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Who makes the most reliable new cars?

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Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#751

Post by deepGem »

Mountain_Skies wrote: post #490
vondur wrote: post #453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People drive horrible now. Running lights, crazy lane changes, excessive speeding etc. Here in the US is started during the pandemic and hasn’t improved.

Replacing old style headlight bulbs with LEDs in housings not designed for them is an increasing problem too, making driving at night often something that is best done with a pair of sunglasses.

I cannot upvote this comment enough. I can't stand these blue/white LED headlights. What an abomination in the night. To top this, in India highways are littered with white LED street lights. I really miss cruising at 65-70 mph on a dark highway, with just the reflectors to guide my path, lit by the the pleasant yellow headlights.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#752

Post by system2 »

jesterson wrote: post #654
prerok wrote: post #623

Maybe I don't understand something but where is Renault? It's not even mentioned AFAICT. Also, VW data does not encompass Golf, which seems to me to be by far the most sold VW car in Europe (based on what I see on the streets, not actual data). Seems a bit strange to omit these.

Renault is so bad, it's unsurprising it even couldn't make to the list

Renault 9 is a great car. Similar to Nissan Sentra from 90s.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#753

Post by tirant »

Dah00n wrote: post #688
winrid wrote: post #658

The fact that BMW and Mini are at the top of this list should make you ignore this data. First off, the Mini is just a smaller BMW, second the BMWs are complicated and designed to be maintained a certain way because that is how german cars are designed. You don't accidentally go 10k over an oil change on a higher mileage BMW and expect nothing bad to happen, but that would probably be okay on a Honda/Toyota/some Amer…

Of couse you shouldn't just ignore it. What you should do is think a bit deeper than "X > Y so X = better". Included in the data is the fact that a BMW needs the maintenance it does, to rank where it ranks here, as its average owner maintain it as they do. The maintenance schedule and how the BMWs included in the statistics were maintained is likely different than on a Toyota, but following the maintenance schedule o…

It is not only how they are maintained, but also how they are driven.

BMW's are sport enthusiast vehicles. They are probably used and abused and higher levels than typical Toyotas and Lexus. You won't see many Toyotas and Lexus in race tracks, however they are usually populated by all type of BMWs, specially M performance and full M models.

So I expect that under normal usage, BMWs are even more reliable that the ranking shows.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#754

Post by tirant »

smlacy wrote: post #18
nonethewiser wrote: post #12

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

Isn't Mini BMW?

Yes, but mini cars only cover the lower and cheapest segment of the market, that is the UKL platform that BMW only uses for the X1, X2, 1 series and 2 series GC.

So probably the highest complexity of the more premium platforms and features is bringing the reliability down for BMW, unsurprisingly (a v8 engine probably would fail earlier than a simple 3-cylinder engine)

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#755

Post by vishnugupta »

SkyPuncher wrote: post #346
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…

FWIW, the computers don’t tend to break. The things that do break are essentially the same as they were 20 years ago. The bells and whistles are mostly for creatures comfort. The mechanical components haven’t changed much. The only thing that I couldn’t fix on my own in my 2020 vs my 2006 was re-alignment of lane keep system after replacing the windshield.

> The mechanical components haven’t changed much.

But the control/configuration of mechanical components is now being done from touch panel and if it becomes unresponsive then it’s as good as mechanical component breakdown.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#756

Post by kjkjadksj »

danielovichdk wrote: post #721

Driving a w124 Mercedes-Benz e420 from 1992. Perhaps the best mercedes model (w124) ever built. Reliable and still going from Denmark to Italy and back with no trouble at all. Can only recommend it even though it is +30 years old.

This era (and even older) mercedes are all over the place in southern california. They look mostly in mint shape with the lack of rust from no road salting and quality paintjobs that have lasted 40 years or more compared to modern cars that seem to peel after 10 years.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#757

Post by tirant »

deng wrote: post #46

What a disaster for VW and Mercedes, but it pretty much confirms what everyone here in Germany is saying: reliability has gone downhill, with exception of BMW and Porsche (but it'll cost you), whereas Japan is at the top for ages, with South Korea (Kia, Hyundai) providing a good, cheaper alternative.

After your 3/5-year warranty at BMW you can maintain your BMW at your local workshop, and the costs are similar to other cars. They are not expensive cars to maintain, specially the latest models (F-series, G-series).

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#758

Post by taurath »

piperswe wrote: post #745
winrid wrote: post #658

The fact that BMW and Mini are at the top of this list should make you ignore this data. First off, the Mini is just a smaller BMW, second the BMWs are complicated and designed to be maintained a certain way because that is how german cars are designed. You don't accidentally go 10k over an oil change on a higher mileage BMW and expect nothing bad to happen, but that would probably be okay on a Honda/Toyota/some Amer…

But if you do maintain them in that certain way, they can be brilliantly reliable. Problem is, many people (especially in America) don't. And getting the proper fluids for them can be a pain in the ass in America, since BMW LL oil is basically impossible to get anywhere except dealerships and specialty websites. I'm surprised Mercedes is so low in the list. They've traditionally been one of the more reliable German b…

Chrysler has had some of the least reliable for most of my entire lifetime and Mercedes shares a parent company and presumably a lot of parts with them.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#759

Post by tirant »

kelipso wrote: post #279
whatever1 wrote: post #171

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.

They only measure 3 year reliability, and BMWs are well known to reliably go to shit after 3 years.

They are probably suffering of user abuse more than any other brand in the market.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#760

Post by close04 »

jimbob45 wrote: post #702
koliber wrote: post #695

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I noticed that too, but I am questioning myself. I’m wondering how much other people’s driving has gotten worse, vs me getting older, more defensive and risk averse, and noticing such driving. If I look back to my 20s, I was not an exemplary driver.

Cell phones were a huge mistake. I was walking my dog and saw someone eyes fully down doing 20 in the street. It was late and empty but if anyone had been in the street, they’d have been dead. That distraction didn’t exist 25 years ago on the scale it does today. I wish cell phone use penalties would be promoted closer to those of alcohol use while driving.

> Cell phones were a huge mistake

This kind of exaggeration undermines any point. An invention as useful as the cell phone was a mistake because people (ab)use it while driving? Any invention is used and abused but the benefits of this invention far outweigh the drawbacks. I'm sure more lives were saved by the mobile phone, and even more were made better, than were taken.

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