4 ms·

So have I and I can say I disagree with most all the data. Take the section "Brands most likely not to start", and you see Mercury at the top. Strange, they on

by esaym 10y ago

So have I and I can say I disagree with most all the data. Take the section "Brands most likely not to start", and you see Mercury at the top. Strange, they only have a couple of models I wonder which it is? So you look at the section "Models most likely not to start", and no Mercury model is even listed. Instead Hyundai is at the top and it wasn't even on the first chart. They seem to really love throwing Mercury under the bus with comments about how the company closed doors (had nothing to do with reliability, people today just don't want 20mpg vehicles) and never mind the several million mercury taxi cabs. And at least with the Grand Marquis, it is nearly bullet proof. Its design has changed very little over the last 20 years and the 4.6L engine will run 400k miles as long as you change the oil. And when something does go wrong, most parts are cheap and easy to replace. And the "Brands that cost the most to maintain" section can be deceiving. For instance Honda is at the bottom making it sound like a good deal. Yet most all Hondas (and most Asian cars) use a timing belt instead of a chain: http://yourcarangel.com/2015/06/honda-timing-belt-timing-chain-list/ http://yourcarangel.com/2015/06/honda-timing-belt-timing-cha... That has to be changed every 50K miles because the risk of it snapping is much higher after that. And if it does snap, you could very well be looking at needing a new top half of your motor. I refuse to buy any car that has a belt instead of a chain. The only advantage is it saves some noise and a little bit of gas. But the disadvantages far out way that.

