Cars that break the least and the most.

For me the least has to be Mazda. No car is perfect but the Mazda 5 is still our happiest go to car. We have had Suburbans, Tahoes and Yukons that were close but the Mazda is the E36M3. Love! I restored a Volvo 740 turbo wagon years ago and have had V70 t5's but my wifes XC90 has kept me afixin from the start. Usually nonsensical crap that is expensive. Not so much love.

I think this will end up like an oil thread. But, all my A2 VWs have been great. My dad's 88 Audi 90 was insane. Bought new and over 200k with no breakdowns. None! Even had original clutch, alternator, starter....... Worst, hmmmm. Not mine, but my sister's Murano. Purchased new and utter crap. Hell, ever Dodge and Nissan product I've seen was junk.

Break as in failures vs. maintenance and wear items? Our '09 Fit has 185k on it with nothing but tires, breaks, shocks, plugs, oil changes, a battery, an hvac fan switch, an O2 sensor, and one trans fluid change. No unexpected failures, and never left us stranded.

By '93 B2200 has been a fantasticly reliable vehicle needing just the minimum maintenance to keep her happy. The '02 325ci needed more stuff (and by default more expensive stuff) in one year of ownership and it wasn't due to deferred maintenance, it was just "normal" BMW stuff for the age of the car.

Biturbos break the least. Each only has one failure in a lifetime. Just that failure is so major it takes it off the road.

Our 4-runner (2007) has been reliable as gravity for 150k. Just regular maintenance.

Not sure if there is much to top the biturbo on the reliability (lack of) front.

I've only Been stranded roadside by Fords. Although a yota truck once stranded me, but it was my buddy's fault. He knew it leaked oil like crazy and we drove it anyway, like 60 miles, on no oil. Before we left it wouldn't register oil on the dipstick. I salute you little yota! When it shot that conn rod throw the oil pan my buddy put it on a necklace.

The 2003 Jetta ( 328,000 miles ) is pretty well bullet proof. The 99 Suburban (310,000) is dependable. The 2014 Mini (64,000) seems to always want to go to the shop and costs no less than $700 each time. We got it used 9 months ago and has had been in the shop for 5 different things. My vote goes for the Jetta and Sub as very dependable. The Mini. not so much.

I've had ~20 cars now, and only 2 have ever left me stranded.

I had a Hyundai that threw a rod through the block.

My Z32 overheated once and dumped the coolant. As far as I can tell, this was due to a E36 M3ty water pump gasket install by the Nissan dealer only like 2k miles prior (before I owned it, but I had the receipt).

I've spent a lot of time with Saturns and never had any major issues, but they always have something minor wearing out once you get over 150k or so. But the same is true for most cars at that age/mileage.

Best by far was a Ford E150 that went 430K on the original engine. The transmission may not have been original, but the one that was in it went 220K with me behind the wheel. Pretty much bullet proof. All of my Fords have been pretty bullet proof.

The worst is a toss up between a E24 635 that was broken every time I tried to drive it, or a Nissan Stanza that spent more time on the side of the road than it did in my driveway. Both of them were pretty much crap. The Stanza was my last Nissan, and the E24 will probably be my last BMW. Both companies seem to go out of their way to make things overly complicated.

I'm not going to brag on my current cars, that will jinx me for sure. But the worst ive seen, that would be my cousins 78 fiat spider. That thing should have come from the factory with a towbar. Of course we built it ourselves from five junk fiats, so that may have contributed.

petegossett wrote: Our '09 Fit has 185k on it with nothing but tires, breaks, shocks, plugs, oil changes, a battery, an hvac fan switch, an O2 sensor, and one trans fluid change. No unexpected failures, and never left us stranded.

We just sold our 06 Cobalt with original plugs, battery, and trans fluid. It required only (aside from brakes/tires/oil change) control arm bushings and a set of sway bar end links in 10 years and 200k.

By far my worst and most unreliable vehicle was a diesel Rabbit.

We've had a string of nigh-indestructible OBS Ford trucks over the years. After the last one was stolen, we replaced it with the "redneck hope diamond" a 3/4 ton, 7.4L Suburban. Time will tell...

The worst had to be the 1989 Jeep Comanche that I owned.

I had heard nothing but good stuff about them. My friends loved them, you guys all loved them.

I got the truck built at beer-thirty on the Friday before a long weekend that preceded a labour strike.

Renix fuel injection and the rattly gearbox served to reinforce my hatred of anything mechanical that was built by the French.

We put 100K miles on my wife's Honda Odyssey and the only thing it needed other than regular maintenance (and bodywork, sigh) was a transmission neutral/park detection switch.

Then there's my cars... The Audi B6 S4 that I had for 8 years (yes, the one with the timing chains. Mine didn't need them, although it did need a bunch of other things. It's gone now, although I still miss that motor), a Duramax LB7 (did the injectors last year), and I just bought an FD last year as well...

One of the reasons I'm considering a Prius for a commuter (aside from the MPG, which really isn't that significant to me) is that they seem to be really well-built. 180k with nothing but ordinary maintenance seems to happen a lot.

It probably helps that Prius owners seem to be the most conservative on the roads. "Flogging" and "Prius" just don't seem to go together.

Honestly, almost all of my modern vehicles have been very reliable (Mazda, Honda, Toyota, Ford, Chevy) The exception was a Dodge Dakota 4x4, and those crappy needle-nosed spark plugs that used to break off in the heads of Ford OHC V8s almost turned me off of the brand.

I'm kind of surprised to hear the Audi love, since what I hear the most about recent ones is that they're great cars - as long as the warranty lasts, but god help you after.

I had an '82 Toyota 2wd longbed. Bought it with 165k on the odometer, sold it with 225k on the odometer. I replaced the brakes, tires, and did the distributor cap and plug wires. That was in 2007. I still see it driving around town...

I put a few hundred thousand miles on my old air cooled VW. Oil, spark plugs, valve cover gaskets and brake shoes were all I ever had to buy. Never broke down. 1998 Integra was solid too. Replaced the radiator, at like 140k, never broke down.

GMT-400s. My father had a '94 1500 with the TBI 350. It went 300K miles, never had the engine apart any further than an intake gasket at around 150K miles. Transmission just had basic services, and didn't even get those over 150K miles. Honestly, no clue when or if the differentials or transfer case were ever serviced. Didn't burn any oil, still had 60psi of oil pressure, transmission shifted great. Still had factory balljoints up until 280K when it broke one. Only reason we retired it was that the driveshaft corroded to the point where it broke in hald.

1994 toyota truck 22re tard, 268k miles passes california smog cleaner than new car. Smog guy was stunned.

I pretty much drive just Mazdas and Subarus now. I have had many other brands and models but those two seem to be the best. It all comes down to maintenance though for any vehicle.

Kreb wrote: It probably helps that Prius owners seem to be the most conservative on the roads. "Flogging" and "Prius" just don't seem to go together.

That's an interesting observation. It must be a regional thing, because around here, they drive the crap out of them.

2000 Toyota Avalon. Owned from 110k to 193k. All it needed were inner tie rods and rear end links.

2008 Prius.214k, owned since 154k. All it has needed is water pump, o2 sensor and rear shocks. Maintenance wise: front brakes and spark plugs are all I can remember. Still on original rear brakes (need to change soon).

But the Avalon wins because it felt newer at similar mileage and was more pleasant on the highway. I think the family who owned the Prius before me did nothing but drive on dirt roads. Ours seems to be more creaky than my M-i-Ls and S-i-ls.

With all the used cars I've had, I've gotten to the point of believing that most cars can be very reliable if they are taken care of. Seems like what happens is nothing is maintained and stuff gradually stops working. Then I end up buying the car, spending a month or two fixing everything, and then whatever car it is generally has no more real issues outside of wear items. I usually end up keeping cars between 3 and 6 years, though I have had one for 10 years now, and at least for them (two BMWs, a Subaru, three Chevys) everything has been reliable once fixed.

My Father's Chevy Van is going on 180,000 hard miles with no significant breakdowns. I put 500,000 miles on a Dodge Ram Diesel with nothing more than some oil changes.

My wife's Mitsubishi Mirage DE was about the worst of the modern era, stranded her a few times, fell apart badly, rusted out within a year...total POS.

But of course the worst car of all time was the 1985 Buick Century. No car matches it's record for crappiness. Look it up in CR, the Trabant scores higher.