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Who makes the most reliable new cars?

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Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#801

Post by pantulis »

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.

Sadly even old computers will being to break at some point. My Ford Focus is old enough to drink too and the central unit has become flaky, like numbers disappearing from the odometer and the speedometer going to 0 in mid route. The repair shop said those were dirty contacts, then the soldering, then they took it to a 3rd party... they didn't solve anything. The mechanics of the car are still good, but I feel like its time has come because now I'm not feeling confident of taking it for a long trip.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#802

Post by closewith »

pockybum522 wrote: post #584
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.

Started during the pandemic? My friend, I think you just might not remember how terribly people drove pre-pandemic as well.

Here in Ireland, this is visible in road deaths, which have risen significantly this year, reversing a trend of low road deaths as a result of an enormously successful road safety campaign over the previous 30 years.

There's noticeably more serious accidents too, although the data won't be available until mid-2024 to confirm.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_road_traffic_acciden...

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#803

Post by unsupp0rted »

CraigJPerry wrote: post #798
jimbob45 wrote: post #702

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Mobile phone use is just a symptom. Everyone fiddling with their fancy in-car radio with distracting bright flashing display in the 90s was just a symptom. People fixing their hair in the mirror in the 70s while driving was just a symptom. It doesn’t matter what distractions you remove - ban eating and drinking (even water) while driving, impose ruinous fines for those caught… none of it will work. You need to addres…

What’s the root cause?

Unspeakable, unimaginable, impossible to write in a sentence on HN?

To me the root cause is that 2-ton metal bricks shouldn’t be propelled at 50 kph, much less 140 kph, by tired hairless apes with tired ape reflexes, ape kids in the backseat, listening to other apes on podcasts, or talking even hands free with ape friends or ape spouses.

We were never designed for this. It’s guaranteed to be a leading cause of death and life-changing injury, so long as we keep it up.

Is that unthinkable or unspeakable? I say it on HN all the time.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#804

Post by modo_mario »

namdnay wrote: post #772
kyrra wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a reminder, the increase of vehicle size has little to do with consumer choice but rather fuel efficiency standards. https://www.resources.org/common-resources/how-much-do-regul... Increasing fuel efficiency standards has outsized impact on the price of small cars, so fewer of them are made.

if that were the case it would be a purely US phenomenon. Whereas increasing car size is global (relative to the initial size in each region of course)

I personally find it sad to say but the US has a strong cultural dominance especially in the western world but also beyond that. From car sizes to architecture styles.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#806

Post by rodrigodlu »

koliber wrote: post #695
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.

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.

Where I live(not US) I need to constantly use the horn in a gentle manner to get people out of whatsapp after 2~5 seconds of green light. Specially when red lights are longer than 40 secs.

Interestingly is to see police officers and transit officers also distracted inside their cars doing the same.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#807

Post by ycombinatrix »

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…

spoken like someone that hasn't owned a BMW from the last 10 years

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#808

Post by wil421 »

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…

That’s completely not true at all. BMWs have come around in the past years. The 2000 e46 I had was as reliable as my 2002 4Runner. I replaced the same things at similar intervals, water pump, belt tensioner, wheel bearing, plugs, coils etc.

BMWs B58 engines is so nice Toyota put it in a Supra.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#809

Post by hutzlibu »

genocidicbunny wrote: post #793
throwaway914 wrote: post #777

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My counterpoint to this is there have always been a ton of bad drivers. The most important skill to have is to be a predictable driver. Bad drivers will always exist. You cannot change them, and the great number of them is not likely to drop to 0 overnight. The best thing you can do is drive in a way that even bad drivers expect. Be a speed-limited, blinker-indicating, cautious log in the river. They will parkour aro…

Both you and the parent post are correct. There have always been bad drivers, a lot of them, and defensive driving is the best thing for that. But at the same time, I have anecdotally been observing a serious breakdown in people following the rules. All the things the parent mentioned have become more frequent in my experience -- the number of times I see blatant bad and malicious driving behaviours has increased sig…

"How do you defensively drive against someone just blasting through a red light 15 seconds after it turned red and cross traffic is moving steadily? Or the guy in a lifted truck who decides to force you into the shoulder because he thinks it's funny?"

Probably upgrading to a tank at some point. Or bringing a gun. Or bribe politicians, that they urge the police to focus on maintaining sanity on the roads and take away the licence(and at some point the cars) from those drivers eagerly.

Honestly, if I can, I drive a bicycle, even now in wintertime. But I often indeed wished for a gun, to bring awareness to my fragile self. To express, that I also have rights on the road, despite being lighter. But I am aware, this might not be the best solution overall.

Re: Who makes the most reliable new cars?

#810

Post by wil421 »

taurath wrote: post #758
piperswe wrote: post #745

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Both of my WK2 Jeep grand Cherokee’s have been reliable and they share parts with the old MLs. The parts they share are pretty silly to consider reliability, control arms, 5-speed transmission (until 2014), and some other random parts with Mercedes stamped on it. Considering Chrysler transmissions were terrible I’m glad they used Benz then ZFs.
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