Automotive News, Media & Press - least reliable vehicles

http://www.automotive.com/worst-cars/least-reliable-cars/


cruze is a surprise.

Wow, Nissan is dominating that list.

And a Toyota is the least reliable car?
So much for my friend insisting the Tundra is better than the Silverado because it's a Toyota.:eyes:

These lists are always pretty useless. There's really only about 4 completely different automobiles there and all but the Cruze are platforms that have been in use for years now.

Don't understand why the Cruz is on that list... Someone must of payed them off. Haha but I was surprised to see the Toyota Prius wasn't on it??? :confused:

Looks to me like it's based on recall count, which is stupid. The cruze is new with teething problems it shouldn't be on that list. Reliability isn't based on recall count either.

im convinced that any car regardless of how great people say it is, is on a case-by-case basis. Everyone told me the ls1 was great and mine exploded starting the damn car...

Is it just me or does this kind of thing make it less desirable for companies to man-up and offer recalls for their mistakes?

Exactly, # of recalls means jack shit.

It's the ones that have problems that don't get fixed that are the real problems.

I think reliability also has a role to play with the owner of the vehicle. Half of people beat their cars into the ground and don't take care of them at all... of course they are going to break.

All the people with "hondas and toyotas" are so reliable is full of crap. Most modern american cars if taken care of last the same amount of time.

Yeah people don't do maintenance to anything now days yet expect them to never break. I maintain my stuff well and low and behold thy don't leave me stranded. I think basing reliability on recalls is retarded especially on a new model car. As for Tainted saying his LS wasn't reliable, mine was modded from 80-115k(when I sold it) and I ran it plenty hard and it never had even one hiccup so it definatly is a car to car basis

I think reliability also has a role to play with the owner of the vehicle. Half of people beat their cars into the ground and don't take care of them at all... of course they are going to break.

All the people with "hondas and toyotas" are so reliable is full of crap. Most modern american cars if taken care of last the same amount of time.

Not really. You, me, Detroit, and everybody else with a brain knows that American cars really just caught up with the best of the foreign brands a couple/few years ago. And IMO, it takes more than 2-3 years to tell how "reliabile" a car is. So as far as new cars are concerned, the jury is still out. But when it comes to cars in the past ~20 years, I would say anybody who wants to argue that the cars made my Honda and Toyota weren't of tangibly better quality and better reliability is "full of crap."

Kinda of upset me that my 2010 Xterra SE made the list at #2. My only complaint is suspension sucks worse than my 2009 Jeep 4DR and the gas sucks. But I love the truck chasis so overlook the suspension and work pays my gas. Other than that 0 problems. It would be nice if they told what the recalls were as Im too lazy to look them up.

Kind of surprised to see the FJ on there.

My Dad bought one new back in '08 and it gets the crap beat out of it daily, I actually feel really bad for it. Has 70k miles on it and since he's owned it, it's been driven through heavy stop and go traffic 5 days a week, been through all types of extreme weather conditions, etc., etc., all the harshest driving you could imagine it's endured. Has been completely trouble free other than your normal required maintenance, not one issue with it whatsoever. Very impressive truck. No idea how it made that list.

Wow, Nissan is dominating that list.

And a Toyota is the least reliable car?
So much for my friend insisting the Tundra is better than the Silverado because it's a Toyota.:eyes::werd:





im convinced that any car regardless of how great people say it is, is on a case-by-case basis.:nod:

Just a thought....Ex-sti owner here, it's pretty common knowledge that 100k on one of those cars (engine) is pretty high. Now is that because:

A. The engines are stressed from the factory (Boosted 2.5L making 260 whp)
B. People almost always beat on them
C. People almost always modify them

Probably all three, but I just never hear them considered unreliable....though they sort of are.

Not really. You, me, Detroit, and everybody else with a brain knows that American cars really just caught up with the best of the foreign brands a couple/few years ago. And IMO, it takes more than 2-3 years to tell how "reliabile" a car is. So as far as new cars are concerned, the jury is still out. But when it comes to cars in the past ~20 years, I would say anybody who wants to argue that the cars made my Honda and Toyota weren't of tangibly better quality and better reliability is "full of crap."

I've got 215K miles on my 11 year old American made sedan. In all those miles, I've made but TWO repairs. A blower motor resistor at 85K, and a fuel pump at 140K that failed due to cavitation. Untouched engine, transmission (still original fluid), all original steering and suspension, etc. Just basic maintenance - gas, oil, tires, brakes. No expensive timing belt replacement with preventative water pump replacement like you would find on a poorly engineered Japanese car. Driven 100+ miles per day and drives just as nice as it did a decade ago.

It's all in how you take care of the cars.

And this list is worthless. Although I do agree that Nissan is one of the top 3 biggest pieces of shit manufacturers.

