The answer is it ,depends!, But don’t pay attention to the mechanics, because they tend to be biased, based on their Specialties. And I just can’t see that happening with a Big 3 American car.įrom a car mechanic's point of view, which car make and model is more reliable and easier to fix when it breaks? I’d like to get over 250,000 miles on a car, or even 500,000 if I could. My desire is to drive a car until well after it’s paid off and I start paying $300+ a month in repairs. A few days later the dealership told the parts guy to go ahead and order it because there was no other way to fix the guy’s car without the part. Car owner said I’m not going to pay that price! with a fair amount of profanity thrown in. And it was going for $250 - supply and demand - limited supply due to planned obsolescence from manufacturer + high demand = high price. This parts guy found one, it was in incredibly high demand. And this was for a car that was less than 10 years old. The factory supply chain could not supply it - it was no longer made. All they needed was a fairly short cable and brackets, not a hi-tech or weird part. Apparently he had better secondary market contacts than they did. We started talking and he told me about a part he was trying to locate for a Jeep for the local Chrysler dealership. I went to the local auto parts store, a true mom & pop operation, to buy a headlight bulb. I imagine they would freak if so challenged. I find that quite remarkable, and I’d love to see Detroit challenged to do such a thing. Every piece of scrap gets recycled - they do not contribute to the local landfills. One of the hallmarks of Subarus is they have zero-landfill manufacturing plants. But I’m buying cars made in America to much higher standards and still supporting American jobs that pay American taxes. My dad’s Buick? He spends a bundle on that piece of garbage but he’s “buying American!” Well, so am I. Occasional batteries, windshield wipers annually, fluids, oil changes, tires, brakes, transmission fluid when needed - and the car is pretty happy. I don’t know what happened to the first, the second she didn’t do good maintenance on and warped the head, the third has 160k or so on it and has had nothing beyond a new clutch, new timing belt and water pump, and oil changes. In less than 3 years it has over 66k miles and has had no maintenance except oil changes. 180k miles when traded in, still running fantastically with no significant drop in MPG.Ģ015 Isuzu Crosstrek. Transmission was replaced after I hit a rock and the pan was torn.
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Only extraordinary service required was the new one (late ‘90s) had drive-by-wire throttle and the sensor freaked out, car’s computer locked it in to ‘limp’ mode, dealership replaced it for free under warranty.Ģ005 Toyota Matrix AWD, made in Kentucky IIRC. It just wore out and needed a lot of maintenance. This one did not age well when it got up around 150k miles. One timing belt replacement.ġ990 new Mazda 626LX made in Kentucky, IIRC. Both had the same transmission problem where it lost 5th gear: vacuum hose changes turned it in to a 4 speed stick, engines were fine and needed no maintenance aside from oil changes. My experiences with the cars that I bought:ġ984ish used: Two Mitsubishis, a Cordia and a Tredia (came chassis and engine/drive train, different body). I watched my family and friends and toke note of what car problems they had across a variety of brands and makes, and noticed that the Japanese cars had far fewer problems over time. I have owned nine cars since I started driving about 40 years ago. Why do some people still refuse to buy US-made automobiles?Īwesome question, and I love the answers.