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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.

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.