Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't buy an old integra or a civic unless you like dealing with regular car theft.
Is this country dependant? I used to drive a civic :)
I don't know, they don't last long in California.
Who makes the most reliable new cars?
781–790 of 1001 posts
Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?
#782Earlier quoted context omitted.
One thing that Japanese did really well is keeping their language identity. In particular, they don’t translate their words. They give us gyoza instead of dumplings. They give us ramen instead of some lame-ass noodle. They give us Sudoku instead of number puzzles. So much so that Japanese words have some kind of zen-like connotation to many people. In contrast, mainland Chinese always translate words to English. Iron…
Japanese has a lot of loan words from Chinese, which isn’t surprising. They aren’t even written in katakana. Japanese are more likely to adopt phonetic translation of new things (like computer) whereas Chinese will make a new word diannao (electric brain). Of course Chinese not having an auxiliary phonetic writing system (unlike Japanese or Korean) makes this necessary, although that’s probably by design (not complet…
Electric brain sounds cool! In Hungarian we say ‘számítógép’, which is literally computing/calculating machine.
Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?
#783My parents bought a new Chrysler because "It's american". Transmission failure a few months in, and out of commission for 6 months. Not surprised to see them in last.
you can tell them that toyotas are produced in US nowdays..
I don't think they're ever buying a new car again, not worth trying to convince them.
Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?
#784Earlier quoted context omitted.
They’d probably have the same reaction to America or much of Europe considering you’re talking about two countries with quite different levels of development and standards of living.
No, that’s not it. These people are used to go to the US and Europe and it’s not the same reaction. It is a mix of development, very different culture (Brazil has a lot of European and US cultural influence), but also safety, institutional efficiency, traditions. Idk, there is a lot of different aspects and things.
> Brazil has a lot of European and US cultural influence
That’s the core point. Of course Asian culture is more different. Probably a better example would be for a Brazilian to visit some African tribe.
Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?
#785Earlier quoted context omitted.
If consumers wanted smaller cars, they would buy more of them. A car is still much less expensive than a larger vehicle. The data clearly indicates people want bigger vehicles. Anecdotally, I have personally heard many people say they want to sit up higher, or have a bigger vehicle because it is safer for them.
> If consumers wanted smaller cars, they would buy more of them. A car is still much less expensive than a larger vehicle. The data clearly indicates people want bigger vehicles. That's true to a point. In the US there are regulatory loopholes for SUVs, so that's impacting what vehicles people choose. I agree that fuel efficiency standards are pretty silly. Especially CAFE standards. They should just tax CO2 emission…
paywall
Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?
#786I'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.
What about the GR86 and the Supra? They are usually considered decent sports cars.
Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?
#787Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've always understood the US's giant car problem was an unintended consequence of the CAFE fuel efficiency legislation, why is Europe getting caught up in the giant car fad? I'd imagine that'd be much more obvious of a terrible idea when the streets are half the size.
It's a result of cultural imperialism and basic psychology. Many Europeans are bathed in US media. They see the huge cars constantly on US footage, and some are inclined to purchase these even if they are impractical in EU towns and cities. As these behemoths are introduced in the traffic mix, others in classic smaller cars feel threathened, and their next purchase will be a big tanky SUV to feel less vulnerable. It…
While SUVs are on the rise in Europe, there's still a large gap between what Europeans consider a large SUV and what Americans consider a large SUV. I'm European and I drive what I consider to be a large car: A 2014 Nissan Qashqai. I'm sure it is considered a small can by Americans. There are bigger SUVs on European roads (like the Volvo XC90) but the true American behemoths are rare here. It's usually Americanophiles driving tricked out RAMs.
Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?
#788Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it truly mysterious though? I find it interesting whenever HN has a strong fascination with all things related to "Japanese-ness". For example, there have been links to wikipedia pages of some Japanese term, and it will make front page with comments. I can't think of any other nation that has this kind of cultural representation on here. And yet, the myth of Japanese "uniqueness" is largely the product of Japanese…
> the myth of Japanese "uniqueness" is largely the product of Japanese national propaganda, serving many useful purposes for the state Is the Consumer Reports that we're commenting on also Japanese propaganda?
Japan definitely has their own business culture, which has pros and cons (e.g. it is very seniority-aware, but that’s also a negative).
It seems to fit well engineering, but it is not that good of a fit for software development - as they are generally not too great at the latter. I have only heard these things, so not even first-hand experience, but due to a senior people basically “have to be” at a higher position, there are software companies where the higher ups don’t know shit about what is even a computer.
Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?
#789Years ago http://reliabilityindex.com/ had a fantastic list of the repair costs of used cars, collected by a UK car warranty insurer. They took it down for reasons I’m not aware of but it was basically this but for used cars (and Europe-focused). It let you see repair costs per brand, model and generation . There’d sometimes be mad regressions in quality between the old and newer generations of the exact same car - n…
My impression has always been that cool cars are expensive because rich people are willing to pay for comfort and status, and as such they're expensive to repair and likely to need it because the cost goes to superfluous vanity/comfort/speed aspects rather than reliability, which is what sensible people pay for. Buying a used luxury car is often a huge financial mistake, because they're either meant to not be driven, or only meant to be repaired at a high cost paid by someone who doesn't need to care about proportionally little money to them.
After all, the most reliable car is no car :) When my 2009 Volkswagen (which was fun to drive sometimes) finally shit the bed, I wasn't in the position to need another or afford one, and I now lived somewhere where there were viable alternatives. Ever since then, when the prospect of considering a new one crosses my mind, I just think about how much of a liability it really was, and without the original constraints of an obtuse commute, I'd just be buying it for hypothetical impromptu road trips, and paying an extremely high cost to do so over time; insurance, gas, lots of repairs and basic maintenance at specific shops, the risk of accidentally hitting someone or getting into an accident, that attrition on my body from not walking enough, parking fees, broken windows, fuuuuuck that
Now when I need one, and I do maintain my license, I just rent an arbitrary new car for the week or so I might need it, and that's so far been pretty serviceable except for post-pandemic shortages and demand.
Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?
#790Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't mazda that shitty company that thinks it can take legal action against you for doing things with your own car? Edit: Yep, it is[1]. No thanks. 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37921584
I don't know if you know this, but buying a ten year old used car from a third party does not, in fact, support the manufacturer in any way.
Sure it does. The way a new car keeps value is a factor in how popular a car is. High demand for 10 year old models will influence how well new models sell.
It's e.g. the main reason why you'll wait months if you want to buy a new Volkswagen van, even though it is tens of thousands of dollars more expensive than similar vans. Much easier justifying buying a T7 when T5s with 100k miles still sell for more than other vans cost new.