Most reliable vehicle you've owned vs least reliable

Weekend Warrior

Weekend Warrior

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Mr Madman
Problems with my current daily driver got me thinking about my most, and least, reliable vehicles. I know some people are brand loyal, etc, but I have never stuck with one brand, and over my 35 years of driving, I've owned cars or trucks from all of the big three, plus several foreign vehicles.

Most reliable:
1992 Toyota Tercel. This car was a tank. I was young, driving high daily miles to a distant job, and I needed a reliable, affordable car. I put 160,000 miles on the car in 8 years, and only changed the oil, air filter, brakes and tires. That's it.
Runner up:
2003 Chevy Trailblazer. I drove it for many years, then it was my son's first car. Same maintenance as the Tercel, except add one replaced power steering pump with belt and tail light bulbs, in 140,000 miles.

Least reliable:
2008 Toyota Tundra. This truck was so bad, my ex-wife put a sign at the back of my side of the garage that read, " ___ days since Tundra has been in the shop ". She put a sticky note with a number for how many days. I'm not lying when I say it never, ever, went more than 6 days. After less than 6 months I hired an attorney for a lemon law case, and while driving it to another shop as part of the attempt at a settlement, I was T-boned and it was totaled (I was at the hospital with a broken ankle, and everyone kept asking me why I was smiling).
Runner up:
2018 Ford Explorer. My current daily driver is a piece of junk. Its been in the shop 8 times in a year. Still not anywhere near as bad as the Tundra though.

How about you?
 
Most reliable:
2009 Ford F150 - Ran to 200k miles trouble free, sold it and replaced with a 2019 Ford Ranger.

Least Reliable:
2007 Volvo XC90 - Everything broke at super low mileage. I don't feel like typing it out again.
 
Most reliable? Beats everything else!

yugo-gv-placement-1528210669.jpg
 
Most reliable. That's tough with a number of contenders after more than 50 years driving. But I'm going to go with my 1981 Toyota Corolla. Never even a minor repair. Not even one.

Least reliable. Even after 50 years, that's one is easy. not even a close second. I traded in that Corolla for a 1985 Cadillac Cimarron. If anyone remembers, that was Caddy's early entrant into the compact market, a tweaked Chevy Cavalier. The car was gorgeous, comfortable as all get out, and had a great suspension. But mechanically, it was a complete POS the mechanics couldn't do anything to fix (and the dealer was a friend). The last American brand car I ever bought and one of the reasons I don't ever want to be on a first name basis with a dealership service manager again,
 
Most reliable: 1966 Plymouth Valiant with a "slant 6". I bought it with 50,000 miles and gave it to my brother at 200,000. He drove it around 40,000 and gave it to his son who drove it for another few years. He finally sold it for scrap in 1989 with almost 300,000 miles and never had a serious problem. But it did out last numerous tires, batteries and oil changes.

Least reliable (and surprisingly so) 2006 Lexus 400h (hybrid). As they say, never by the "first" of anything. Got rid of it as soon as the warranty expired. A/C failed several times. Battery (drive battery, not starting battery) failed in first year. Starting battery failed in 2nd year. I never could get the alignment right and wore out three sets of tires within 30,000 miles. Lexus tried to fix alignment several times under warranty but didn't reimburse me for tires. Dash began cracking in several place and had to be replaced. The final straw was when we were driving on I-4 with a couple of good friends that were visiting from out of town and a piece of window trim came loose and blew off into traffic. There were several other minor problems too, like the rubber that kept coming off the brake pedal. The incessant rattling of the hatch back and the failure of the pneumatic tube that opened the hatchback.
 
Most reliable: Ford F-150 Supercrew 4x4, 17years, 170kmi, nothing but routine mx

Lease reliable: VW Passat GLX VR6, was good until the two year warranty ran out, then something big broke every month for six months straight. It was total junk by 50kmi, traded it off...
 
JOhnH said:
Most reliable: 1966 Plymouth Valiant with a "slant 6". I bought it with 50,000 miles and gave it to my brother at 200,000. He drove it around 40,000 and gave it to his son who drove it for another few years. He finally sold it for scrap in 1989 with almost 300,000 miles and never had a serious problem. But it did out last numerous tires, batteries and oil changes.

Least reliable (and surprisingly so) 2006 Lexus 400h (hybrid). As they say, never by the "first" of anything. Got rid of it as soon as the warranty expired. A/C failed several times. Battery (drive battery, not starting battery) failed in first year. Starting battery failed in 2nd year. I never could get the alignment right and wore out three sets of tires within 30,000 miles. Lexus tried to fix alignment several times under warranty but didn't reimburse me for tires. Dash began cracking in several place and had to be replaced. The final straw was when we were driving on I-4 with a couple of good friends that were visiting from out of town and a piece of window trim came loose and blew off into traffic. There were several other minor problems too, like the rubber that kept coming off the brake pedal. The incessant rattling of the hatch back and the failure of the pneumatic tube that opened the hatchback.
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My second most reliable car (again; surprisingly) has been my wife's current 2011 BMW 328i. It doesn't have many miles on it though because the first 5 years we owned it our lives mostly revolved around our business and the 2 mile drive to and from each day. (we drove separately though). AT 42k now and the only problem has been a broken wire that allowed her to shift into sport mode. She hated not being able to go into sport mode. It is now 9 years old and runs and looks as good as new. I don't like the low profile, run-flat tires though.
 
Least reliable would be a three way tie between an 06 BMW 325i, 2002 Ford Focus, and 01 Honda Accord. The BMW never left me stranded but was a constant barrage of warning lights and codes. The Focus front wheel almost fell off on the highway. The Accord always needed something.

Most reliable would be my 1998 Chevrolet Silverado and the 06 Saturn Vue. Both of them had right at 300k miles with only routine maintenance issues.
 
Most- 2004 Land Cruiser. OD stopped at 250k so I dont really know. Just pure maintenance items until the exhaust header got a crack. It needed another round of brakes and tires, so I traded it in.
2nd- 2008 Sequioa. Headlight burned out, and maintenance. at 140k miles. 50k of those are me.

Least- 198x VW Golf- It had one belt for the alternator. No power steering, no power anything, manual. It ate cv joints like Pez
2nd- No idea year Ford Escort- It would like to die occasionally. Sometimes a restart would fix it, most times it was fuel related (injector, fuel pump, electrical). Maybe 6 times in the 2 years I had it. I still get ptsd when a car briefly loses power when driving. it was a hand me down from my mom and I was grateful.
Hon mention- 2005 CTS-V. This was always in the shop. But it was a 400hp missile that I abused every chance I got. I cant fault GM for me breaking rear ends or motor mounts.
 
Most reliable has been our 2006 Volvo XC90. We bought it in 2008 with 25k miles on it and currently has 186k miles on it. Nothing has broke and all we have done is timing belt at 100k and tires. Wife loves that ride and it's still a daily driver.

Least reliable has been my 2004 Silverado Z71. Piece of junk! Bought in 2009 with 35k miles on it and has 165k on it now. At 100k the factory, with known problems, heads cracked and hydro locked the engine. I put on 2 new after market heads. A year later another cracked and hydro locked the engine so bad it bent a connection rod. So I had to take engine further apart and replace it along with the head. Transmission has been slipping for years and once the brake lines failed internally and locked the brakes up and wouldn't release. Dealer item on rear lines. What a pain. Bunch of small electrical issues. Still driving the truck as my work truck now. Luckily I have done all the work myself or this truck would have been a huge money pit too.

New truck is a 2016 Ram, jury is still out but it's a blast to drive and so far no problems.
 
I’ve owned a lot of cars over the years and none of them really stand out as being “most reliable”. There have been dozens of them that have went through my ownership period needing nothing more than general maintenance.

But I’ve also owned some real turds too, the worst being a VW bug that I had in high school. I spent a lot of time walking that summer because you could hardly drive across town without needing a tow home. Runner up was probably the first Dodge diesel truck I owned which needed one of everything within the first 6 months of ownership. It got to be pretty reliable after that though.

What is funny is that I tend to gravitate toward liking vehicles/Marques that have earned a reputation for being unreliable, plus everything I buy is well used. All those vehicles built by “unreliable” manufacturers have been fine for me. Paying attention to things and having a little mechanical sympathy goes a long way toward not breaking stuff. I drive things hard and the tune in all my cars is on kill everyday and there are minimal problems.
 
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Most reliable . . . hard to pick.

1990 F-150 5.0L - sold with 150K, normal maintenance, never failed to start/run.
1998 F-150 5.4L - sold with 145K, nornal maintenance, never failed to start/run. Did have to replace a heater core in it which was a PITA, but not a major knock and not expensive.
2008 F-150 5.4L - still own 155K, normal maintenance, never failed to start/run.

Least reliable: 1991 Ford Taurus SHO. Bought used back in high school w/70K miles on it. Head gasket blew within 10K miles. Specialty engine (Yamaha 24V aluminum V6) so few mechanics outside of Ford would touch it; took 3 months to fix. Got it back, 6 months later was driving down the road and heard a loud bang/shudder, looked in the mirror and had a trail of red fluid down the road. Parked it in a bank parking lot, had the girlfriend pick me up, then told Dad to haul it off. $4K mistake + $2K repairs. Great car when it ran though, lol!
 
Most reliable:
2004 Honda Accord - an ok car that kept on running +300K miles before I gave it away.
2002 GMC Yukon XL - it's my "company" vehicle. I use it to haul my tools and stuff. +205K miles and keeps on going.

Least Reliable:
2002 Chrysler Seabring - the most loved....the least reliable. It was junk at 90K miles
 

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Most reliable: 1997 Nissan Pathfinder. Mostly routine maintenance - worst problem was an alternator that went bad (at 98,000 miles) and left me floundering a few blocks from home (newer cars die when electrics die....)

Our Civic has been quite good, too.

Least reliable? 1986 Chevy Blazer. 4 torque converters in the first 2 years. Nearly filed a lemon-law claim after Chevy refused to pay for replacement a week out of warranty. Won't even consider a GM product after that experience.
 
Lots of pretty reliable rides - like my current 08 Ford Focus with well over a buck and a half on it.

Least reliable is easy - 1959 Sunbeam Alpine.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
Most reliable:
2009 Ford F150 - Ran to 200k miles trouble free...
Click to expand...

Bill Jennings said:
Most reliable: Ford F-150 Supercrew 4x4, 17years, 170kmi, nothing but routine mx...
Click to expand...
SoonerAviator said:
Most reliable . . . hard to pick.

1990 F-150 5.0L - sold with 150K, normal maintenance, never failed to start/run.
1998 F-150 5.4L - sold with 145K, nornal maintenance, never failed to start/run. Did have to replace a heater core in it which was a PITA, but not a major knock and not expensive.
2008 F-150 5.4L - still own 155K, normal maintenance, never failed to start/run...
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This is no "official survey", but it seems even outside of this thread, I hear good things about F-150s. I've never owned one, but I've considered it. I'm in the rust belt, and in the past I've worried about rust on these (my friend owns a body shop, and says Ford F-150s are the worst for rust), but now they are aluminum, right?
 
Our Toyota Tercel never broke in 14 years and 14,000 miles. We only replaced it with a Honda Fit because of a lucrative tax break. The Fit has gone 10 years and I don't recall how many thousand miles without so much as a hiccup.
 
I've had many new motorcycles, cars, and trucks, and all have been reliable in terms of running. Some have had other issues, all covered by warranty, which is still a PITA.
Most unreliable was a '69 Austin America that I bought from a friend. It had a ticking engine, so I figured a valve adjuster had come unscrewed. I drove it to our shop to work on it and it threw a rod a mile away. A rod bolt had come loose, and the other bolt bent then broke. Took out the crankcase and the auto transmission case, as they were stacked.
 
Most reliable - 1993 BMW 325i 6 cyl manual transmission. Absolutely bulletproof.
Runner up.. 1993 Toyota Celica, 4 cyl, manual transmission. A very, very close second. Both cars were driven year round, including many central NYS salted winters, and both running strong approaching 250k miles. Salt eventually did them both in. Would buy them both again in a heartbeat.
Honorable mentions in the most reliable category - 1992 Ford Aerostar and 1999 Mercedes ML430. Both took us on many lengthy family road trips, over 230k miles, and a lot of salt with very few issues other than routine maintenance.
Least reliable - 1993 Range Rover County LWB. Routine maintenance was more intense than any other vehicle, but even with adhering to the required maintenance schedule fastidiously, that car was constantly breaking down, leaving us stranded, and requiring a steady diet of expensive parts. Still loved it.
Runner up - 1971 and 1974 Fiat Spiders. Both were neglected when I bought them and needed restoration. Neither ever became even remotely reliable.
Honorable mention for least reliable - 2006 Mercedes ML500. Hands down winner for most expensive repairs and most difficult to work on.
 
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Kenny Phillips said:
I've had many new motorcycles, cars, and trucks, and all have been reliable in terms of running. Some have had other issues, all covered by warranty, which is still a PITA.
Most unreliable was a '69 Austin America that I bought from a friend. It had a ticking engine, so I figured a valve adjuster had come unscrewed. I drove it to our shop to work on it and it threw a rod a mile away. A rod bolt had come loose, and the other bolt bent then broke. Took out the crankcase and the auto transmission case, as they were stacked.
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I think in modern times we have redefined what reliable means. When I was a kid in the 1970s, I remember my dad getting worried when our cars from the 1960s were hitting 75,000 miles, he felt like 100k was the limit on reliability. Now, I think even simple 4-bangers should go 180k.
 
Most - 2012 Infiniti G37. Just got to 100,000 miles. Only thing broken is the backlight for the clock. Looking forward to another 100k.

Least - 1972 MGB. Can you say Lucas Electric? And that carb.
 
Most reliable: '01 Chevy Prizm (GM branded Toyota Corolla.) 210,000 miles with no repairs, original clutch, and that thing was thrashed. Redlined at every opportunity, shifted without the clutch... I think the brakes were original too when it was traded in. Runner up: '95 Dodge Ram diesel. 180,000 miles (which was where the engine was just starting to get broken in.) The only repair was a warranty fuel line replacement.

Least reliable: That is pretty much a tie. '86 Chevy S10 Blazer with the 2.8L V6. Interior trim items started failing fairly early, the intake gasket blew out at 70,000 miles resulting in the destruction of the engine from coolant going in to the crank case. Hydraulic clutch actuator failed shortly after. The other was the '05 Colorado pickup with the five cylinder engine. A cylinder rebuild was required at 40K. The rest of the engine ate itself at 80K.

Runners up: '04 Crown Victoria. Transmission blew up somewhere around 70K. The catalytic converters were replaced (under warranty) around the same time when the exhaust started shooting pellets. The '08 Explorer always had stuff breaking, like thermostats, radiators, rear diff seals, electrical problems....
 
Pinging @rmj62 Rich, I'd be interested in your answer to this question. -Skip
 
Ravioli said:
...

Least - 1972 MGB. Can you say Lucas Electric? And that carb.
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Had two bumper stickers on my Range Rover... "Lucas...Prince of Darkness" and "The parts falling off this car are of the highest British quality" or something like that. It was a while ago.
 
Weekend Warrior said:
I think in modern times we have redefined what reliable means. When I was a kid in the 1970s, I remember my dad getting worried when our cars from the 1960s were hitting 75,000 miles, he felt like 100k was the limit on reliability. Now, I think even simple 4-bangers should go 180k.
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Until I bought my first Japanese car (Datsun B210) I thought getting a new carburetor every year was standard maintenance. The one problem I had with the Datsun also showed me what customer service could be.
 
I’ve had an 06 and now an 07 Saab 9-3, when the 06 blew up on me at 250k I had the 07 by sunset the next day I’d been so happy with the first.

Pounded a lot of miles on bad roads so normal front end parts replaced a time or two but that stuff is insanely simple to change on these and the parts don’t rust all up like other cars here in MI... so no fighting rusted frozen nuts n bolts...

Bodies are galvanized so after 12 years of MI winters and no rust :)
 
In say 20 years the last time any of my cars were in a shop it was because I was stupid and fried the BCM while attempting a DIY remote start. The guys that fixed the BCM looked at my stuff and said it looked good but must have shorted something out while hooking it up.

I have been towed twice in 20 years.

