Live data from Hacker News

Who makes the most reliable new cars?

consumerreports.org

201–210 of 1001 posts

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#201
post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Toyota hybrid reliably does not start after 4 weeks not driving. The 12 volt (1 year old) battery is drained too much after such a period of inactivity. I was not expecting this from Toyota, pretty disappointing.

One thing I never understood is why hybrids have the 12 volt battery at all. Couldn't the entertainment system etc be powered from the 200V EV battery (after stepping it down obviously)?

Because so much of the real deep-down legacy bits of the car assume a 12-volt battery.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a38537243/electric-car...

There's a lot of Tier 3 supplier…stuff…in a car that was architected for 1978 and has never had a thorough re-think, because the profit margin is like nothing.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#202

I wonder if hybrid being more reliable than gasoline cars is simply a function of most of those being Toyota, versus any effect stemming from the car being Hybrid.

I thought maybe it was from mostly keeping the ICE engine in a comfortable power-rpm band, rarely making it lug at low RPM's to get the car going, rarely reving up to high RPM's, and never idling the engine, it's either running under load to charge the battery (or drive the car), or turned off.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#203

No way BMW is that high. I literally saw the past 2-3 weeks two X7s and an X5 stranded on the highway, on my way to work. I remember because I was joking yesterday with my partner that we should never buy a Beamer.

You have the data in front of you. As someone else too mentioned, the B58 engine is considered pretty reliable by BMW mechanics and on various Reddit forums where car enthusiasts hangout.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#204

Does this account for driving habits? I’ve just purchased a Subaru WRX, and I can’t fight the feeling that the reliability score is in some way influenced by the hoards of idiots that flock to this car for its tuning and hooning potential.

I suspect it is caused by the numerous models with a faulty engine, like my 2010 Forester.

My spouse had a 2010s Outback that went through two engines in three years. Bye bye Subaru.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#205

No way BMW is that high. I literally saw the past 2-3 weeks two X7s and an X5 stranded on the highway, on my way to work. I remember because I was joking yesterday with my partner that we should never buy a Beamer.

You are right, research involving millions of data points gathered from 330K vehicles over the course of a year is completely wrong because you saw a couple of broken BMWs on the road on your way to work.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#207

Lexus is toyota. Accura is honda. So it’s really like: 1. Toyota 2. Mini 3. Honda 4. Subaru 5. Mazda Congratulations Japan.

It's incredible how the Japanese carmakers were able to perfect the auto manufacturing process and then proceed to hold that advantage for what, 30+ years now? It's not a secret how they did it, it's been studied to death, every manner of technology/expertise/management transfer has been tried, and still no one comes quite close enough to threaten their position.

Because it requires a populace who culturally fixates on quality.

It doesn’t mean a thing to have a “stop everything” lever if your workforce doesn’t want to pull it because they don’t give a flying fuck if they ship a shoddy car.

It’s a story told again and again with tons of Japanese products.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel that would get balanced by Subaru's other models, which are mostly not known for such things.

Very possibly. Still not sure what to make of these rankings though…

The message is clear: steer clear of Subaru if you want a reliable engine.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Toyota hybrid reliably does not start after 4 weeks not driving. The 12 volt (1 year old) battery is drained too much after such a period of inactivity. I was not expecting this from Toyota, pretty disappointing.

Welcome to the motorcycling world! Today's cars continually start the engine - that's a huge draw. If you're going to leave your car sit more than a couple weeks then you should put your battery on a tender. Motorcyclists have been doing that for decades.

Yeah, I (not really) joke that everything on the hill gets plugged in. It makes life a lot easier.

Even with no idle draw, lead acid batteries self discharge over time. Life got way easier when I just accepted it, and now I've got a pile of 6V/12V battery tenders that go into just about everything (I have no shortage of 6V vehicles out here too). That and block heaters. The tractor and truck both appreciate them.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#210
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it fine though? For people to use machines that are known to put others in danger? I'm referring to "FSD" doing absolutely bullshit things like not detecting objects in the way.

> referring to "FSD" doing absolutely bullshit things like not detecting objects in the way Did Consumer Reports look at FSD? I don't think optional features like that factor into reliability.

I didn't say it did?
Post reply on HN