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Who makes the most reliable new cars?

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Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#291

Post by Johnny555 »

mulmen wrote: post #238
Johnny555 wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Honda Hybrid is the same way, sometimes I go weeks between drives and if I park it for more than a couple weeks, I plug it into a 12V battery charger to keep the 12V battery topped up. But I blame the car's smart features (that use the cell modem to allow remote start, etc) rather than it being a hybrid. I suspect that the non-hybrid model would be the same.

My 1991 Honda motorcycle does this too. I can promise you that it has no smart features. It doesn’t even have a fuel pump. Lead acid batteries just don’t have long shelf lives.

Well I get that lead acid batteries experience self discharge, my 2003 era car will go for over a month with around 20% discharge (it'll be around 12.4V), but after 2 or 3 weeks, my 2020 Honda will be at 50% discharge (around 12.0V).

I'd like to think that at some point the parasitic drain devices will shut down before they drain the battery completely, but I've never tested it beyond that point, I always plug in the charger if the car's going to be parked for more than a couple weeks. I installed a charger plug that comes out the front grill so I can plug it into the battery maintainer without even opening the hood.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#292

Post by manishsharan »

jansan wrote: post #109
algidagreen wrote: post #106

Very weird that Volvo Cars, from the land of Spotify and all the other unicorns, has such huge problems with reliability (they consistently rank one of the lowest in the reliability due to infotainment/computer problems). They must be doing something really wrong. All that talent in Sweden and they can't make it stable? The stock has been tanking massively for a while now. Anyone knows whats up? Did they outsource th…

Not sure if this plays a role, but they are owned by a Chinese holding company, so no longer 100% Scandinavian.

I owned a Volvo when it was afully Scandinavian company . It was always having issues. My regret was paying BMW like repair costs for a boxy Volvo.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#294

Post by to11mtm »

webel0 wrote: post #232
sharkweek wrote: post #213

My 3rd Gen Toyota 4Runner is old enough to drink and outside of routine maintenance requires almost no thought. "It's time to get a new car" given that car safety has drastically improved and I have two younger kids in that thing a few times a week but I'm honestly having a really hard time giving it up, something so reliable and plainly functional. New cars with all their computers and smart technology only look lik…

Yes, I keep on thinking that a premium market will develop for Toyota and Honda cars from roughly ~2006-2010. Those cars were the height of internal combustion technology without all of the electronics.

I think a lot of companies started 'getting it right' during that time.

FBOW however, the increasing demands of Fuel Economy and emissions standards led to a lot of poorly-executed moves for various companies from a reliability standpoint; Sometimes it's dual clutch transmissions or CVTs, sometimes it's stuff like cylinder deactivation or a cheaped out Turbo 4 or 3 cylinder design.

And then, all the speeds on an auto in general now. It took a decent amount of time for (most of) the automakers to make a reliable 4 speed auto across their lines. Hondamatic 5 speeds warned of things to come, because first everyone started flipping to 6 speeds (emphasis on the starting bit, in 2006). Then over the next 10-12 years we got all the way from 6 speeds to 10, often without enough size increase budget to know it will all be reliable.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#295

Post by [deleted] »

doubled112 wrote: post #73
FlyingBears wrote: post #22

Mini is hot garbage on wheels comparable to VW. I am really surprised to see this.

I don't know about Mini, but I hope the new VWs are better than my experience. My VW is admittedly 10 years old, and still under the Dieselgate warranty, but I've averaged 2 warranty repairs per oil change interval for 3 years now. They haven't been able to figure out the cranks forever but does not start for those 3 years, two dealerships have tried now. They are fairly expensive trips I'm glad to have warranty on.…

[deleted]

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#296

Post by SilasX »

sharkweek wrote: post #213

My 3rd Gen Toyota 4Runner is old enough to drink and outside of routine maintenance requires almost no thought. "It's time to get a new car" given that car safety has drastically improved and I have two younger kids in that thing a few times a week but I'm honestly having a really hard time giving it up, something so reliable and plainly functional. New cars with all their computers and smart technology only look lik…

Interesting contrast with the Onion’s other parody, Ford marketing a used 1993 car as the option for poorer buyers “who just need to get from their mother-in-law’s to the unemployment office”.

https://www.theonion.com/ford-unveils-new-car-for-cash-strap...

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#297

Post by paxys »

thephyber wrote: post #273
paxys wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the bias?

The first 3 years of a new car are almost always covered under manufacturer warranty, hence manufacturers have a strong financial incentive to minimize issues in that time interval. A less biased review would also include years 3-7 at least, but perhaps up to 10.

That's not what bias means. If I'm in the market for a new car I want to know how the 2022 model is expected to perform. Whether the car was reliable 10-15 years ago isn't all that relevant to me considering how quickly lines are refreshed.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#298

Post by Roark66 »

AmVess wrote: post #230
sharkweek wrote: post #213

My 3rd Gen Toyota 4Runner is old enough to drink and outside of routine maintenance requires almost no thought. "It's time to get a new car" given that car safety has drastically improved and I have two younger kids in that thing a few times a week but I'm honestly having a really hard time giving it up, something so reliable and plainly functional. New cars with all their computers and smart technology only look lik…

Keep the 4Runner and buy something new for a family hauler. New vehicles are much safer from a structural standpoint than older ones. Modern high strength steels form the safety cage of the vehicle, and greatly reduce the risk of injury in offset frontal impacts, side impacts, and rear impacts. And then you have the multitudes of air bags. Finally, the various electronic gizmos that further reduce risk of injury. The…

>New vehicles are much safer from a structural standpoint than older ones.

Perhaps if you compare the same model 15 years ago and now that is true, but people rarely buy the same model used as they would new. At least among my aquitances it is common to consider a higher class used car, or a much cheaper lower class new car. I doubt a 6 years old lexus rx350 is less safe than 2023 Toyota Yaris for example. Two cars of comparable price around here in Central EU.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#299

Post by carabiner »

geocrasher wrote: post #233

I'm in the market for a used vehicle, and I am looking at mid 2010's Toyota 4runner's and Tacoma's, maybe even Tundra. It's just hard to go wrong with a Toyota.

There are only 4 cars: Tundra, Tacoma, 4runner, prius. The rest are mere toys. Don't get a Tundra if you live in a big city though. Seriously just get a 4runner unless you regularly need to haul stuff.
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