Car reliability question

[3 ladybugs]

Right now we have a 16 year old Toyota (almost 200K miles) and a 7 year old Honda (just over 100K miles on it). Both cars are running great. No real issues. They were both purchased new by us (Toyota I got before I met my husband, but it has been mine since under 100 miles on it). 

 

I was talking to a friend of mine who has a Ford and she is worried that she is going to need a major repair today or tomorrow (something is wrong with it). She says she knows many people that have issues with Ford. I confess I had a Ford that wouldn't leave NJ when I was moving from NY to FL once! Not fun! However that car had been abused (BADLY) prior to me getting it. Her car was 2 years old when she got it 6 years ago. My in-laws have ONLY Fords and one of them is an Explorer that they got in the early 90's. 

 

My question is, assuming you purchase new, is reliability what you put into a car or are some cars just bad? My in-laws purchased all of theirs new and baby their cars like we do. Are they getting higher reliability because they are consistent in the way the take care of the car and it has never been neglected (for lack of a better term) in it's life?

 

We are looking for tow vehicles for our next car/truck and that is not Toyota or Honda so that is why I am asking. 

[Carol in Cal.]

It's both.

Consumer Reports covers longterm inherent reliability really well, and that's why I generally buy Toyotas and Hondas.  It's also why I never buy the first model year of something.  

 

But also, if you have a decently built car and you change the oil more often than required and flush out the radiator twice a year, and never let it overheat, and change the other fluids reasonably regularly, it can last a lot longer than it would for someone who didn't do all those things.  I have a 98 Camry with 230,000 miles on it, and I expect it to make 300K.

 

[3 ladybugs]

What about the engine seals? I remember 16 years ago when I got my car, the owners manual said that for the first 100 miles it should not go over a certain speed. Yes I actually read it as it was the most expensive thing I had purchased to that date. I was also single and a live in nanny and what else was I going to do? LOL Anyway, it was because of the seals on the engine. Since those are not often replaced on a car, could those first 100 miles make a HUGE difference in how long a car lasts?

[bettyandbob]

Some cars are bad.

 

Some cars are abused and then no longer reliable.

 

Some cars need minimal care and so one might get away with being a semi negligent car owner and still have a well running machine after 10 years and 150k+ miles.

 

Some cars only do well if you follow specific care.

 

I had a Ford for 11 years. That was back when we had more money and just wanted a nicer car. The car we replaced that with is now 15 years old (Subaru). I've known people who had unreliable fords and unreliable Subarus. Having car that lasts is a combination of good research to start and decent care of the vehicle. But even with those things, sometimes a vehicle is just a lemon.

[fraidycat]

We have Fords. We don't baby them. 98 car was still running great, but had an issue with signal lights only working internittently that we couldn't seem to solve so we got a 13 car. My 05 Expedition is still going strong.

[gardenmom5]

I think it's some of both.  some models are more reliable than others.  some owners are more conscientious about maintaining their cars. even a reliable car will perform poorly with a careless owner.  (since it was two years old - I'd wonder about the original owner too.)

 

I have a 16yo Chrysler van with 147K on it that we bought new.  we took it to Yellowstone last year, and planning on Banff this summer.  that's about a 15hr drive for us.

[gardenmom5]

What about the engine seals? I remember 16 years ago when I got my car, the owners manual said that for the first 100 miles it should not go over a certain speed. Yes I actually read it as it was the most expensive thing I had purchased to that date. I was also single and a live in nanny and what else was I going to do? LOL Anyway, it was because of the seals on the engine. Since those are not often replaced on a car, could those first 100 miles make a HUGE difference in how long a car lasts?

yes.  everything is new - and how it is treated initially can have an impact.

[Lolly]

Yep, both. We've have one Ford we purchased new that is 17 and going strong We've had others that didn't make it long. I had a Dodge Caravan, purchased new, that was babied that had pretty much everything but the transmission replaced before 70,000 miles. My mechanic recommended getting rid of it because it was most likely about to go too. A Kia that was a dud. A Kia that is over 160,000 and has hardly had a thing done to it other than routine maintenance. However, every Toyota we have owned has done well. I'm sure there are lemons out there, but I think they are a lower risk than most brands.

[3 ladybugs]

Seems like some brands have bad runs. For instance Ford diesels had a bad spell back in the 2000's. If you bought used you had to know which engine you were getting because it made all of the difference in the world. It's like the whole Cummins, Duramax, etc. arguments you will hear people talk about with trucks. Model years do matter! 

 

We sold our 2013 Ram 2500 about six months ago because it is obvious Ram has some kinks to bug out and I couldn't handle having an unreliable truck with three kids and possibly a trailer in tow. It had 13 recalls in 24 months and then threw a pump  and a belt at 43,000 miles which made me loose brakes and steering. Let me tell you that's a lot of truck to stop! We coasted for a loooooonng way before coming to a stop right before then intersection. It was scary.  Eventhough the dealer covered every single thing under warranty it just wasn't worth it for us to keep having to take it in for a recall seemingly every two months and to be worrying about what was going to break next. Particularly since it took almost three weeks to get out of the shop after the last incident. We took care of the truck, so it had nothing to do with care or lack of on our part- I think it just takes a while to iron our things on new models. We knew the risk going in.....My dh and I still admire the Ram trucks when we see them go buy- they're gorgeous, but we just needed something more reliable. We chose it for the huge backseat, but we should've gone with Ford I think. 