I've got 215K miles on my 11 year old American made sedan. In all those miles, I've made but TWO repairs. A blower motor resistor at 85K, and a fuel pump at 140K that failed due to cavitation. Untouched engine, transmission (still original fluid), all original steering and suspension, etc. Just basic maintenance - gas, oil, tires, brakes. No expensive timing belt replacement with preventative water pump replacement like you would find on a poorly engineered Japanese car. Driven 100+ miles per day and drives just as nice as it did a decade ago.

It's all in how you take care of the cars.

And this list is worthless. Although I do agree that Nissan is one of the top 3 biggest pieces of shit manufacturers.

You have never serviced your transmission? Still has the original tranny fluid? That is really hard to believe at 215k miles.

You have never serviced your transmission? Still has the original tranny fluid? That is really hard to believe at 215k miles.While it might be difficult to believe, I have heard of other cases similar (160k+ miles, 230k miles) to that as well.
I would never wait that long to do a trans service but they say once you hit a certain mileage without ever having done it that it's probably best to just leave it and keep going.

I've got 215K miles on my 11 year old American made sedan. In all those miles, I've made but TWO repairs. A blower motor resistor at 85K, and a fuel pump at 140K that failed due to cavitation. Untouched engine, transmission (still original fluid), all original steering and suspension, etc. Just basic maintenance - gas, oil, tires, brakes. No expensive timing belt replacement with preventative water pump replacement like you would find on a poorly engineered Japanese car. Driven 100+ miles per day and drives just as nice as it did a decade ago.

It's all in how you take care of the cars.

And this list is worthless. Although I do agree that Nissan is one of the top 3 biggest pieces of shit manufacturers.

Never said that there were no reliable American cars made from 1980-2000. Just that the reputation that Honda and Toyota have/had for making reliable cars was earned.

IMO Honda has been putting out utter garbage the past 3-4 years in terms of styling. Plus I think the interiors feel cheaper than those made in the 90's/early 2000's. They've also been getting an undeserved free pass for POS automatic transmissions on any v6 model they've ever made. Don't know if they've fixed the problem, but their v6 auto trannies are notorious for crapping out well before or right around 100k miles.

Styling is subjective... personally, I like the Accord coupe. 271hp and a 6spd manual is ok with me as well. As far as the automatics go, as far as I know they fixed the problem. My sister had a '99 TL several years ago, and the tranny took a poop at about 97k miles. But they replaced it for free because it was under 100k.

Styling is subjective... personally, I like the Accord coupe. 271hp and a 6spd manual is ok with me as well. As far as the automatics go, as far as I know they fixed the problem. My sister had a '99 TL several years ago, and the tranny took a poop at about 97k miles. But they replaced it for free because it was under 100k.

The coupe is definitely good looking, and the sedan is ok, but I really hate that they put the door handles on upside down.

The coupe is definitely good looking, and the sedan is ok, but I really hate that they put the door handles on upside down.

:confused:

Not really. You, me, Detroit, and everybody else with a brain knows that American cars really just caught up with the best of the foreign brands a couple/few years ago. And IMO, it takes more than 2-3 years to tell how "reliabile" a car is. So as far as new cars are concerned, the jury is still out. But when it comes to cars in the past ~20 years, I would say anybody who wants to argue that the cars made my Honda and Toyota weren't of tangibly better quality and better reliability is "full of crap."

It depends... I rather purchase american vehicles to support our economy instead of supporting china and japans economy.

My silverado is going on 11 years old with 190K miles on it. All i've done to it is normal maintainence and it keeps on going.

I see well taken care of honda's with 150K miles on them and I've seen well taken care of cadillacs with 150K miles on them. I just refuse to pay the "Honda is better" price for a honda civic with 200K miles on it and they want 7-9 grand for it.

While it might be difficult to believe, I have heard of other cases similar (160k+ miles, 230k miles) to that as well.
I would never wait that long to do a trans service but they say once you hit a certain mileage without ever having done it that it's probably best to just leave it and keep going.

I've seen it happen before several times...owner never services the transmission, then either they decide to or the trans shows the first signs of issues and they do and the new slicker fluid helps the transmission to start slipping and finish itself off.

It depends... I rather purchase american vehicles to support our economy instead of supporting china and japans economy.

My silverado is going on 11 years old with 190K miles on it. All i've done to it is normal maintainence and it keeps on going.

I see well taken care of honda's with 150K miles on them and I've seen well taken care of cadillacs with 150K miles on them. I just refuse to pay the "Honda is better" price for a honda civic with 200K miles on it and they want 7-9 grand for it.:nod:

It depends... I rather purchase american vehicles to support our economy instead of supporting china and japans economy.

My silverado is going on 11 years old with 190K miles on it. All i've done to it is normal maintainence and it keeps on going.