First Car 1990 Chevy Cavalier

Second Car 1995 Chevy Lumina (T-boned & totaled)

Third Car 1995 Dodge Intrepid 3.5L, only issues I had with it was timing belt broke. That was a DIY repair that really sucked. Sold it to a former Coworker after getting my next car.

Fourth Car 2002 Chevy Impala got 225k miles on before she went to the junkyard after overheating and locking up. Bad fuel pump twice, one intake manifold gasket, all DIY repairs. Fried BCM as mentioned above. This was the nicest car I ever had. The passlock was getting pretty sketchy and it would go into anti theft mode, the work around was leaving the key on for 10 minutes and it would start. It only seemed to do that when it was really hot out, maybe a new key would have fixed it but it was close to end of life at that time I didn't bother. I actually changed the fuel pump once in a Walmart parking lot.

Fifth Car 1998 Chevy Lumina going strong with 170k miles on it. Its had one new ignition switch, one new coil pack, other than that I don't think there have been any unscheduled repairs. Dad bought it almost new.

A friend has a 2010 Hyundai Enatra, she is on disability and so I fix it for her, so far the only unscheduled MX for it has been a fuel ratio sensor that was $220 from the dealer. It took me literally 5 minutes to replace it. I have replaced the timing belt, water pump and tensioner in it a few year ago as a scheduled thing. Took me about three days since I'm kinda slow. I have kind of a like/dislike relationship with it, too damn small but it just runs and is easy to work on when I need to. Its had a few recalls and a bent wheel from pot holes, that's about it I think. It has about 140k miles on it. If I were in a pinch I might consider buying one.

My brother was just quoted $3800 to replace the timing chain tensioner on his Suburban (lives in California).
 
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Weekend Warrior said:
This is no "official survey", but it seems even outside of this thread, I hear good things about F-150s. I've never owned one, but I've considered it. I'm in the rust belt, and in the past I've worried about rust on these (my friend owns a body shop, and says Ford F-150s are the worst for rust), but now they are aluminum, right?
Click to expand...

No light duty truck is going to be impervious to rust belt issues. The F-150 will do just as well as the others, and anyone who claims a Ford did better or worse than a Dodge/GM is just using anecdotal evidence. They use the same coating on the frames/body panels and body panel thickness is basically the same. They all use boxed frames as well, so unlikely to have any differences there. If this were the 60's/70's, Dodge used significantly thinner sheet metal and would show rust more quickly. GM and Ford use aluminum body panels (hood, doors, tailgates, roof) and steel frames. Ram still uses steel panels in most places except the tailgate and hood, but they're moving toward aluminum. No matter which brand you buy, I'd have the underside coated with POR15 or similar rust-proofing and you'll be good to go. For me in the Southern US, I haven't bothered with any coating, but we only see sand/salt a few days per year and my frame after 11 years has little more than surface rust. Body panels are all rust-free, I did have a few paint bubbles at the edge of my hood from aluminum corrosion though (nothing to do with sand/salt). Covered it up with a wind/bug deflector, lol.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Until I bought my first Japanese car (Datsun B210) I thought getting a new carburetor every year was standard maintenance. The one problem I had with the Datsun also showed me what customer service could be.
Click to expand...
A 1972 Datsun B210 was my first car. Wish I had taken better care of it.
 
MuseChaser said:
Most reliable - 1993 BMW 325i 6 cyl manual transmission. Absolutely bulletproof.
Runner up.. 1993 Toyota Celica, 4 cyl, manual transmission. A very, very close second. Both cars were driven year round, including many central NYS salted winters, and both running strong approaching 250k miles. Salt eventually did them both in. Would buy them both again in a heartbeat.
Honorable mentions in the most reliable category - 1992 Ford Aerostar and 1999 Mercedes ML430. Both took us on many lengthy family road trips, over 230k miles, and a lot of salt with very few issues other than routine maintenance.
Least reliable - 1993 Range Rover County LWB. Routine maintenance was more intense than any other vehicle, but even with adhering to the required maintenance schedule fastidiously, that car was constantly breaking down, leaving us stranded, and requiring a steady diet of expensive parts. Still loved it.
Runner up - 1971 and 1974 Fiat Spiders. Both were neglected when I bought them and needed restoration. Neither ever became even remotely reliable.
Honorable mention for least reliable - 2006 Mercedes ML500. Hands down winner for most expensive repairs and most difficult to work on.
Click to expand...
I'll second the Mercedes on this one.we had a 2009 ML350 that was the biggest piece of crap I've ever owned and will never buy another Mercedes again.
Most reliable so far, was my 2006 Duramax Silverado, and my 2015 Duramax Sierra. Hands down, reliability winners! My Hyundai sonata comes in at a tie with my Duramax trucks. Have not put a single dime outside of routine maintenance into that car.
So far, my Chevy Volt has been extremely reliable and have been very happy with that car. That being said, when the 8-year warranty is up, it's gone.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
It's interesting to hear some people talk about the same vehicles being the most vs. least reliable, goes to show that's just how things go sometimes.