That sounds like a lawsuit in the making! How scary! Glad everything is better now!

[BlsdMama]

It's both.

Consumer Reports covers longterm inherent reliability really well, and that's why I generally buy Toyotas and Hondas.  It's also why I never buy the first model year of something.  

 

But also, if you have a decently built car and you change the oil more often than required and flush out the radiator twice a year, and never let it overheat, and change the other fluids reasonably regularly, it can last a lot longer than it would for someone who didn't do all those things.  I have a 98 Camry with 230,000 miles on it, and I expect it to make 300K.

 

This. 

 

We have five vehicles in this family.  DH has an old beater truck to haul stuff. It has just shy of 300,000 miles on it and it is a Chevy.  Our van is a 15 passenger - to my knowledge Toyota and Honda do not make them. ;)   But DD's car is a 20 year old Camry and it runs well.  DH's commuter is a Honda and it has been incredibly reliable.  It was a rental car as was our van in their past lives.  The only car (currently) giving us problems is DS' car - another Chevy.  Sigh.  We'll see...

 

But, yes, given options, we'd buy another Honda before anything else.

[happypamama]

I think it's both. We do not especially baby our vehicles, but they have to pass inspection every single year. We've had a Ford Expedition, a Ford F-150, a Ford E-350, and a Ford Focus that were reliable for many, many years, even into high mileage. The Focus is currently 12 years old and has 266,000 miles on it (mostly highway); it's needed a few minor repairs and one replacement engine, but it's been a blessedly reliable vehicle. I would absolutely consider buying any of those vehicles again.

 

Otoh, I had a Ford Windstar that was a ton of trouble. I will never buy another one of those.

[J-rap]

It does seem like some models of certain years just have problems.  We bought a Ford Windstar and some years later a Chrysler Town and Country.  The old Ford became the kids' car as they learned to drive.  We gradually began to have more and more problems with the Town and Country, and several rapid oil change places told us that the ones from our year always had the same problems.  We eventually got rid of it, but kept the old Ford Windstar, which just kept chugging along without any major problems, ever. 

 

Maybe you could ask the oil change people for their thoughts?  :)

 

Oh, I just saw another poster who said they had so many problems with the Ford Windstar!  That just goes to show you.  You never know, or maybe the years were different.  I don't think we've ever had as reliable a car as our Ford Windstar.  

[Pawz4me]

I think it's some of both.  You need the foundation of reliability, but you also need to keep up with maintenance.  We're a totally Honda family -- other than our RV, we haven't owned anything other than Hondas since 1992.  And they've all been extremely reliable.  The CRV oldest DS drives is a 2001 with around 215,000 miles on it.  He recently drove over 1200 miles to/from Florida for spring break in it, taking three others with him.  We had zero qualms about his car's reliability to get them there and back.  But we're also sticklers for doing all the routine maintenance on schedule as recommended.  Buying Hondas and keeping up with all the recommended maintenance has served us very, very well over the past 24 years.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Pawz4me

[mom2att]

We don't buy new cars. And we've sought out Fords or Lincolns for our last several car purchases because we've experienced excellent reliability. We generally buy them at least 5 years old, so they come to us with a history, and then drive them forever. I put over 200,000 on my last Navigator (got it at 70,000) before upgrading to a newer one (that was 3 years newer, but still a 9 year old car!). It had over 120,000 when we got it and I hope to drive it to 250,000.  DH loves the Ford Excursion--drives them for work. His last one was over 250,000 before he swapped it for one with under 150,000 so he could drive the wheels of that one, too. Prior to our Navigator we had a Lincoln Continental, and before that a Ford Crown Vic. Both great cars.

 

So no we haven't had reliability issues with Ford, and I have no idea how they are babied before they come to us.

[3 ladybugs]

I just really wish Honda and Toyota would make something that would tow a camping trailer and hold 4 people. :( Sounds like I am looking in the right direction with the Ford F150. Thank you for the replies. :)

[Guest]

The Tundra would pull a house. And elephant house. Full of elephants.

[3 ladybugs]

I want something that will pull about 6000 lbs. I will likely be under that but not over. However I want something that tows closer to 10,000 lbs because I am told that the higher tow rating would make it better when towing with wind and such. I don't want white knuckle trips! We will be driving to Florida at least once a year with it (from New Jersey) so I need something that can handle I-95. 

 

I will go look up the Tundra. I hate Toyota markets things regionally for new (long story with my Camry) but I could get over it I suppose. 

[need2read]

We used to have Ford trucks and their reliability has definitely been going downhill. We just bought a Nissan Armada, which is an SUV that can tow. Nissans get some of the highest reliability ratings. We also have an Infiniti sedan (made by Nissan) that is 8 years old and we have never had to anything to it except routine maintenance.

 

 

 

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