japanese brand (Subaru and Mitsubishi aside) is Ford.
I've run various German motors for a very long time, including a 320d that I took to 120k miles on just routine servicing - nothing ever went wrong with that car. I've had one failure in my many years of running German cars - coil pack failure on an '03 320i at about 9 months old. I also had a 944 that was on around 220k when I sold in in 2004, and was still on the road a couple of years ago (I've left the area, so for all I know it's still going). At the point where I sold it, it was almost completely original except for a replacement clutch.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff