You, sir, have obviously led an interesting life, and prompted me to post my own list.
2009 Honda CRV (new)
1998 Toyota Camry (still running well)
1990 Mazda Miata (Great to drive around in fair weather)
1990 Honda Accord (Lasted for a couple of years after my son took it over)
1963 Chevy Belaire (First car and surprisingly reliable in retrospect)
1974 Ford Pinto (rusted, but ran OK)
1980 Dodge Colt (timing belt broke, but engine was OK)
1968 Pontiac Tempest (engine wore out around 85K miles)
1985 Oldsmobile Cierra (computer malfunction)
1988 Dodge Caravan (PS replaced early + other stuff)
1976 Plymouth Volare (engine rework under new warranty)
1996 Dodge Caravan (transmission)
My wife wanted the 96 Caravan to replace the 88 one. The CRV replaced the 96 Caravan. I had had enough of the Chrysler products!
LarryinMN
I think one of AMC’s best cars was the Jeep CJ-5. What a car!
Here is my list…
- 1977 Toyota Corrola- Rear end went out
- 1974 260Z- Always had to tinker with, tried every carb set from 4 brl to Triple webbers
- 1976 280Z- Bent valve at high rate of speed (actually blew coolant on windshield when happened)
- 1985 Nissan PU- Put on 200K, 4 transmissions (original, 2 used one new)
- 1992 Jeep Cherokee- 275K lifted ac never went bad, was good truck
- 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee- piece of crap (bought this one new too!)
- 1994 Toyota PU- great work horse, timing chain ate front cover, fixed it drove for another year and sold for $800.00 more than I paid.
- 2004 Volvo XC70- Great vehicle up to 80K traded before I got bit.
- 2001 VW Jetta- 1.8T model, would reccomend as a present to your worst enemy. TOTAL SHIT BOX
- 2007 Chvey Tahoe- Nice truck, good utility, ate gas…
- 2008 VW Passat- 2.0 T, good engine, strange key set, traded before they stop importing so I didn’t lose my ass.
- 2006 Toyota Tundra- Great truck, came out ahead in my eval of trucks for my needs, has to have high end tires or rides like crap.
- 2010 VW GTI- This is a blast to drive, handles good, fast maxed out on options nav etc… waiting to put new rubber on it though, has 18’s going for Michelins and it should come alive even more.
Thats the list, oh yeah, I had a Volvo S70, that was a fun car that only broke when I broke it, lowered it with H&R springs, new struts and a 125 shot of NOS, just a fun car. Thats my list, had good luck with alot of them but the 1.8T is the worst vehicle I have ever been involved with.
VDC, just out of curiosity, Why did you buy the 1971 Charger with “only” a 318?
With so many Americans out of work, I’d hate to buy a foreign car based on a list. Plus how 'bout the ease of working on one and the cost of replacement parts? My American made, union built Chev C-1500 works great, easy to work on, and parts are dirt cheap.
Best/Most Reliable-
- 2004 Toyota Camry
- 2006 Toyota Rav4
- 2006 Ford F150 4x4
- 2004 Mazda MPV
- 2002 Honda Accord
Worst-
- 1981 Chevy Monte Carlo (Needed new engine at 80k miles, front-end always out of line)
- 1997 Subaru Legacy Wagon
- 1987 Toyota Pick-up 4x4 (rust, paint fade, leaf-springs broken)
- 1994 Toyota Corolla (paint fade, burned oil at 90k miles)
In order of reliability:
- Current 2007 Corolla (contacted by Toyota about a recall fix but no problems to-date)
- 1997 Toyota Camry
- 1981 Honda Accord (after 100,000 miles rolled over all it did was roll into repair mode)
Here is a list of the 22 cars that I have owned in order of estimated reliability (1=best, 22=worst). I am surprised to see that someone else reported owning a Sunbeam Imp…all these years I thought I was the only one. I’m sure I’m the only one who owned a Renault Caravelle!
Make Model Year Reliability
Toyota Camry LE 1998 1
Toyota Camry LE 2003 2
Toyota Paseo Conv. 1997 3
Mazda 626 1979 4
Mazda GLC Sport 1978 5
Toyota Corona 1972 6
Mazda RX-4 1974 7
Simca 1118 1969 8
Mazda 626 1982 9
Saab 99EMS 1978 10
Fiat 124 1969 11
Sunbeam Imp 1965 12
Plymouth Valiant 1961 13
Pontiac 6000 Wagon 1984 14
Pontiac LeMans 1990 15
Hyundai Elantra 1998 16
Ford Mustang 1967 17
Ford Windstar 1995 18
Triumph TR-7 1976 19
Renault Caravelle 1967 20
Chevrolet Vega 1972 21
Plymouth Savoy 1955 22
My vehicles, in order of reliability:
1.)1995 Mazda MX6 LS (2.5 V6, 293,000 miles, 240K on original clutch)
2.)1992 Ford Probe (4 cyl, auto, a decent car until the trans gave up at 120K)
3.(tie)1980 Chevrolet Camaro Berlinetta (229 V6, seldom stranded me, but at the end you could R & R the exhaust pipes from inside the car)
4.(tie)1975 Ford Elite (351 V8, don’t remember if it was Cleveland or Windsor; nice looking and strong running, but typical Ford-of-that-era rust problems)
Not rated: 2004 Mazda 6S (currently owned and driven, so far pretty damned good!)
Definitely, I agree with jesmed, Honda or Toyota are at the top! All of the top cars will go over 200K miles:
- Honda Civic 1976
- Toyota Corolla 1983
- VW Beetle 1958
And then, way below all these, all unreliable, in no particular order:
Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint 1965
Cadillac 4-door 1981
Dodge Aires Wagon 1986
Chevy Celebrity Wagon 1996Having worked for many years in the field of system reliability, I’m sorta bothered by your cavalier use of the word. (Hmm… putting “reliability” and “cavalier” in the same sentence is also kinda disturbing…)
Technically, “reliability” refers to the likelihood that a piece of equipment will run without failing for the duration of its mission. So a “reliable” ICBM is one that makes the 20-minute one-way trip to Moscow without breaking en route.
The telephone industry talks of “availability,” which includes the notion of repair. It’s the fraction of the time that the machine is operational. So, if your car’s in the shop one week out of the year, it’s about 98 percent available.
Then there’s longevity–how long does it operate before it can’t be fixed (or isn’t worth fixing)?
When we talk about a car’s “reliability,” I think we’re talking about the combination of availability and longevity, with maybe a bit of repair cost thrown in. This last matters–I’ve come to believe that one of the nicer things a car can do is die in a decisive manner, making it clear that there’s no point in wasting any money on repairs. Much nicer to have the thing just blow up and be done with it than to bleed money for six months and then poop out.
So, by that definition, the most reliable cars I’ve had were:
1997 Pontiac Sunfire: a relatively cheap car, it ran 170K miles with no “tow it to the shop” breakdowns and no big-buck repairs. The car was officially totaled a couple years before the Pothole From Hell damaged its undercarriage beyond repair. It still went to and from the shop under its own power, and netted $700 for the Car Talk Donation Program.
1992 Buick Century: similar mileage, was still running when passed to an in-law, but did have to be towed in once due to a bad crank position sensor. Not a terribly expensive repair, and I had towing insurance.
1997 Buick Park Avenue Ultra: 155K miles with no on-road breakdowns or operation-threatening repairs, but it did like to eat money for piddly-but-expensive things like the power door lock module. When it blew its transmission, it was kind enough to do so in the driveway. My local NPR station got $1200 for this heap (though I didn’t even get a CD of “Click & Clack’s Worst Advice,” let alone a tote bag…)
At the other end…
1983 Jeep Scrambler, from the days when AMC owned Jeep and Renault owned AMC. “Le Jeep,” I called this thing, as it actually had some LeCar parts on it. In the space of 30K miles (and 36 payments) it broke a head bolt, needed constant carb work, demanded a valve job and was starting to have transfer case trouble. When I traded it in, it had a top speed of about 45mph.
1990 Nissan Axxess… this thing ran about 100K miles but was a money pit. It slipped its timing chain and bent all 12 valves. Soon as it was back from the shop it needed a starter, and then CV joints, and then… We finally got rid of it after I found the wiring harness turning to blue powder and the brake lines turning to rust.
1978 Honda Civic CVCC–yeah, I know, Honda’s famous for reliability… now. But this early experiment… three separate recalls in barely a year (including one for exhaust leaks into the passenger compartment and another for disintegrating wheel bearings). By the time I had 15K miles on it, it was going through a quart of oil with every tank of gas, and when less than a year old it was developing serious rust. Funny thing is, it got top dollar in trade because, y’know, Hondas are so reliable!
and the grand prize winner…
1979 Triumph Spitfire 1500: a great fun car to drive, when it ran. This thing had a Lucas electronic ignition system with a seizure disorder–at random intervals there’d be no spark for, oh, five to ten minutes. It had a penchant for doing this on one-lane off-ramps with no shoulder… especially on Saturday nights (so the cop pulls up behind you on the 45-degree embankment, gets out and asks, “By any chance have you been drinking?” No, I just had an English car…) The carburetor was directly above the catalytic converter, so the carb boiled over if you got stuck in traffic. And the rear spring shifted about randomly. And let’s not forget the brakes (then again, let’s)… A fun second car, long as you stayed within walking distance of home. I think I kept it less than a year before trading it in at a big loss.
Hey, Uncle Turbo! I have to agree: the VW Camper Bus (nee Westfalia) truly was horrible! It amazes me the so many folks want to buy these, since my mum’s '68 VW Camper needed a new motor every 50,000 miles! God, it must be the “hippy aura”, or something, that makes neophytes want to buy these teutonic troubled trash-mobiles! Constant valve adjustments, breaking door handles, no heat inside (except for the so-called “manifold heaters” provided by VW), no protection in a frontal collision, and total instability in windy weather, made these vehicles unreliable death traps.
I agree with your opinion of the Spitfire. A friend of mine, a mechanical engineer, who lived in Montreal, Canada for some years had one, and this city is probably the worst on earth to be a car. The heavy snowfall got into the undercariage, and made the car undrivable. The tons of salt used on the street corroded everything in site.
In short, he sort of “used it up” in about 4 years. At that time there was so much wrong with the body, mechanicals and elctricals (Price of Darkness Lucas electrics) that he just junked it.
Having done considerable work in improving equipment reliability and availability, it is the combination of being able to have faith in the car, in spite of the odd repair, and enjoying a long term ownership that endears a car to its owner.
I had a 1984 Impala and a 1988 Caprice, both average quality cars with very reliable powertrains, and those cars would get you there for 20 years or so without breaking the bank or you temper. If anything did break, repairs were cheap and quick. A fuel pump cost me $60 installed. No wonder police, taxis, FBI and other agencies used them.
P.S. The Impala went about 10,000 trips over 200,000+ miles in 13 years, with only 4 “breakdowns” incidents that required fixing and disrupted my trips. That’s a 9996/10000x100=99.96 “mission availability” to use the military term for equipement reliability and availability. It’s difficult to improve on that, but it was the result of being proactive in replacing items that were close to being worn out or broken.
A friend’s V12 Jaguar, by contrast was in the garage every month or so, and it was his “hobby” car. His wife insisted he buy an Acura like hers so he could at least get to his apointments with a degre of predictability.
To ok4450-- This begs the question: if you “switched the show off permanently”, then why do you come to this website? Why do you post here? I mean, if you REALLY dislike Tom and Ray so much, why have ANYTHING to do with them or their message board? Kinda of like going to the Frank Sinatra website, and saying how much you hate Frank Sinatra!
The following is a listing by reliability ranking of most of the cars I’ve owned over the past 60 years. I’ve left out the short-term ownership of junkers I’ve had on hand for parts or which were so totally unreliable I couldn’t stand them. The numbers following the car is the length of time I owned each one. These include cars my wife drove, but not the ones my kids bought. My first new car was the 1960 Rambler. I’ve been driving from age 15.
1992 Honda Civic 15 yrs
1996 Toyota Tacoma 9 months (still have it)
1982 Toyota Pickup 13 years (it was stolen)
1997 Subaru Outback 13 years (still have it)
1976 Toyota Pickup 30 months (went to college and my wife couldn’t afford the payment)
1972 Volvo 164E (11 years - kid rolled it)
1960 Rambler American (3 years)
1980 Volkswagen Rabbit (5 years)
1970 Opel Kadet Wagon (18 months - good car, for GM, but wanted a Volvo - we were in Germany)
1967 Volkswagen Beetle (2 years - left Germany for home)
1949 Willys Jeepster - (first one - 5 years, second one for 9, still have it)
1954 Plymouth (18 months)
1962 Plymouth Valiant (6 years)
1968 Dodge Coronet (18 months - traded for Opel to be delivered in Germany)
1936 Plymouth (first car, I rolled it)
1947 Plymouth (second car, a dog)
- 05 GTO
89 LEGEND
83 928
77 SCIROCCO
66 911
71 CAMARO
90 AUDI V8
63 CORVAIR
55 CHEV
50 CHEV
I put more miles on cars than most people I know. I have already eclipsed a million miles plus, and have been driving for 20 years. Part of those miles are for work and do include numerous rentals and company vehicles, but have put over 700K on my own vehicles. If anything this was a fun exercise just to reminisce about my 1973 Ford Gran Torino with the 351 Windsor engine. It was my first car (so it receives bonus points).
2009 Mitsubishi Galant (probably too new to fairly evaluate but flawless so far)
2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (still have 100K)
2004 Volkswagen Jetta (traded for Jeep)
1973 Ford Grand Torino (sold for Farm Use - yes it was time)
1999 Jeep Cherokee Sport
1999 Chevrolet Camaro
1994 Chevrolet Corsica
1990 Pontiac Firebird
1988 Pontiac Lemans (basically a metal box of imported garbage)
My cars (I am a woman that can’t tell you of the details on the problem cars but they were many!)
2002 Toyota Avalon: THE best! It was 3 years old when we bought it and it still runs beautifully and is a pleasure to drive–I hope it lasts forever ; ) as I don’t care for the new body styles for Avalon!
1984 Toyota Corolla LE: Bought new, no problems
1983 Toyota Corolla SR5: Bought new, no problems
1986 Toyota Corolla Used, no problems
2002 Chevy Astro Got it 1 1/2 year ago with only 60,000 miles on it. Great van so far (Can’t figure why Chevy quit making them)
1989 Chevy Astro Needed a new engine around 175,000 but was problem free until then. We still have it as our “hauling” van
1968 Toyota (corolla I think) got it when it was pretty used, so we had some problems but it was a good little car
1996 Lexus We got it when it was 8 years old, very well cared for…but I would never buy one again because we were told over and over by repair places that we would have to take it to the Lexus dealer to get it worked on…and Lexus charges a bundle to do anything!! Only problems have been “wear”…like gaskets aging.
THE problem vehicles:
1974 VW Campervan (traveled all over US and Canada in it…It was such a nice design inside, but broke down all over US and Canada in it!)
1971 VW Campervan (same problems)
1965 Triumph Herald Funny little car, but lots of problems.
1971 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe 5 spd…Mediterranean Blue… Was a year old when I bought it…I loved driving that car!! but it drove me to the Poor Farm and I finally had to give it up
2009 Honda Accord EXL Cpe. was trouble free from day one. Wish I had kept it
2008 Honda Civic EX Cpe. trouble free, good car. Miss it!
2010 Accord Coupe V6 EXL Cpe. Just several minor issues repaired under warranty. Still a keeper!
2003 Honda Accord V6 EXL Cpe Six Speed manual. a few sensors went out. around 40 thousand miles.
2006 Honda Accord V6 EXL coupe
1984 Ford Tempo 5 speed manual. A rust bucket when I got it as a kid in 1996. 186,000 miles on it and not once had a mechanical problem with it other than an exhaust issue but that was expected when I purchased it!
2001 Hyundai Elantra GLS 5 speed manual
2004 Chevy Impala.
2003 Hyundai Sonata (fuel pump went out TWICE… misc warranty issues)
2011 Hyundai Sonata (bad muffler, interior trim pieces) yes, it was a 2011.
Pontiac Sunfire 1999. First and last pontiac. nuf said!
1993 Hyundai Excel. Decent for what it was.
1995 Dodge Neon… First and last Dodge.