Your car, what makes you feel it has been reliable, or unreliable?

[tvguy]

To me a reliable car goes over 100,000 miles without repairs.

My 2003 Ford Focus, purchased new, didn't need a single repair in it's first 10 years and 100,000 miles.
From 100,000 to it's current 131,000 miles, I have had to replace the motor mounts, alternator, ignition switch and a piece inside the door that is attached to the outside handle. I consider this a very reliable car.

DW's 2000 Mercury Mountaineer, purchased new, went 10 years and 80,000 miles without a repair. An ABS sensor, throttle solenoid and power door lock needed repair. It has 113,000 miles on it now I consider this car to be reliable, but not as reliable as my Focus.

Our 1987 Chevy Suburban, purchased new, came with a 6 year, 60,000 mile warranty, and needed multiple repairs while under warranty, including a complete paint job because the paint peeled off in sheets. It was poorly assembled at the factory, and it took me an additional 6 or 7 years to fix issues that were mostly related to that, including a transmission at 100,000 miles, that failed because an internal part was put in backwards at the factory. I consider it an unreliable vehicle, however financially, the total of all the repairs adds up to $10's of thousands of dollars less than replacing it would cost. It has 149,000 miles on it now.

I do not consider oil and filter changes (every 3,000 miles), transmission fluid and filter changes and fuel filter changes (every 30,000 miles), spark plug and coolant changes (every 100,000 miles), tires and brakes to be repairs.

 

[missnic]

I had a 2010 Mini Cooper, purchased brand new. I had wanted a Mini since they first came out, and was finally able to buy one. I loooooooved that car. However.. it went through 3 batteries in the 3 years I owned it. It would just randomly not start up, leaving me stranded (with open windows, but that was just a design flaw). The 3rd battery they replaced lasted all of 6 months. The dealer refused to even consider that it might be a problem with the car, and not just the battery. Their excuse was 'It's hot in Florida, and batteries don't last long in heat". True.. but they should definitely last longer than 6 months. So, the day they put in the 4th battery, I went straight from Mini to Subaru across the street and traded it in for an Outback. Funny thing is, I have yet to have a dead battery in the Outback..

 

[amylevan]

We just said goodbye to my 2004 Ford Escape, it had 185,000 miles on it when we traded it in (new when we bought it). The only repair was the radiator which went at 105,000 miles. Loved, loved, loved it!

We just traded up to a Toyota Highlander for the 3rd row, and fingers crossed that it is as reliable as my Escape.

 

[Dentam]

I have a 2001 Sunfire with 152k miles on it. I've only had to do routine maintenance on it except for replacing the starter a couple of years ago. I've been very lucky with it. Hoping to get another year out of it before getting a small SUV that will better fit my current needs.

 

[DisneyMandC]

I just got rid of my first car, a 2001 Lexus RX300 I got it used with 56,000 miles and when I sold it I had just rolled over 265,000. Though I did have some major issues with it, I would say that largely it was a pretty reliable car. I got it when I was 15 so of course drove it like a complete idiot for the first couple of months (er... years?) of having my license. Right after it rolled over 100,000, the transmission went out and had to be rebuilt. And then the steering rack went out.

That being said, I didn't really know anything about car maintenance so when someone said my timing belt needed to be replaced I said "what's that?" At this point, the car had 180,000 miles on it. And then when it wouldn't start one morning at about 260,000 miles and my mechanic said I needed new sparkplugs, I said "what's that?" Cars aren't exactly my forte...

That being said, it kept me alive through my stupid teenage year and was a wonderful car. I sold it in March and still miss driving it. I have a 2011 Hyundai Sonata now that I'm really enjoying the gas mileage on

 

[Praying Colonel]

I have a 2005 Camry with 211,000 miles on it and other than a brake job I had to do on it in 2010 it's had absolutely 0 issues. Rock-solid car.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

2002 GMC 2500HD purchased new, has 95,000 miles. I've replaced one set of tires (at 60,000), one battery (at 9 years), 1 daylight running light (this year), and one power window motor under warranty at 2 years. I consider this truck as reliable as taxes. I wouldn't hesitate to drive it anywhere, with or without a trailer attached.

2008 GMC Acadia purchased new, 105,000 miles. Water pump replaced at about 60,000, 2 sets of tires (1 very recently), shocks & struts at the same time as the most recent tires. But the biggy - transmission went out at 93,000 miles. This car runs & drives like new again, but that big repair has us nervous. Not sure I'd call this car "unreliable", but can't quite sign off on "reliable" either.

2014 Ford Focus purchased new, 18,000 miles. No repairs so far. I call it reliable, but it's far too new to predict how it will be longterm.

1980 Toyota pickup purchased used in 1995. This truck had already had 2 major mechanical failures (engine and transmission) prior to my purchase, both pre-100,000 miles, also a clutch and numerous smaller issues. I've since turned it into a race only vehicle and have had numerous other failures, some related to abuse, several not. This truck was unreliable 20 years ago and isn't much better now

 

[usnuzuloose]

Okay, to give you an update, our car we just put an engine in it. The old engine almost made it to 200 thousand miles. It runs so beautiful now. I bet this engine will last the same amount of miles. And the best part is no car payment. We are so very happy with it!

 

[magsmum]

I have a 2011 Honda Odyssey. It's a lemon. Already had all the motor mechanisms replaced in both doors as well as a partial engine rebuild- and I haven't even had the car 4 years! The car was in the shop pretty much all of April. Thank heavens I bought an extended warranty figuring that I'd get a door replacement out of it somewhere around 120,000. I think I'm going to trade it in when the warranty is up, even though I usually drive my cars at least 10 years. I had a 2002 Odyssey prior to this and did not have these kind of problems. And DH has a 2011 Pilot that has had no issues at all.

 

[Dentam]

One thing I like about my Sunfire is that it doesn't have anything beyond the basics. No power windows or power locks which means no worries about repairing those when they break. I forgot to mention that the CD player broke years ago but I never bothered to fix it. I just listen to the radio although now the volume dial is hit and miss. I don't really consider either of these essentials though. The AC has never needed repairs which is awesome. After doing my internship at WDW in the summer driving around in my old Ford Tempo with no working AC I can really appreciate this!

 

[a742246]

I have a 2010 Prius bought new in 2009 now has 155,000 miles on it. Excellent car no transmission oil to replace, no radiator fluid to replace, no serpentine belt to replace. Back brakes were replaced at 95,000 miles front brakes replaced at 145,000 miles, Oil changes at 10,000 miles (with syn oil), average 53 mpg in summer 45 MPG in winter(snow tires deceases mpg). Best car I ever owned!

 

[Dentam]

155k miles on a five year old car - yikes! You must have a long commute to work each day?

 

[Cadiewampus]

2003 ford explorer bought new. . Has had a few issues. Had to have transmission rebuilt at 175,000 miles. Of course that was probably my fault as I had never had the transmission fluid changed mainly due to the fact that it was designed with a factory sealed transmission (no dipstick to check level) and uses some special fluid.( and I am cheap). I replaced bearings in rear end couple times an alternator and water outlet general repair type stuff and going strong at 210,000 miles so I would consider it reliable

2002 Ford F150 bought used in 2004 with 23,000 miles. Now has about 230,000 on it. Had transmission rebuilt at around 150,000 but that is really the only big repair so very reliable

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

2000 F-150 bought used with 35k in 2002 - starter at 100k and alternator at 150k now has 205k
2008 Ram 1500 Quad Cab bought used with 32k in 2011- nothing other than maintenance (although it does seem to be rough on tires) now has 106k
2006 Kia Amanti bought used with 19k in 2008 - break light and gas cap but other than that nothing major now has 100k

 

[Colleen27]

I'm on my third Chevy Venture, so that should tell you my opinion on their reliability. The first was a '98 I bought the first used with a lot of miles on it (around 180K, IIRC, but I needed something quick and cheap-used was better than a car payment!) and it lasted well beyond expected without anything more than normal maintenance, before developing an engine problem that I couldn't see spending the money to repair 229K miles. The guy I sold it to, who was far more mechanically inclined than me or my husband, rebuilt the engine and his wife is still driving it. The second had fewer miles and was a few years newer; a 2001 with 110K miles. That one suffered an unfortunate misadventure with a lousy oil change place that ended up messing up the brake lines pretty badly. Interestingly enough, also right at 229K miles and after having been rock solid up to that point. So then I bought my current van, a 2004 with 85K miles, three years ago. I love it, and I have every intention of driving it to 200+K. I'm going to be in trouble when I do have to replace it, though, because Chevy quit making the Venture after the 2005 model year so I'm going to have to try a different minivan before too long.

I will say, though, that I probably have a looser definition of "normal upkeep" than some people because I live in Michigan where sober drivers swerve and weave to dodge the potholes and you have to be drunk to drive a straight line. Normal wear and tear, to me, includes minor suspension work like tie rods and ball joints and such as well as being harder on tires than you might expect because that's just the price we pay for the state of our roads.

 

[tvguy]

I have a 2010 Prius bought new in 2009 now has 155,000 miles on it. Excellent car no transmission oil to replace, no radiator fluid to replace, no serpentine belt to replace. Back brakes were replaced at 95,000 miles front brakes replaced at 145,000 miles, Oil changes at 10,000 miles (with syn oil), average 53 mpg in summer 45 MPG in winter(snow tires deceases mpg). Best car I ever owned!

You're about due for a $4,000 battery replacement. Better than a few years ago when that battery was $5,000 installed.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I have a 2006 Honda Accord. I bought it new with 3 miles on it. It's been paid off for a few years now. I love love love my car.

I've done the routine maintenance of oil changes, brakes, roters, oil changes. I replaced my front control arms and my rear axels at 100K but I consider this normal maintenance due to the pot holes in this area. We've had a few bad winters here and the streets are horrific in certain areas.

The first big repair I needed was my engine dying at 116K miles. It was completely shocking to me and my mechanic, who is my uncle.

I replaced the engine for $1700. It was a used engine with 45K miles on it. My uncle buys the part with his commercial account and does the labor pretty cheap for me.

I think my car is very reliable. I could have gone and bought a new car when the engine died but me and my uncle felt the car was good enough to fix. He felt it was worth fixing or he was going to buy it from me, fix it and resell it. He said after this my car has another 10++ years. It sure beats another car payment.

 

[Jaime4004]

I have a 2006 Honda Accord. I bought it new with 3 miles on it. It's been paid off for a few years now. I love love love my car.

I've done the routine maintenance of oil changes, brakes, roters, oil changes. I replaced my front control arms and my rear axels at 100K but I consider this normal maintenance due to the pot holes in this area. We've had a few bad winters here and the streets are horrific in certain areas.

The first big repair I needed was my engine dying at 116K miles. It was completely shocking to me and my mechanic, who is my uncle.

I replaced the engine for $1700. It was a used engine with 45K miles on it. My uncle buys the part with his commercial account and does the labor pretty cheap for me.

I think my car is very reliable. I could have gone and bought a new car when the engine died but me and my uncle felt the car was good enough to fix. He felt it was worth fixing or he was going to buy it from me, fix it and resell it. He said after this my car has another 10++ years. It sure beats another car payment.

I have a 2007 Honda Accord. Never thought about the engine dying anytime soon. It's has over $150K miles, I think closer to 170 but I don't pay much attention. I feel like it will live forever, so far just have had the routine maintenance.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I have a 2007 Honda Accord. Never thought about the engine dying anytime soon. It's has over $150K miles, I think closer to 170 but I don't pay much attention. I feel like it will live forever, so far just have had the routine maintenance.

Yes we were SHOCKED. I thought it would last me forever. My uncle says "they are just machines. Not every car is going to come off of the assembly line in perfect condition." It still didn't make me feel better. lol

I fixed it for a total of $1700 which isn't bad at all. Now I'm hopingI'll get another 100K++ miles on that new/used engine too!

I really do love my car and didn't want to get rid of it. It's an EX. I love my heated leather seats and sunroof.

 

[xlxo]

I have a 2007 Honda Accord. Never thought about the engine dying anytime soon. It's has over $150K miles, I think closer to 170 but I don't pay much attention. I feel like it will live forever, so far just have had the routine maintenance.

Most engines go funny about that mileage. Personally I have no problems getting the engine rebuilt if the rest of the car still works.