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There's also whether people ignore warning signs or not. I previously had a long-term rented Ford Focus via Canvas (which is no longer around). There were lots
by dheera 3y ago
There's also whether people ignore warning signs or not.
I previously had a long-term rented Ford Focus via Canvas (which is no longer around). There were lots of issues with it. A bumper valence that had some screw holes that had expanded and would fall off if only 1 additional screw failed. They were unwilling to fix it, and it did in fact fall off on the highway later due to their unwillingness. Tire treads had almost worn bald, they were also unwilling to fix it until a flat actually happened. Car idled at high RPM, I told them about it, they were unwilling to do anything about it, and the engine started stalling on the highway a few months later.
Almost every single problem with the car had a warning sign that I had told them well in advance, but they were always unwilling to do anything about it.
If you do your due diligence by taking action at every warning sign (strange noise, RPMs not the usual value, etc.) a LOT of "reliability" issues would not happen in the first place. A car is a fast-moving piece of mechanical equipment and needs regular servicing.
Don't do what doctors do and "wait till shit happens" to diagnose you so that they can make a buck off of you in the hospital. Prevent shit.
- injb 3y agoTrue, but the people who ignore warnings on VWs also ignore them on Toyotas, and yet Toyota still consistently comes in ahead. I do think there are cultural issues though with the US vs Europe. It's very common that cars that are known for quality and reliability in Europe are regarded as exceptionally temperamental in the US. When I first moved to the US I couldn't understand why German cars had such a bad reputation for reliability here. Most of them are traditionally considered more or less bulletproof in Europe. But after while I noticed that many American owners don't pay any attention to maintenance schedules, and just wait until something breaks. Some cars are forgiving of that, and some aren't. Nowadays I rank cars into roughly 3 categories: those that hardly ever break no matter what you do, those that are fine if you do what you're told, and those that break no matter what you do.
- saiya-jin 3y agoMy girlfriend bought her Toyota corolla for 5000 bucks some time ago, old, used, and soon started showing engine warn sign. Pretty bad if you ask me. Yet that light never manifested into anything real, 80k+ km down the road, still works reliably (technician couldn't find anything and just resetting it soon brought it back).
- sottol 3y agoI always wondered how "self-fulfilling" that is with Toyotas/Lexus. If you buy a Toyota for reliability, and intend to keep it, you're probably taking better care of it (both in terms of service and driving habits) than if you were to lease a "fun vehicle" for 3 years. That said, Toyota does often decide to go for reliability over other measures like fuel economy or power in eg their engines. Some of the older Toyota engines used twice as many bearings as other engines for example, downside being extra drag and lower fuel economy.