I see well taken care of honda's with 150K miles on them and I've seen well taken care of cadillacs with 150K miles on them. I just refuse to pay the "Honda is better" price for a honda civic with 200K miles on it and they want 7-9 grand for it.

this^^^

mine it's going on ten years with 312k miles. only problem it's ever had was injectors at 260k (which was well before i bought it). i'm still putting 900-1200 miles a week on it too:usa:

:confused:

I know it's a little thing, but it bugs me everytime I see one. My eye is just drawn to it.

Sorry for huge pic.

http://www.zetaproducts.net/images/products/detail/08.accord.handles.coupe.door.jpg

It depends... I rather purchase american vehicles to support our economy instead of supporting china and japans economy.

My silverado is going on 11 years old with 190K miles on it. All i've done to it is normal maintainence and it keeps on going.

I see well taken care of honda's with 150K miles on them and I've seen well taken care of cadillacs with 150K miles on them. I just refuse to pay the "Honda is better" price for a honda civic with 200K miles on it and they want 7-9 grand for it.

GM trucks have always been very solid. Even when the interiors were crap :lol:. The Big 3 have control over the 1/2 ton market, and I don't really see that changing. And I won't go too in-depth with this argument, but I would wager that giving money to employees who work at a Honda plant in Ohio is just as good for our economy as giving it to GM execs when the vehicles are made in Canada or Mexico. I think people should buy the car that fits their needs/wants best, regardless of where it is made.

^^^ Problem is if you buy a Honda or Hyundai you are not supporting the american economy... where do you think the headquarters of those companies are... Japan/china. The money goes straight there.

^^^ Problem is if you buy a Honda or Hyundai you are not supporting the american economy... where do you think the headquarters of those companies are... Japan/china. The money goes straight there.

Money has to be paid to the person that sold the car, the people that work on the cars at the dealerships, the people who transport the cars to the dealerships, the people that build the cars, the people who build the factories, and the massive amounts of utilities/taxes that these corporations pay. Not to mention the fact that Honda/Toyota/Hyundai/Mercedes/etc. of North America are all almost completely separate companies from their overseas counterparts, and have their own infrastructures in this country that employ thousands of people. If you don't think that a very large amount of money stays in this country, I don't know what to tell you. As much as buying a Ford/Chevrolet? Maybe not. But I wouldn't feel bad putting money in the hands of the 15,000+ workers at Honda's Marysville, Ohio factory vs. a Ford or GM CEO. Assuming I was ever to buy a new Honda, of course.

Edit: Also, Hyundai is based in South Korea. Not China.

GM trucks have always been very solid. Even when the interiors were crap :lol:. The Big 3 have control over the 1/2 ton market, and I don't really see that changing. And I won't go too in-depth with this argument, but I would wager that giving money to employees who work at a Honda plant in Ohio is just as good for our economy as giving it to GM execs when the vehicles are made in Canada or Mexico. I think people should buy the car that fits their needs/wants best, regardless of where it is made.

Where do you think the real profits end up when you buy a foreign car?

Money has to be paid to the person that sold the car, the people that work on the cars at the dealerships, the people who transport the cars to the dealerships, the people that build the cars, the people who build the factories, and the massive amounts of utilities/taxes that these corporations pay. Not to mention the fact that Honda/Toyota/Hyundai/Mercedes/etc. of North America are all almost completely separate companies from their overseas counterparts, and have their own infrastructures in this country that employ thousands of people. If you don't think that a very large amount of money stays in this country, I don't know what to tell you. As much as buying a Ford/Chevrolet? Maybe not. But I wouldn't feel bad putting money in the hands of the 15,000+ workers at Honda's Marysville, Ohio factory vs. a Ford or GM CEO. Assuming I was ever to buy a new Honda, of course.

Edit: Also, Hyundai is based in South Korea. Not China.
So...why did the USA have to bail out the American Auto companies? Why did Japan have to help/bail out their own company's?

You answered your own question. The same reason that Australia did not bail out Holden and England didn't bail out Vauxhall

You answered your own question. The same reason that Australia did not bail out Holden and England didn't bail out Vauxhall

:bang:

Not sure what you are having trouble with...

^^^ The problem is you aren't understanding that Hyundai/Honda all of those companies... their headquarters are NOT in the USA. The money in the end, ends up overseas plain and simple.

Not really. You, me, Detroit, and everybody else with a brain knows that American cars really just caught up with the best of the foreign brands a couple/few years ago. And IMO, it takes more than 2-3 years to tell how "reliabile" a car is. So as far as new cars are concerned, the jury is still out. But when it comes to cars in the past ~20 years, I would say anybody who wants to argue that the cars made my Honda and Toyota weren't of tangibly better quality and better reliability is "full of crap."

I don't know of any american car known for transmission failure at 70k miles like the 04ish Honda Civic autos are. My Uncle was a sworn Toyota man and didn't have any major issues with his Corolla's he always got, then he got a Civic 4 door auto in that sweet dark green metallic, and right about 70k the trans died. Happens to tons of people, very common on that car.

To say a whole brand is more reliable than another whole brand is a stupid statement.

Specific model (i.e. Focus vs. Civic) is more accurate, but even then, as mentioned in the thread earlier, it's more reflective of people's maintenance records and driving habits than anything. From what I've seen unless it's a performance car, foreign car owners tend to take better care of their vehicles.

Jon, I understand that just fine. What you don't seem to understand is how much of the money stays here.

And Muscle, look no further than the 96+ Taurus.

I think reliability also has a role to play with the owner of the vehicle. Half of people beat their cars into the ground and don't take care of them at all... of course they are going to break.

All the people with "hondas and toyotas" are so reliable is full of crap. Most modern american cars if taken care of last the same amount of time.

Yeah, like 4th gens and rear ends! Wait, see what I did there? For most of the 80's and 90's american cars in general were not as good as a lot of imports. Not saying there weren't examples to the contrary but in general. I refuse to believe a 95 neon is as good a car as a 95 civic. Not gonna buy it. And your statement seems to imply that only American car owners beat on their cars and not take care of them then?

I don't know of any american car known for transmission failure at 70k miles like the 04ish Honda Civic autos are. My Uncle was a sworn Toyota man and didn't have any major issues with his Corolla's he always got, then he got a Civic 4 door auto in that sweet dark green metallic, and right about 70k the trans died. Happens to tons of people, very common on that car.

To say a whole brand is more reliable than another whole brand is a stupid statement.

Specific model (i.e. Focus vs. Civic) is more accurate, but even then, as mentioned in the thread earlier, it's more reflective of people's maintenance records and driving habits than anything. From what I've seen unless it's a performance car, foreign car owners tend to take better care of their vehicles.


Actually, I have seen more than a few 1980's to early 90's C/K series trucks and full size SUV's have their trans rebuild at or near 100k.
Elevens is right on with the 96 and up Taurus/Sable twins. I saw one with a few as 56k on it with a fried transmission and several others with less than 100k.
Mopar minivans are a poster child for shitty transmissions in american cars.

toyota engine sludge

• Camry 4 cylinder from 1997-2001,
• Camry 6 cylinder from 1997-2002,
• Camry Solara 4 cylinder from 1999-2001,
• Camry Solara 6 cylinder 1999-2002,
• Sienna 6 cylinder from 1998-2002,
• Avalon 6 cylinder from 1997-2002,
• Celica 4 cylinder from 1997-1999,
• Highlander 6 cylinder from 2001-2002,
• Lexus ES 300 from 1997-2002 and
• Lexus RX 300 from 1999-2002.

http://www.google.com/search?q=toyota+engine+sludge&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

GM optispark, Ford cracking head gaskets, etc. I loved my mom's old '94 Corvette, but the water pump, optispark, and transmission all failed within six months of each other. The 80s and 90s just wasn't the best time for American cars. There is a reason all the commercials now are talking about how good they are NOW and comparing themselves to Honda and Toyota.

Actually, I have seen more than a few 1980's to early 90's C/K series trucks and full size SUV's have their trans rebuild at or near 100k.
Elevens is right on with the 96 and up Taurus/Sable twins. I saw one with a few as 56k on it with a fried transmission and several others with less than 100k.
Mopar minivans are a poster child for shitty transmissions in american cars.

To be fair it was generally only the OHV 3.0 Taurus/Sables that had tranny problems. The duratec ones seem to run like tops.

GM optispark, Ford cracking head gaskets, etc. I loved my mom's old '94 Corvette, but the water pump, optispark, and transmission all failed within six months of each other. The 80s and 90s just wasn't the best time for American cars. There is a reason all the commercials now are talking about how good they are NOW and comparing themselves to Honda and Toyota.

This is true, but when you spend so much time on top of the world you start to slack. Now the import brands haven't really improved in quality much, deteriorating in some instances, as far as I've seen.

All cars have their faults, and as a competent consumer its our job to research such a big purchase and avoid automobiles with glaring, potentially expensive faults. Automaker preference is one thing, but some of you guys take brand loyalty to a whole other, ignorant, level.

I will assume the brand loyalty comment was not directed at me. And yes, import quality and reliability has leveled off. Like you said, that happens when you are on top.

I will assume the brand loyalty comment was not directed at me. And yes, import quality and reliability has leveled off. Like you said, that happens when you are on top.

Nah, not directly. The bickering, over the last page, by listing shitty vehicles on both sides is kind of pointless, but at least they have all been legitimately shitty vehicles for the most part. :D

It's definitely not a shot at GM, just keeping things in perspective