Ultra reliable cars
Discussion
This may of been done before, but I thought it would be interesting to discuss.
What cars are renowned for amazing reliability? Or maybe some that aren't renowned for it but are very reliable, or surprisingly reliable? I'll start of with possibly some of the well known ones:
Lexus LS & GS among others,
Because I own one, a c900 Saab,
Jeep Cherokee of mid ninetees vintage,
Obviously the Mercedes of a certain age - W124 etc.
Mk1 Ford Focus
What cars are renowned for amazing reliability? Or maybe some that aren't renowned for it but are very reliable, or surprisingly reliable? I'll start of with possibly some of the well known ones:
Lexus LS & GS among others,
Because I own one, a c900 Saab,
Jeep Cherokee of mid ninetees vintage,
Obviously the Mercedes of a certain age - W124 etc.
Mk1 Ford Focus
RobinBanks said:
I'm not sure that the Ford or the Mercedes were actually that good at not breaking down. They weren't bad, admittedly.
The Mercedes is known for being of generally tough and serviceable construction rather than never developing faults.
The Jeep should get a mention in straight 6 form but they do develop faults and the diesel ones had a very shoddy engine.
You do have a point, I suppose build quality and how long a car will keep going for if maintained is a bit different to General reliability.. The Mercedes is known for being of generally tough and serviceable construction rather than never developing faults.
The Jeep should get a mention in straight 6 form but they do develop faults and the diesel ones had a very shoddy engine.
I'm properly impressed with the old petrol jeep my colleague bought a few years ago, it's done 200,000 miles and he's had it from 120, it hasn't missed a beat
Monkeylegend said:
M'mmm, mine have all been the 220 diesel in one C and three E classes. Lovely car the clk500, hopefully it will be just as reliable.
I had thought about a second merc - diesel for commuting, was thinking about an older 270 as they don't have dpf apparently, but will look into the 220's closer to the time if they're alright! Hopefully it will, from what I gather not much goes wrong but it's due a spark plug change in the not so distant future and that's going to be reasonably expensive!
texaxile said:
Mark 6 Escorts were pretty good, I've had a few and the only issues they tend to suffer from are rear wheel bearings and rust, but mechanically, electrically and drive train wise I think they're fairly solid. Not bad for a run of the mill mass produced shed.
E46 BMW's seem to take high mileages in their stride, as long as they are correctly serviced. There's a couple of blokes at work running 200K plus E46's, a 3 and a 5 series. Aside from a suspension issue with one they've served their owners very well.
My all time favourite reliable motor though has to be the humble Toyota Corolla, these cars rough it as Taxis on a daily basis in the worlds busiest capital cities yet keep managing to go on with questionable service history and maintenance, Manila, Bangkok, HK, KL you name it, jump in a Taxi and the chances are it'll be a 300K + KM Toyota Corolla of some description and varying trim level. My Dad had a series 1 corolla in Oman in the mid 70's. He took that thing all the way from Muscat to Salalah twice in a week and it didn't even seem to break a sweat, unlike Dad.
The escorts and corollas make excellent second hand buys! I was in the market for an e46 myself but struggled to find a nice enough one, without paying loads of money for something that's quite old - it's an itch I still want to scratch at some point! E46 BMW's seem to take high mileages in their stride, as long as they are correctly serviced. There's a couple of blokes at work running 200K plus E46's, a 3 and a 5 series. Aside from a suspension issue with one they've served their owners very well.
My all time favourite reliable motor though has to be the humble Toyota Corolla, these cars rough it as Taxis on a daily basis in the worlds busiest capital cities yet keep managing to go on with questionable service history and maintenance, Manila, Bangkok, HK, KL you name it, jump in a Taxi and the chances are it'll be a 300K + KM Toyota Corolla of some description and varying trim level. My Dad had a series 1 corolla in Oman in the mid 70's. He took that thing all the way from Muscat to Salalah twice in a week and it didn't even seem to break a sweat, unlike Dad.
Monkeylegend said:
My current E220 has a DPF, but as long as you give it a decent run every couple of weeks to allow it to reach regeneration temp they should be ok. You will notice a slight improvement in mpg compared to the 500 as well 
Engine noise is a different matter though.
I do a fair few miles so should be okay - I suppose it's about buying one that hasn't been used for popping to the shops in, so perhaps one with a few miles on the clock is a better used buy? I bought a low mileage alfa diesel and that was a bad idea.... Engine noise is a different matter though.
The noise of the 500 is very addictive I have to say!
Boosted LS1 said:
Especially the 900's and 9000's :-) Your weakness applied to the later models.
I found the newest saab I've had to be the most trouble, which was an 05 plate 9-5 vector sport 2.0t... The others have been spot on though, 2000 9-3 convertible being the most surprisingly good for 950 quid.
I find it quite annoying when people dismiss the later ones completely though, for having some GM parts - there are plenty of vauxhalls on the road, they're not particularly shoddy albeit a little cheap feeling, and Saab only improved them.
marmitemania said:
I am very surprised no one has come in with the default VAG gang, maybe that's because deep down they know they are not very good. I own a Range Rover and would never ever say it is a reliable car, because they generally aren't. As already mentioned the MK1 Ford focus is a good shout and MK1 Nissan primera's were always strong. I'll stick my neck on the line as a former mechanic for over 20 years and say the MK1 Laguna was a trusty old barge.
Having had a skoda and two VW's, including the Bora we currently have, I can safely say (bar the skoda, which I didn't have long) they have been the most unreliable two cars I've ever had. The golf served its purpose though really as its among the most refined smallish older cars out there if buying used and on a budget, and it did the job, just cost a small fortune during my ownership.
iloveboost said:
Mk1 Ford Focus isn't known for reliability. For modern cars I'd vote for the Mx-5 Mk3. Prius second generation as well.
Plenty of people would disagree with that. The consensus seems to be, now they're getting older, that they're very reliable - also cheap to maintain or fix if something does go wrong. They have very few 'typical' issues. I'm not saying theyre in the same league as the Lexus LS400, but for the current used market and price bracket they are definitely known for reliability. Of course, at this price point, if ever something does go majorly wrong, it's probably beyond economical repair anyway....Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff