Cars that are Deceptively Reliable

[NoXenons]

Last week I learned that Regals with the 3800 supercharged are actually quick and reliable, unlike other GMs of the era. The D3 S8's are apparently rather dependable as well.

Any other models that are unfairly ignored due to stereotyping?

[above8k]

VW with lambo engine ...yeah why not?

[JMTombstone]

[manol2]

Any Jag since the late 90's

[BattleRabbit]

My 9-3 has a reputation for being an unreliable car among unreliable cars... Despite that it's never had a mechanical fault in 140k miles of ownership between my mother, my grandmother and I.* Some comfort features are iffy(window regulators, dash display), but Saab really had the whole powertrain thing down.

*We have replaced a few sensors, but most of them were me being anal and doing updates to later-spec parts whenever I got wind of a good deal from one of my parts suppliers.

Another that seems deceptively reliable are the Ur-S4/6. Given the astoundingly high mileage of many customer cars I come across they must be doing SOMETHING right. I've seen 300k Ur-S4s that owners come in almost bi-weekly to get oil and filters for.

[Farnsworth]

VW's.

Yes, really.

[Spray`]

Saabs get a ton of flack for being unreliable, however my friends is about to hit 500K and I drove mine for 150K with ZERO issues.

[NoXenons]

Any Jag since the late 90's

There were some nikasil issues with the V8's until the final years. I know the 6-cylinder X300 XJR's have very few problems..

[BRealistic]

VW's.

Yes, really.

How so?
According to almost every VW fan (and some VW press releases), the new ones are just as good as the best Japanese imports in reliability.
And they have been saying that for over a decade.

[Farnsworth]

How so?
According to almost every VW fan (and some VW press releases), the new ones are just as good as the best Japanese imports in reliability.
And they have been saying that for over a decade.

Everyone bashed the Mk-IV's but my GTI was almost a tank. Fewer problems in 100K miles than I had in 50K on the MS3.

Consumer Reports said to avoid the New Beetle - my ex-wife had one, treated it like crap, and it never gave her a lick of trouble in 10 years. Still going strong when she finally sold it - to a neighbor, who never came back demanding a refund

[Farnsworth]

Last week I learned that Regals with the 3800 supercharged are actually quick and reliable, unlike other GMs of the era. The D3 S8's are apparently rather dependable as well.

Any other models that are unfairly ignored due to stereotyping?

The generation before that had plenty of "good ol'GM" designed-to-fail-by-40k parts.

[VWFSIB6]

[ajmstilt]

Does the supercharged 3800 have the plastic plenum... or is that only the non-SC?

[Bixmen]

Saabs get a ton of flack for being unreliable, however my friends is about to hit 500K and I drove mine for 150K with ZERO issues.

Yeah, my 2001 9-3 was stupidly dependable. 110k of reliable motoring. take care of it, it'll take care of you. My wife's 9-5 wasn't quite as nice, but the 3.0t had something to do with that.

Our Volvo is also perfect. no issues in near 80k so far, but I think that was to be expected.

[Vash350z]

Was gonna post this, the 2.5L is extremely reliable and actually pretty fun

[emmettlodge]

VW's.

Yes, really.

You're right. The old air cooled engines WERE pretty reliable.

[MCTB]

Was gonna post this, the 2.5L is extremely reliable and actually pretty fun

Both of my MKV's, a 2.5 and GLI, were not. My 2.5 had a list of things replaced under warranty. Wheel bearings, flywheel, clutch, transmission, various sensors.

[VWVan]

I've owned a few VW's. One I never had any problems with was a base 2001 MKIV Golf TDI. Mind you I sold it when it had 40K on it. Back then they only had a 2 year 40K Km warranty.

Actually my Fusion has been pretty reliable other than a busted inside drivers door handle.

[justin717]

On the real. Friend had one that he treated like crap, ran it sideways into a pole, never gave an issue. Grandma had one for the longest time.

[matoo]

We have just about 200,000 miles on our 2.slow auto Jetta. Other that a water pump failure it has been surprisingly bullet proof.

I'm sure I just jinxed it though

[KARMANN_20V]

Another that seems deceptively reliable are the Ur-S4/6. Given the astoundingly high mileage of many customer cars I come across they must be doing SOMETHING right. I've seen 300k Ur-S4s that owners come in almost bi-weekly to get oil and filters for.

After owning one for 5 years, I fully agree. Not only did the UrS cars age gracefully, but with the proper maintenance they were as bomb proof of a vehicle as they could be.

[Wanganrunner]

I will second X300 I6 Jaguar XJ's, and this covers any other car with that engine of the same vintage, as most of the systems carry over. This includes the straight-six XJS and the Aston Martin DB7, both of which are very stout cars.

[oh noes! cars!]

Everyone bashed the Mk-IV's but my GTI was almost a tank. Fewer problems in 100K miles than I had in 50K on the MS3.

Consumer Reports said to avoid the New Beetle - my ex-wife had one, treated it like crap, and it never gave her a lick of trouble in 10 years. Still going strong when she finally sold it - to a neighbor, who never came back demanding a refund

Aren't you the guy that hates Mazdas and has a hard-on for VWs? Too bad your GTI was "almost" a tank, when mine sucked and my Mazda is a tank...

[manol2]

I will second X300 I6 Jaguar XJ's, and this covers any other car with that engine of the same vintage, as most of the systems carry over. This includes the straight-six XJS and the Aston Martin DB7, both of which are very stout cars.

The V8's past 02 are fine as well ( after nikasil and chain tensioners issues) , on par with the germans.
Thank god for the poor reputation - I see an nice, low milleage XK8/R in my future

[TM87]

My fiance had unreliable beige Camry. Its not a joke, we had so much trouble w it. Leaking windshield,iffy headlights,coolant leak,terrible mpgs,trans problems etc. All this w 75k. We finally traded it in for 2010 2.5. We now have 50k on it w one issue, window regulator went on 36k.
Check engine light came on once when she didnt tighten the cap. Given its only 50k, so we will see.

MY dads 2004 Intrepid was bullet proof. My whole family drove it. My dad didnt do any maintenece on it at all. Finally when the waterpump startet leaking, he sold it.

My sister in laws Mazda3, has been nothing but little problems. Struts,bearings,bushings all before 60k. Already rusting as bad as my 83 VW. She doesnt take care if either.

From these forums, i was shocked to find out about Subaru problems. Engine dying around 30-50k. That was a shocker to me.

[NoXenons]

The generation before that had plenty of "good ol'GM" designed-to-fail-by-40k parts.

Does the supercharged 3800 have the plastic plenum... or is that only the non-SC?

I should clarify that the Series II Supercharged cars were the good ones.

[lowblackdub]

I had a 1994 Golf CL (Canada/Europe only model) with the 1.8L Mono-motronic that we had from new. I drove it to 160,000kms and sold it.

Aside from maintenance (oil changes, tune-ups, timing belt, brakes, and one suspension overhaul) I had no other problems with that car. It was a tank.

[Petercar redo]

I have an '03 Jetta 155000 miles now. One axle and brake light switch. And some ignition coils. I'm afraid to buy anything but Vw now. 😛

[NoXenons]

The V8's past 02 are fine as well ( after nikasil and chain tensioners issues) , on par with the germans.
Thank god for the poor reputation - I see an nice, low milleage XK8/R in my future

The only things I didn't like about the X308 were the plastic lower door cards. I always felt the XKR's had a bit more personality. Might get one in the future as well.

[wraithkl626]

1993-2002 Mazdas

Many people seemed to get a bad taste from them in this era because of the early generation CD4E Ford built automatic transmission and rust/paint issues. Quite the opposite of Honda, this transmission only affected auto fwd I4s, and the fwd V6 autos got a much better Mazda built transmission. Living far away from the rust belt, I have not had any rust, but the paint is gone and will be redone on my car in the future.

My friends and I all got our first cars about the same time, that was about five years ago. One had a civic, the other had a ranger, and I got my 626. Somehow we all ended up with cars and truck that were all model year 1996. Both of them were always having problems, yet they maintained the car and truck well and did not abuse them. Here we are 5 years later and I still have my V6 auto 626 with 210k miles that runs and drives perfect minus the faded paint and gets 24 mpg with mostly city driving, their first cars are long gone.

The civic kept having random electrical problems, cooling problems, and bad gas mileage(averaged less than 20mpg even after a good tune up), and one day one of the rear wheel cylinders randomly exploded with plenty of brake shoe left. They sold it soon after.

The ranger had problems with random stalling, a few brake failures, and constantly wearing out suspension parts. Its problems were less severe than the civic, but it was killed off by a girl on the phone t-boning it.

Beyond normal wear items such as worn brake pads and dry rotted tires, my 626 has only had one water pump go bad and a broken CV joint. It was a $2000 car five years ago that had 170k miles on it then and it still gives me plenty of trouble free miles being daily driven.

[Gabo]

1993-2002 Mazdas

Many people seemed to get a bad taste from them in this era because of the early generation CD4E Ford built automatic transmission and rust/paint issues. Quite the opposite of Honda, this transmission only affected auto fwd I4s, and the fwd V6 autos got a much better Mazda built transmission. Living far away from the rust belt, I have not had any rust, but the paint is gone and will be redone on my car in the future.

My friends and I all got our first cars about the same time, that was about five years ago. One had a civic, the other had a ranger, and I got my 626. Somehow we all ended up with cars and truck that were all model year 1996. Both of them were always having problems, yet they maintained the car and truck well and did not abuse them. Here we are 5 years later and I still have my V6 auto 626 with 210k miles that runs and drives perfect minus the faded paint and gets 24 mpg with mostly city driving, their first cars are long gone.

The civic kept having random electrical problems, cooling problems, and bad gas mileage(averaged less than 20mpg even after a good tune up), and one day one of the rear wheel cylinders randomly exploded with plenty of brake shoe left. They sold it soon after.

The ranger had problems with random stalling, a few brake failures, and constantly wearing out suspension parts. Its problems were less severe than the civic, but it was killed off by a girl on the phone t-boning it.

Beyond normal wear items such as worn brake pads and dry rotted tires, my 626 has only had one water pump go bad and a broken CV joint. It was a $2000 car five years ago that had 170k miles on it then and it still gives me plenty of trouble free miles being daily driven.

They are indeed great cars, but around these parts they just start melting because of all the salt, etc.
They look good, have great motor/trans, drive great. But that rust!!! darn!
If you check our local classifieds there is so many low-mileage Protegé's, most, in the 750.00$ range, only because the floors are being held by the carpets or because the rockers have disappeared. It's sad!

[Hostile]

My Saturn was stupid reliable.

[yz1337]

Everyone bashed the Mk-IV's but my GTI was almost a tank. Fewer problems in 100K miles than I had in 50K on the MS3.

+1, my mkIV went 100k and I don't think it ever saw the inside of a shop other than scheduled maintenance.

[wraithkl626]

I have always heard the horror stories of the rust further north. I have yet to see a rusty Mazda in my area ever. However when I can afford to take the Mazda off of daily duty, I am going to repaint it in its stock color and I might look into rust proofing just for piece of mind. Other than the faded paint it is pretty clean. I still have the original undercoating completely intact without a spot of rust anywhere on the car.

[two.twoliter]

This generation S-10 is pretty insanely reliable. It's not uncommon to see these with over 300k still running great.