It's hard for me to pick on most reliable vs. least reliable given that I don't have consistency with age or mileage put on my vehicles. My '04.5 Ram I bought new and drove for 108k miles and all that it ever took was fluids and a serpentine belt. Sold it with original tires and brake pads even.

But I would probably have to give the "most reliable" overall to my 2000 Ford Excursion that I bought with 90k miles and sold with something around 170-175k miles. When I bought it it needed new coil on plugs and it had suffered a couple of spark plug blow-outs previously. However then in my ownership all I did to it was fluids and brakes, and I think one ball joint.

As a close second, our E55. Bought with 190k on it, drove to 230k, and really didn't do much to it at all. Nothing more than standard wear and tear.

Least reliable was definitely the BMW 740iL that we bought in Ohio and owned for about 3 years. That we bought with 140k on it and I replaced everything on it, and it was still broken. BMW quality is just not very good on the 5 and 7 series. The 3 series seems to be good, but much simpler. Still, not a reliable car. I'm not sure you could convince me to buy another BMW.
 
MuseChaser said:
A 1972 Datsun B210 was my first car. Wish I had taken better care of it.
Click to expand...

midlifeflyer said:
Mine was a '76. Great car.
Click to expand...

There's a relatively new show on Motortrend TV called JDM Legends. JDM Legends is a Japanese repair/restoration shop in Cali that does a lot of really cool work on all sorts of old Datsun/Nissan cars as well as Toyotas and Mazdas. They seem to have a love for them, and a wealth of knowledge on the details between different models. Really some beautiful cars they've turned out, although I'm partial to the Z cars.
 
So far I’ve only had two cars, a 2004 Volvo S60 and a 2015 VW GTI.

The S60 had a bit over 150k miles, but it was having a few issues when we decided it needed to go. Evaporator core went out, catalytic converter went bad, needed a new strut on the front drivers side and a few other minor issues.

So far (knocks on wood) my GTI has been trouble free (knocks on wood again) with 53k miles on it.
 
Every car/truck US or BMW I owned except the first one, a 63 Pontiac Tempest bought used that threw a rod and one that was totaled after some dum*** hit it has gone at least l50000 miles with only routine maintenance items like tires, brakes, etc. The one other major thing that happened was covered. This was my 2005 BMW X3 which had an electrical problem that resulted in BMW Airfreighting a whole new instrument cluster from Munich. It just passed 150000 with nada in troubles.

Other than that, no problems.

Cheers
 
I've had pretty good luck with cars that I owned myself. The least reliable car in memory was a family car, a 1973 Dodge Charger. As I recall, it had to have an axle replaced within the first year or two, and it had not been abused.
 
Most reliable was my 1990 Toyota Corolla. But reliable cars are boring...

Most exciting was my used 1975 Volvo sedan. First time I drove it more than ~10 miles, the alternator died. I drove it across the country during college, and it broke down three times, with three separate issues. A year later I was driving it through Pennsylvania when the fan separated from its shaft and flew through the radiator. Steam & fluid erupting from the front of the car we coasted to the side of the road & had to walk to a small town to phone a professor (!) to come pick us up. When I finally traded it in for the Corolla a couple of years later, it almost didn't make it up the grade of the freeway offramp leading to the dealership. My parents though it was a "safe" car for a teenager; the only reason it was "safe" was because it usually didn't move!
 
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