Show us your Cars

[beefkabob]

Reliability is still one of my top criteria in any car buying purchase. My son was sold a Hyundai Santa Fe by a relative in December. In early March, the engine failed and it's now at the dealership awaiting a new one. Didn't know in December that Hyundai had a huge recall for faulty engines. Will never buy a Hyundai again.

Hyundai are often considered cars that seem nice enough if a bit chintzy off the lot but disappoint in the long term experience.

 

[beefkabob]

All three of the nice cars in one shot, sorta. Not a drop of gasoline between them.

 

[Sal1950]

Interestingly, Ford is the only one of the big 3 I've never owned. My mom had a Mercury Mountaineer, and it was awful.

In the 350 class, I'd get a Ram. In the 2500 class, Ram. 1500 class, Ram. EV? Harder to say. I have a deposit on the Ram Rev, but the Hummer does look amazing, and the Rivian is even more impressive. Granted, they're all stupidly large barges.

I've had 2 Rams over the last 27 years, neither has ever been in the shop for a non-normal maintainace thing. (tires, brakes, etc. Before that I owned a Chevy S10 pickup for 10 years and it was also likewise bulletproof.

 

[beefkabob]

I've had 2 Rams over the last 27 years, neither has ever been in the shop for a non-normal maintainace thing. (tires, brakes, etc. Before that I owned a Chevy S10 pickup for 10 years and it was also likewise bulletproof.

The only issue I had with my 2017 Ram was a bum stereo that they replaced. I didn't own in that long. I soon realized that, for me, a truck was just too much.

 

[iulianm]

The first hit to my query "JD Power manufacturer reliability list" shows that Mazda scores a 174 in comparison to Lexus (w/a score of 133):

If you look at CR, they put BMW right behind Lexus and Toyota with Mazda there in the top as well.

After Consumer Reports it seems I have two of the most reliable car brands

A thought about rankings......

 

[voodooless]

The fact that you can switch 14 places in these lists in a single year seems suspect. A brand cannot become that much more (un)reliable in a single year.

I’m back to full electric again since two weeks: Hyundai Ioniq 5, white, RWD, top spec. So far, really enjoy driving it.

 

[pseudoid]

I wonder how much of the reliability can be attributed to the manufacturer, driver, region driven.
Some 'reliability' data (most of which are automated) consider initial delivery problems in their listings (JDPower graph above), others (CR) include 'long-term' owner surveys (for after-sale reliability).

I have owned 9 different manufacturers' vehicles; going back to the 1970s.
I am either one lucky sob or I must know how to pamper my vehicles that have been amazingly trouble-free.
Accident-related and wear-prone parts (clutches/brakes) not counting.

 

[truckers_atlas]

Some impressions:

• To my ears, the system in CX-30 sounds a bit different compared with the one from Mazda3 and it could be due to different seat position and how speakers fit in the cabin
• like in the Mazda3, the system seems to be bass heavy (linear mode helps reduce a bit at lower volume as standard mode will pump the bass even more at lower volumes)
• there's a significant drop bellow 35-40Hz and the bass seems to be localizable as coming from the trunk; I'm not sure what is the crossover point but usually above 80Hz you can localize the source of the sound.
• big difference in sound quality between bluetooth and cable

A large reason I bought a turbo 3 2 years ago was that Bose system. It was a lot better than what any other mainstream automaker will sell you at this price range. For example, the now last-gen Accord had a nice interior, but the good stereo was the one thing Honda saved for the Acura TLX. IIRC I have the stereo in linear mode, with the listening position set at the driver, and the EQ set to -1 or -2 for bass and no treble adjustments.

The complaint I have is that the rear deck subwoofer in the sedan seems detached, like it's rumbling away without doing much of anything. If I don't do something stupid and keep the 3 next year, maybe I'll get a real subwoofer integrated with Helix DSP.

I’m a big fan of Mazda products, though don’t own a street car Mazda right now. Very curious to hear about the car with the 2.5 Turbo. Has to be a lot of fun.

The 2.5T is a great engine for everyday driving. It always feels like I have power available, and I don't have to wait around for a downshift or the turbo to spool up. If I'm honest with myself, any more power than my 3 has would be purely for fun.

I don't miss a manual due to the nature of the powertrain. Mazda tuned this as a truck motor first for the big CX-9. While the 2.5T revs quickly, it's not an engine that feels like it's crying out for a manual. It revs out to 6K but you're better off shifting just past 5 since that's where peak power ends.

The overall character of the current 3 is much more luxury car than sport compact. My turbo 3 feels a world away from the old Mazdaspeeds 3. The GTI and Elantra N are better shouts if you want pure fun and can only have 1 car. I'm thinking about adding a Miata to my garage for something more fun than the 3.

