41–50 of 93 posts
I am surprised there are no lexus cars. Those things last forever.
Of course such a list will be near-exclusively Japanese, but I'm a bit surprised that it's near-exclusively Toyota and Honda. Nissan and Mazda vehicles/customers aren't comparable?
It was getting more expensive to keep up year after year, but parts were available and never had any major issues with it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Michigan at least a Merc was always short hand for Mercury. Now I realize they no longer make them but this is the first time I've ever heard a Mercedes referred to as a Merc. They will forever be a Mercury to me - and there were some sweet Mercury's as well ; I owned a brown LN7 with a moonroof and got more requests for rides from pretty girls than any car I've ever owned. https://www.flickr.com/photos/52345709@N…
Well, from across the pond, this is the first I've ever heard of Mercury at all. You learn something every day! (and the link you posted is a beauty.)
As a Japanese car owner I'm a fan, but a list of 'cars people keep forever' has a huge amount of selection bias, no? The sort of person who buys a new Merc probably doesn't _want_ to keep the car for 15 years. The interior is going to be shabby regardless of what you do, and the car will be out of date / an old style. Japanese cars (at least in standard trim) are the stereotypical low TCO keep it until it stops worki…
Not necessarily. I know people who kept older German cars forever. It’s not very possible anymore. They fall apart and parts aren’t available. My 2003 Pilot was not a utilitarian transport. It was a well equipped car with 80% of the doodads of an equivalent Benz at half the cost. I got rid of it last year, because it had hit 300k miles and key suspension parts were worn out.
Perhaps this data does not indicate the obvious for some stuff. We have two 2001 Tacoma trucks, one is 4WD, and one is 2WD. My truck is ugly as sin, but is reliable and easy to repair. The new Tacoma is essentially a full-size truck, too much plastic, much more complex, too much is not accessible for maintenance, and per my three neighbors, much less reliable. This is why we have not bought new machines.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Not necessarily. I know people who kept older German cars forever. It’s not very possible anymore. They fall apart and parts aren’t available. In what sense? Japanese automakers are notorious for discontinuing model-specific parts after a few years (e.g. look at the Jalopnik blurb about the guy restoring a CRX). Meanwhile you can get nearly any part from nearly any model Mercedes has ever manufactured. More esoteri…
> Japanese automakers are notorious for discontinuing model-specific parts after a few years (e.g. look at the Jalopnik blurb about the guy restoring a CRX). They stopped making CR-X in 1991. It is not "few years". 3 years ago I retired a 1994 Rover 600 series, which is basically a Honda Accord -- sans few body panels, trim and lights. It was still possible to get the spares for the Honda version, but not the Rover s…
Perhaps this data does not indicate the obvious for some stuff. We have two 2001 Tacoma trucks, one is 4WD, and one is 2WD. My truck is ugly as sin, but is reliable and easy to repair. The new Tacoma is essentially a full-size truck, too much plastic, much more complex, too much is not accessible for maintenance, and per my three neighbors, much less reliable. This is why we have not bought new machines.
I have an '01 Tundra that just keeps going. No kind words for the appearance and people use me as a moving service, but I love the damn thing.
I'm hoping my V8 F150 goes for 20 years, though I doubt I'll keep it that long. I like the safety bells and whistles in modern cars and my 2016 is just old enough not to include adaptive cruise or a 360 camera or a blind spot camera.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Not necessarily. I know people who kept older German cars forever. It’s not very possible anymore. They fall apart and parts aren’t available. In what sense? Japanese automakers are notorious for discontinuing model-specific parts after a few years (e.g. look at the Jalopnik blurb about the guy restoring a CRX). Meanwhile you can get nearly any part from nearly any model Mercedes has ever manufactured. More esoteri…
> Japanese automakers are notorious for discontinuing model-specific parts after a few years (e.g. look at the Jalopnik blurb about the guy restoring a CRX). They stopped making CR-X in 1991. It is not "few years". 3 years ago I retired a 1994 Rover 600 series, which is basically a Honda Accord -- sans few body panels, trim and lights. It was still possible to get the spares for the Honda version, but not the Rover s…
Depends on when Honda stopped making parts, no? Also, I was replying to this tidbit:
> Not necessarily. I know people who kept older German cars forever. It’s not very possible anymore. They fall apart and parts aren’t available.
Mercedes maintains a heritage program that makes parts available for models going back to their pre-war models (maybe beyond). You will pay dearly for those parts, but they are still available. Parts for newer models are even easier and often available both from Mercedes and aftermarket companies.