What Cars do You Swear By?

Just found out that my current car will die any day now due to a known defect. It’s out of warranty and I have no money to replace it right now.

I’ve been cursed with car problems my whole life, no matter how well I take care of them, I keep getting screwed.

All of the cars have been Fords because I always heard they were generally dependable and cheap to repair/upkeep, but so far they have all failed me.

What cars do y’all recommend? What cars do you have that just won’t give up the ghost no matter how old/beat up they get? If your life depended on your car lasting as long as possible, what car would you drive?

I want whatever car I get next to last me 10-20 years. I want to be that person posting a picture of the odometer hitting 300k miles. I also don’t care much about features, reliability is key.

soviettaters,

Honda Accord. I’m currently driving a 98 with 240,000 and looking to hopefully get 300,000.

Pantherina,
@Pantherina@feddit.de avatar

I am not native and wanted to say I always swear on SUVs, Pickups and unnecessarily loud or stupid cars.

Dont get one of those, please.

Tolookah,

I swear near BMWs, some day they will ship with a turn signal included.

Pantherina,
@Pantherina@feddit.de avatar

So funny, I think BMW people are pricks everywhere. Fucking Nazi company, but VW, Audi and Porsche are as bad I guess

Semi-Hemi-Demigod,
@Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social avatar

The folks you really need to watch out for drive Altimas

Pantherina,
@Pantherina@feddit.de avatar

Never heard of, have to check

Ilovethebomb,

I’m currently driving a company owned Toyota corolla Fielder, with a cool quarter million KMs on the clock, 260-something thousand to be exact.

Toyota have a legendary reputation for reliability, for good reason.

j4k3,
@j4k3@lemmy.world avatar

Pre-1975 FJ40 is an indestructible super car

Chozo,

I had a Ford Taurus that I swore by for several years.

Well, swore at, mostly.

Carter,

Toyota/Lexus or Honda.

BeeAteTeenSeaWon,

Acura too.

Carter,

I wouldn’t know as I think it’s a US only brand.

thecrotch,

It’s Honda’s Lexus

random_character_a,
@random_character_a@lemmy.world avatar

+1 for Toyota Corolla

I’ve got -06 model with 225000km (140000mi) on the meter. Outside basic maintenance the only problem it has had was that the ABS timing ring snapped. It cost about 80€ at the local shop to clean the spot and weld it whole again.

PseudoSpock,
@PseudoSpock@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

American brands of vehicles. I swear by them and at them. They suck.

theragu40, (edited )

Toyota Camry or Corolla. If you just need transportation that you can rely on to start every morning without requiring major repairs all the time, these are your best options. Honda Accord or civic if you just like Honda better

If those are too boring buy something else from either Toyota or Honda.

I have personally seen double digit numbers of these vehicles go north of 200k miles and multiple over 300k miles with little more than basic maintenance. Some of them were outright abused with maintenance not done, driven with no oil, in accidents, etc. They just keep on ticking. These are individual anecdotes that should be taken as such but I encourage you to read others’ accounts as well. My experience is not unique at all. I’m convinced you have to actively kill these cars. I live in the rust belt and I am quite sure that the bodies of our Toyotas will completely disintegrate before the engines give out. All I do is follow the maintenance plan in the manuals.

This is not to say you don’t get small issues, or maintenance items. You still have to replace brakes, tires, etc. We had random minor issues with the interiors. But they always started and did their best to get us from point A to point B.

empireOfLove,
@empireOfLove@lemmy.one avatar

Honda Fucking Accord

TenderfootGungi,

Honda and Toyota. But since we bought 1 Honda we now own 3. I buy the Honda oil filters in 10 packs. Our van has over 300,000 and still drives ok.

keeb420,

mid 90s to mid 00s corollas i know they are different gens there but any from that era are great for reliability.

wintermute_oregon,

I have a Tesla and an audi.

I have a Nissan I gave to my kid. 2008. Only one issue during the first year. Otherwise it’s been trouble free. I’ve been impressed with it.

Treatyoself,

I drive a 2008 Honda Accord. I refuse to give it up because of how dependable it is. The best features of the this car is the electric heated seats and it’s dependability. knock on wood I’ve yet to encounter any major issues within its entire life span. I’m keeping her until she quits on me.

In fact, instead of putting money towards a new car I’m going to invest in her body and interior. I can’t stand what new cars seem like these days.