 

[voodooless]

I have owned 9 different manufacturers' vehicles; going back to the 1970s.
I am either one lucky sob or I must know how to pamper my vehicles that have been amazingly trouble-free.
Accident-related and wear-prone parts (clutches/brakes) not counting.

Yeah, same here. Had Peogeot, Nissan, Audi, Skoda, Honda, Volvo, BMW, Kia, Lynk & Co and now Hyundai. Ow, and we also have a Toyota Aygo, also no issues except that it’s as leaky as a sieve

The only one that had a major issue was the Volvo. It had a bad engine, not worth fixing. Seemed to be a common issue. All the others never had any major issues, despite driving some of them for over 300000 KM.

 

[pseudoid]

Yeah, same here. Had Peogeot, Nissan, Audi, Skoda, Honda, Volvo, BMW, Kia, Lynk & Co and now Hyundai.

Your Peugot and Skoda were reliable?

You are forcing me to list mine:

Audi (+Porsche/VW), BMW, Chrysler (+Dodge/Plymouth), GM (Chevy/Pontiac/Cad), Toyota, Mazda

Averaging about 90k (trouble-free) miles in each (x20 cars).
Another 6 motorcycles, w/30k miles (avg.).
I will not reveal my record of accidents and tickets, over that span.

 

[voodooless]

Your Peugot and Skoda were reliable?

Yeah… the Peugeot was a red 205, already bought 2nd hand. It was my very first car, and I probably drove it for more than 300000 km. Never any issues. Mind you, I would never buy another Peugeot, but that particular one was good .

 

[poxymoron]

This was my beloved Jaguar XE, until an eighteen year old crashed into the back of me last month. Cost of repairs amounting to about 55% of the value of the car so insurance company's assessor wrote it off. Gutted. Best thing about it, the lovely Brogue leather interior. I know it's not for everybody, but it was just a nice place to be.

 

[Willem]

Your Peugot and Skoda were reliable?

We are on our second Peugeot 406 (2 litre automatic) and just like the first one it has been utterly reliable. The current one is almost 25 years old and there is not a spot of rust on this car that has always lived outside. It is stylish, comfortable and has excellent handling, both at the Autobahn for our long haul trips to the Mediteranean, and on winding roads in Italy or France. I am not particularly interested in cars other than for taking me from A to B in some comfort, and with good handling to make the driving less tiring.

 

[Sal1950]

I don't believe any of those ratings.
It's just like the Stereophile Class A rating, you get as good as you pay for.

 

[Willem]

I was talking to a retired car mechanic the other day. He had bought a Dacia for himself. For people in the US: Dacias are a Rumanian brand owned by Renault. Their cars are cheap and very basic, built around somewhat older Renault engines, drivetrains etc. So he argued that there was little that could go wrong and all problems had long been dealth with. And indeed, they score just about best in reliability surveys. I find them mostly pretty ugly, but that is all that I have against them. In a sense, they are a European version of many traditional US cars that used age old technologies and components from one model year to the next.

 

[voodooless]

I was talking to a retired car mechanic the other day. He had bought a Dacia for himself. For people in the US: Dacias are a Rumanian brand owned by Renault. Their cars are cheap and very basic, built around somewhat older Renault engines, drivetrains etc. So he argued that there was little that could go wrong and all problems had long been dealth with. And indeed, they score just about best in reliability surveys. I find them mostly pretty ugly, but that is all that I have against them. In a sense, they are a European version of many traditional US cars that used age old technologies and components from one model year to the next.

If you sell cars with no features, none of them can break

 

[Willem]

Precisely. So are the features important enough to suffer unreliability? I would rather have manual windows and I don't need an electric car bloot etc. Dacia do have an airconditioning option.

 

[Blumlein 88]

If you sell cars with no features, none of them can break

Yes. I owned one truck for 21 years purchasing it second hand. It didn't give much trouble, but other than air conditioning it had no amenities at all. That is a pretty smart way to avoid troubles.

 

[pseudoid]

I don't believe any of those ratings.... It's just like the Stereophile Class A rating, you get as good as you pay for.

Meaning aside; to categorically deny the data (no matter how distorted/partisan) makes the topic get even more subjective.

These above numbers make for serious automotive analytics that are fully monetized and with the advent of phone-home EVs, they are on their way to see exponential growth.
Federals (NHTSA) and other state laws also require full-disclosures and the manufacturers HAVE to take a knee and abide.
Trial lawyers are standing by... even for minor recalls.
In recent years, such reliability data had to be adjusted due to even more electronic (hardware+software) content, which are increasingly relied upon in vehicles.

Factoid1: 'Chip' count= ~90 chips/EV
Factoid2: There are also new/pending NHTSA incident-reporting regulations, specifically for 'automated driving systems' (pdf).

 

[beefkabob]

I've often thought of disconnecting all the antennae, even GPS.