foobarqux 10y ago
So which used models are the cheapest to maintain in your experience? What about total ownership cost?
- asimuvPR 10y ago
  I only buy toyota vehicles. Our household and immediate family are toyota owners (at least one per household, two at mine). I'm not a fanboy though. The cars are cheap to operate and last a long time. Plus the resale value is decent. They are boring cars though. Absolute appliances. Unless its an scion frs or a high performance lexus (or supra if you can afford it).
- ArkyBeagle 10y ago
  I have a very low sample size, but I bought a Nissan Hardbody (what later became a Frontier ) in 1993, and I only had to put a transmission in it besides the ordinary wear cycle parts. It's still running like a top, 23 years later. I donated it to my Dad, who assigned to a nephew ( his grandkid ) . The transmission is on me. I drove it like I stole it for ten years before I needed one. It's an essentially underpowered truck but it goes like stink off the line. I was in the traffic hell that was Dallas. I bought , of course, another Frontier. It has two or three disappointments ( no torque in top gear @ 55 MPH ( so push the overdrive disable, duh!) ; a bad tint job; mileage not correlated with ... activity ). I expect it to outlast me. I think I'd have to go with a Cadillac type car to find something more comfortable on the freeway ( but it's not quiet by any stretch). In that span, we probably went through three (really two) cars for my wife. She's settled on a '03 Ford Escape which seems to avoid the reaper so far. But it's needed expensive repairs. We love it anyway, even though it tried to kill me one time ( a piece of plastic in the inexplicably convoluted throttle arrangement broke, and the throttle body went wide open. No problem; I managed to use neutral and the key switch to get it safely grounded before calling a tow truck. But geez, Ford... four throttle cables ?)
  - asimuvPR 10y ago
    I've also owned a hardbody. Thing was a tank. The vg30 engine was indestructible. I sold it to my brother and somehow my dad ended yo buying it. In the process it got restored and will probably last like 20 more years. Parts are plentiful due to it sharing some with the z31 300zx. The escape issues with the cable is widely know. I avoid them.
jakeogh 10y ago
I drive a 99 5.0 Mercury Mountaineer (aka nice Ford Explorer), even when I break an axle doing something stupid, it still gets me home. Great car.... other than the 3/8" motor mount bolts which I ended tapping out to 12mm.
- asimuvPR 10y ago
  Those are solid. The Windsor 302 engine is bulletproof. They are actually swapped into mustangs because they have a set of better flowing engine heads (named gt40p) and intake/exhaust manifolds.
  - jakeogh 10y ago
    Do they change the cam?
    - asimuvPR 10y ago
      People will usually change the cam to a ford racing e-303. Its street legal and gives a nice bump in power. Specially when a supercharger is used.
      - jakeogh 10y ago
        Awesome. I didn't know there were cam's that are not street legal. $200! http://www.americanmuscle.com/ford-e303cam-8595.html http://www.americanmuscle.com/ford-e303cam-8595.html I looked into superchargers, seems like it's cheaper to buy a bigger crate engine and slap it in? And since you know:) Which 302 headers should I buy?
        asimuvPR 10y ago
        The supercharger is a better investment because the problem with the factory windsor block is that it cracks in the (middle) lifter valley. There are aftermarket blocks that can be used and can reliably support 1200hp. The supercharger will provide most bang for the buck. Can't recommend headers without knowing more. Feel free to email me to avoid cluttering the thread (and get down voted to hell). My ford origins are showing. :)
danjayh 10y ago
I own a saturn Aura (same platform as the Malibu and G6), and I find that the parts are cheap, readily available in aftermarket form, and easy to replace. Yes, I did have to do the wheel bearing ... but it took me an hour and a half, end-to-end. Super easy hub design to repair, and the entire hub cost me $40. I compared prices brand-to-brand for a 2007 Camry, and the camry hubs seem to run about $30 more than the hubs for my '07 Aura. Anyway, I also wonder if people who prefer certain makes or models are more likely to do their own work, also skewing their reliability data.
- kagamine 10y ago
  >Anyway, I also wonder if people who prefer certain makes or models are more likely to do their own work, also skewing their reliability data. Land Rover. Notoriously bad dealerships, also very expensive (dubbed 'stealerships' on LR forums). Masses of electronics including air suspension in the 90s when it was not common on European cars leading to all sorts o f problems down the line. And most owners buy them with the intention of maintaining them themselves. A 3rd party garage won't ever see them either, because so much of the car can only be worked on by LR. My local garage turned me away in spring!
jandrese 10y ago
The service cost one has the MINI brand near the bottom of the list, but the MINI Cooper near the top in the next chart. How many other types of cars does MINI make?
- teamonkey 10y ago
  Cooper is the label for performance variants
jsight 10y ago
Land Rover being squarely in the middle seems very unlikely as well. This data is very suspect at best.
- osullivj 10y ago
  Agreed. I owned a Land Rover Discovery 3 for 9 years. It was disastrously expensive to run. Power steering, suspension compressor, park brake, turbo cross pipes; all failed multiple times. I'm now happily driving a leased Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Also got an old '99 Merc which is very reliable.

by esaym 10y ago

foobarqux 10y ago

So which used models are the cheapest to maintain in your experience? What about total ownership cost?

asimuvPR 10y ago
I only buy toyota vehicles. Our household and immediate family are toyota owners (at least one per household, two at mine). I'm not a fanboy though. The cars are cheap to operate and last a long time. Plus the resale value is decent. They are boring cars though. Absolute appliances. Unless its an scion frs or a high performance lexus (or supra if you can afford it).
ArkyBeagle 10y ago
I have a very low sample size, but I bought a Nissan Hardbody (what later became a Frontier ) in 1993, and I only had to put a transmission in it besides the ordinary wear cycle parts. It's still running like a top, 23 years later. I donated it to my Dad, who assigned to a nephew ( his grandkid ) . The transmission is on me. I drove it like I stole it for ten years before I needed one. It's an essentially underpowered truck but it goes like stink off the line. I was in the traffic hell that was Dallas. I bought , of course, another Frontier. It has two or three disappointments ( no torque in top gear @ 55 MPH ( so push the overdrive disable, duh!) ; a bad tint job; mileage not correlated with ... activity ). I expect it to outlast me. I think I'd have to go with a Cadillac type car to find something more comfortable on the freeway ( but it's not quiet by any stretch). In that span, we probably went through three (really two) cars for my wife. She's settled on a '03 Ford Escape which seems to avoid the reaper so far. But it's needed expensive repairs. We love it anyway, even though it tried to kill me one time ( a piece of plastic in the inexplicably convoluted throttle arrangement broke, and the throttle body went wide open. No problem; I managed to use neutral and the key switch to get it safely grounded before calling a tow truck. But geez, Ford... four throttle cables ?)
- asimuvPR 10y ago
  I've also owned a hardbody. Thing was a tank. The vg30 engine was indestructible. I sold it to my brother and somehow my dad ended yo buying it. In the process it got restored and will probably last like 20 more years. Parts are plentiful due to it sharing some with the z31 300zx. The escape issues with the cable is widely know. I avoid them.

jakeogh 10y ago

I drive a 99 5.0 Mercury Mountaineer (aka nice Ford Explorer), even when I break an axle doing something stupid, it still gets me home. Great car.... other than the 3/8" motor mount bolts which I ended tapping out to 12mm.

asimuvPR 10y ago
Those are solid. The Windsor 302 engine is bulletproof. They are actually swapped into mustangs because they have a set of better flowing engine heads (named gt40p) and intake/exhaust manifolds.
- jakeogh 10y ago
  Do they change the cam?
  - asimuvPR 10y ago
    People will usually change the cam to a ford racing e-303. Its street legal and gives a nice bump in power. Specially when a supercharger is used.
    - jakeogh 10y ago
      Awesome. I didn't know there were cam's that are not street legal. $200! http://www.americanmuscle.com/ford-e303cam-8595.html http://www.americanmuscle.com/ford-e303cam-8595.html I looked into superchargers, seems like it's cheaper to buy a bigger crate engine and slap it in? And since you know:) Which 302 headers should I buy?
      - asimuvPR 10y ago
        The supercharger is a better investment because the problem with the factory windsor block is that it cracks in the (middle) lifter valley. There are aftermarket blocks that can be used and can reliably support 1200hp. The supercharger will provide most bang for the buck. Can't recommend headers without knowing more. Feel free to email me to avoid cluttering the thread (and get down voted to hell). My ford origins are showing. :)

danjayh 10y ago

I own a saturn Aura (same platform as the Malibu and G6), and I find that the parts are cheap, readily available in aftermarket form, and easy to replace. Yes, I did have to do the wheel bearing ... but it took me an hour and a half, end-to-end. Super easy hub design to repair, and the entire hub cost me $40. I compared prices brand-to-brand for a 2007 Camry, and the camry hubs seem to run about $30 more than the hubs for my '07 Aura. Anyway, I also wonder if people who prefer certain makes or models are more likely to do their own work, also skewing their reliability data.

kagamine 10y ago
>Anyway, I also wonder if people who prefer certain makes or models are more likely to do their own work, also skewing their reliability data. Land Rover. Notoriously bad dealerships, also very expensive (dubbed 'stealerships' on LR forums). Masses of electronics including air suspension in the 90s when it was not common on European cars leading to all sorts o f problems down the line. And most owners buy them with the intention of maintaining them themselves. A 3rd party garage won't ever see them either, because so much of the car can only be worked on by LR. My local garage turned me away in spring!

jandrese 10y ago

The service cost one has the MINI brand near the bottom of the list, but the MINI Cooper near the top in the next chart. How many other types of cars does MINI make?

teamonkey 10y ago
Cooper is the label for performance variants

jsight 10y ago

Land Rover being squarely in the middle seems very unlikely as well. This data is very suspect at best.

osullivj 10y ago
Agreed. I owned a Land Rover Discovery 3 for 9 years. It was disastrously expensive to run. Power steering, suspension compressor, park brake, turbo cross pipes; all failed multiple times. I'm now happily driving a leased Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Also got an old '99 Merc which is very reliable.