What's the most reliable car that you have owned?
Discussion
Just to qualify this a bit more, I suppose that I mean, which car that you have owned as cost you the least to run in repairs (excluding tax, insurance, fuel etc). I will exclude cars under 3 years old as I would expect (and from my own experience) anything this young to be 100% reliable. Is it more cost effective to run a new car and take the hit on depreciation (although I don't know how anyone can afford to buy a new car these days. I would struggle to afford even the most basic new car!) or buy something with 12 months MOT for a few hundred pounds and simply replace it when it breaks!
I haven't had much luck with taking the middle ground i.e. buying a 6-7 year old car in the £4-8k region. I think that I know a bit about cars and in recent years have bought both a 2000 Golf and a 2004 Impreza WRX. The Golf was plagued with elecrical problems and I traded it in for a new Polo rather than pay the £700 required to get it through its MOT. I have just shelled out over £1000 to get my 2004 Impreza WRX through its MOT (brake discs and pads and a new catalytic converter). Both on the face of it reliable marques and they both only had about 60k on the clock. I paid out this time as the items in question are wear and tear to be fair and I like the car in all other respects but ouch (and it still has an intermittent electrical fault). Perhaps nearly new is the answer as it has taken the worst of the depreciation hit and is still under manufacturers warranty but finance deals usually make brand new more cost effective and nearly new can work out more expensive.
The cars that have probably cost me the least to run (and buy) are my Peugeot 205 1.6 GTi and E30 BMW 325i. I usually shy away from buying privately as I have no comeback but the BMW had clearly been well looked after and didn't cost me anything other than fuel, insurance, tax and routine servicing in 18 months of ownership. It also sailed through its MOT. The Peugeot had several niggly faults but was cheap to fix (most things I could fix myself) and very economical too. Admittedly, it needed a new rear axle for its MOT (£400, which seemed like a disaster at the time) but insignificant compared to what I have just spent on the Impreza (and the Peugeot had done 170k!)
My track record concerns me as purchases I am considering in the future include cars such as Alfa Romeos, S2000s and Fiat Coupe Turbos which will probably be a complete disaster!
So what has been the most reliable car over 3 years old that you have owned?
I haven't had much luck with taking the middle ground i.e. buying a 6-7 year old car in the £4-8k region. I think that I know a bit about cars and in recent years have bought both a 2000 Golf and a 2004 Impreza WRX. The Golf was plagued with elecrical problems and I traded it in for a new Polo rather than pay the £700 required to get it through its MOT. I have just shelled out over £1000 to get my 2004 Impreza WRX through its MOT (brake discs and pads and a new catalytic converter). Both on the face of it reliable marques and they both only had about 60k on the clock. I paid out this time as the items in question are wear and tear to be fair and I like the car in all other respects but ouch (and it still has an intermittent electrical fault). Perhaps nearly new is the answer as it has taken the worst of the depreciation hit and is still under manufacturers warranty but finance deals usually make brand new more cost effective and nearly new can work out more expensive.
The cars that have probably cost me the least to run (and buy) are my Peugeot 205 1.6 GTi and E30 BMW 325i. I usually shy away from buying privately as I have no comeback but the BMW had clearly been well looked after and didn't cost me anything other than fuel, insurance, tax and routine servicing in 18 months of ownership. It also sailed through its MOT. The Peugeot had several niggly faults but was cheap to fix (most things I could fix myself) and very economical too. Admittedly, it needed a new rear axle for its MOT (£400, which seemed like a disaster at the time) but insignificant compared to what I have just spent on the Impreza (and the Peugeot had done 170k!)
My track record concerns me as purchases I am considering in the future include cars such as Alfa Romeos, S2000s and Fiat Coupe Turbos which will probably be a complete disaster!
So what has been the most reliable car over 3 years old that you have owned?
Owned umpteen cars over the years particularly as a Director of various businesses. Retired now down to seven I am nuts. But happy nuts.
Comes down to two
A Volvo S40 1999 1.8 petrol covered 257,000 miles over 12 years still MOT'd never even had the head off. Drives brilliantly everything works A/C working as new all electric windows, sunroof, heated seats, ventral locking just a Brilliant car.
Or an Audi A4 Diesel 540,000 miles from new now sold as Volvo above everything works as new including the A/C Brilliant car.
Modern cars cars need servicing.
Driven sensibly I think well in excess of 500,000 miles can be achieved on most modern diesels. Modern lubricants are the answer. With twin cam high revving engines that might be a bit high and petrol engines are less robust but clearly can still achieve in excess of 250,000 miles.
My advice: Buy Volvo or Volkswagen or Audi. They build them well.
Comes down to two
A Volvo S40 1999 1.8 petrol covered 257,000 miles over 12 years still MOT'd never even had the head off. Drives brilliantly everything works A/C working as new all electric windows, sunroof, heated seats, ventral locking just a Brilliant car.
Or an Audi A4 Diesel 540,000 miles from new now sold as Volvo above everything works as new including the A/C Brilliant car.
Modern cars cars need servicing.
Driven sensibly I think well in excess of 500,000 miles can be achieved on most modern diesels. Modern lubricants are the answer. With twin cam high revving engines that might be a bit high and petrol engines are less robust but clearly can still achieve in excess of 250,000 miles.
My advice: Buy Volvo or Volkswagen or Audi. They build them well.
Honda Accord Type-R.
Apart from service consumable's in 175k miles its had
2 clutches, 1 under warranty the other by a specalist @ £500
2 set of front disks and pads
2 set of rear disks and pads
2 cambelts (normal consumables)
Anti roll bar bushes *1 rear
Anti roll bar drop linkgs *1 rear
1 * Horn
Not bad at all and probably needs front anti roll bar doing and new dampeners at some point.
Apart from service consumable's in 175k miles its had
2 clutches, 1 under warranty the other by a specalist @ £500
2 set of front disks and pads
2 set of rear disks and pads
2 cambelts (normal consumables)
Anti roll bar bushes *1 rear
Anti roll bar drop linkgs *1 rear
1 * Horn
Not bad at all and probably needs front anti roll bar doing and new dampeners at some point.
whilst my E21 has cost a fair whack in maintenance servicing, touch wood it's been pretty reliable. in the >3 years i've owned it i've broken down once. that was a water pump which was leaking. it was squealing a little so, ironically, it was actually booked it to get it looked at the following day. noticed the car temp went over 3/4 mark down the M25 so pulled over and instantly turned the engine off. no damage to the head or anything.
have done about 30k miles in it in that time. i wouldn't suggest you buy one though if you're looking for a reliable car. i think i've been lucky and picked up a decent one....30k miles in a now >29 year old car and 1 break down isn't bad IMO. last winter it was superb and didn't miss a beat, once went a week without using it, started first time in -10C no problems.
i'm a firm believer that regular servicing and mechanical sympathy (e.g. not thrashing when cold!!) are key to helping your car be reliable. that said, if it's screwed together poorly then you have little hope.
have done about 30k miles in it in that time. i wouldn't suggest you buy one though if you're looking for a reliable car. i think i've been lucky and picked up a decent one....30k miles in a now >29 year old car and 1 break down isn't bad IMO. last winter it was superb and didn't miss a beat, once went a week without using it, started first time in -10C no problems.
i'm a firm believer that regular servicing and mechanical sympathy (e.g. not thrashing when cold!!) are key to helping your car be reliable. that said, if it's screwed together poorly then you have little hope.
My first "luxury car".........
A 1994 Mitsubishi galant 2.0 v6 24v - bought in 1999 for £2700 with 75,000 miles and sold for £850 in 2003 with over 110,000 miles. I never serviced it, only thing that ever went wrong with it was a dead battery, it passed every MOT first time, and I drove it like I stole it. Really was the most efficient car I have ever had, and I expect ever will have. Also my favourite car I ever had looking back for the fun I had with it.
My mate stuck another 40,000 miles on it before the gearbox went. He still managed to drive it the 10 miles home in reverse before it was finally scrapped.......
A 1994 Mitsubishi galant 2.0 v6 24v - bought in 1999 for £2700 with 75,000 miles and sold for £850 in 2003 with over 110,000 miles. I never serviced it, only thing that ever went wrong with it was a dead battery, it passed every MOT first time, and I drove it like I stole it. Really was the most efficient car I have ever had, and I expect ever will have. Also my favourite car I ever had looking back for the fun I had with it.
My mate stuck another 40,000 miles on it before the gearbox went. He still managed to drive it the 10 miles home in reverse before it was finally scrapped.......
Edited by Fats25 on Wednesday 31st August 20:54
), biggest bill I've had was £240 for a full service, MOT and a few little bits. CV Boot and something else that I forget From memory, the following cars that I've owned never went wrong:
Caterham 7 (took from 5k to 11k over 3 years)
BMW Z4 Coupé (took from 7k to 11k over 11 months)
Toyota MR2 mk1 (took from 70k miles to 89k miles over 2 years)
BMW 320d (taken from 54k miles to 68k miles in 9 months, but my Dad took it from new to 54k miles without having anything done, so this one sort of wins out of my cars!) - current car
Citroen AX GT (taken from 80k miles to just over 100k in 2 years)
The best I've heard of is my ex's Nissan Micra, which she bought in 2003 and it's still running now as a daily driver, without ever going wrong or needing a repair outside service items. That's Japanese for you!
Caterham 7 (took from 5k to 11k over 3 years)
BMW Z4 Coupé (took from 7k to 11k over 11 months)
Toyota MR2 mk1 (took from 70k miles to 89k miles over 2 years)
BMW 320d (taken from 54k miles to 68k miles in 9 months, but my Dad took it from new to 54k miles without having anything done, so this one sort of wins out of my cars!) - current car
Citroen AX GT (taken from 80k miles to just over 100k in 2 years)
The best I've heard of is my ex's Nissan Micra, which she bought in 2003 and it's still running now as a daily driver, without ever going wrong or needing a repair outside service items. That's Japanese for you!
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