MxM111,
@MxM111@kbin.social avatar

Don’t trust what people say from their individual stories. You need statistics of hundreds of cars, not single anecdotes. There must be sites that evaluate cars reliability, average spending on repairs and so on, model by model. Find those.

rhythmisaprancer,
@rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social avatar

If you really want a long lasting machine, listen to this person. So much nose in this thread. For example: Subarus, in fact, do not have reputation for being long lasting without major repairs. Most people do not keep a vehicle for 10+ years nor for 300k miles. I have a vehicle that is older than that with 30% more miles. As said above, an anecdote.

Somebody keeps track of the cost of ownership over time. Perhaps a company, maybe a government agency.

Good luck!

Ecology8622,

Spent 10k on a 2014 Subaru Outback with 120k miles, headgasket leak. First and only owner. Whats even worse is brake error light after spending that much. Carmaxed that junk. I will never ever buy a Subaru. Replaced it with a Honda.

insomniac,
@insomniac@sh.itjust.works avatar

Yeah you’re the kind of anecdote they’re warning about

sndrtj,

The average car age in the EU is 12 years old. Even in richer member states the average is often over 10 years (germany: 10.1, Netherlands: 11.4)

So at least in that part of the world, most people absolutely do keep a vehicle for 10+ years.

Source: acea.auto/…/average-age-of-eu-vehicle-fleet-by-co…

theragu40,

The average in the US is 12.5 years old.

spglobal.com/…/average-age-of-light-vehicles-in-t…

I think people’s impression of things is skewed because overall cars are much more reliable than they used to be. When I was a kid a car over 10 years old was something you expected to have issues, and certainly wanted to avoid buying. That’s not the case these days, and the huge numbers of functional older cars on the roads make us not realize just how many old vehicles are out there because they’re normalized.

My car is 15 years old, my wife’s is 9. They’re both perfectly fine and they don’t feel old to us.

rhythmisaprancer,
@rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social avatar

I agree entirely with what you are saying, but that doesn't change what I said about how long people keep the same car. I suspect we are in the midst of the length of ownership increasing, but not to 10-20 years on average.

Rocketpoweredgorilla,
@Rocketpoweredgorilla@lemmy.ca avatar

www.carcomplaints.com

Take any site with a grain of salt, but I find they’re usually not too bad for a general idea of what you may be in for.

Wrayth,

This one is my favorite and was super helpful last time I was looking for a car. You can see trends year over year in the same generation, so like if the first 2 years of a 4 year run had some chronic issue that was fixed for the last 2, that sticks out.

Rocketpoweredgorilla,
@Rocketpoweredgorilla@lemmy.ca avatar

Yup, the only real gripe I have is a small percentage of the complaints seem to be more user error than design flaw, but that’s to be expected from any review site.

theragu40,

This is good advice in general.

But the answer to this question is extremely well known across the internet and every thread that comes up will eventually boil down to the same two responses: Toyota and Honda as 1 and 1a.

There isn’t some secret answer to find, those are just the answers. People will definitely come up with anecdotes supporting various other cars, but as these threads hit a certain mass of replies they invariably boil down to those two choices.

They are not the flashiest cars, nor the most feature rich, nor the most efficient or most powerful. But if you want to buy a car that will just keep on running after years of minimal maintenance, often even after being abused during that time, a Toyota or Honda is what you should buy.

Bye,

And their daughter brands. Lexus = Toyota, Acura = Honda. For when you want something flashy.

ProtonBadger,

deleted_by_author

    •
    theragu40,

    No not perfect, certainly. And cars are definitely complex, and recalls are a normal and expected component of car ownership for most people. Watch for them, get them rectified.

    To be clear though, recalls are sort of outside what we are talking about when we are talking about reliable and long lasting cars. A recall is a known issue that the company addresses. It doesn’t mean the car won’t last.

    Toyota and Honda, while they have the normal minor issues any car might have, are absolutely head and shoulders over other makers when it comes to their cars simply lasting longer with less maintenance.

    Consumer reports is good for identifying which older models or vehicle have stood the test of time. I’m not sure it’s as useful for newer vehicles since it’s very hard to assess longevity of new models before there is data.

    idunnololz,
    @idunnololz@lemmy.world avatar

    Prius/Prius prime might not be the most efficient but it’s pretty damn good.

    LanternEverywhere,

    https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/ is exactly that!

    spider,

    There must be sites that evaluate cars reliability, average spending on repairs and so on, model by model. Find those.

    In the U.S., that would be Consumer Reports magazine, available at most public libraries.

    u202307011927,
    @u202307011927@feddit.de avatar

    deleted_by_author

    •
    CmdrShepard,

    This whole comment reads like an advertisement for a porn site to someone who doesn’t speak German.

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