Im a big fan of your show on YouTube!
I'm tired of buying lemon cars. I have bought new ones and used ones and they all turn out to be lemons.
Example I had a new 2009 Toyota Tacoma 4x4 base model and the radio was replaced under warranty 9 times and the rear quarter panels dented in if you looked at them funny.
Then I bought a new 2013 ram Laramie 4x4 to haul my atv but with 40 miles on the odometer the engine shut itself off on the interstate and after a year of it being in and out of the shop the dealer fought for me against Chrysler to lemon law the vehicle.
Then I bought a used 2001 audi TT I know what you are going to say I was asking for trouble and you would be right because 6 months later the transmission died.
At this point I said I want the most reliable vehicle I can get and at the time I was told Subaru was it so I bought a base model manual transmission 2015 forester which had major electrical issues and burned 2 quarts of oil every 1000 miles. The dealer told me this was normal. It eventually caught fire in my driveway burning my house and motor home to the ground.
Them I purchased a 2013 BMW 1200 RT that was the best but it died due to a pickup pulling out in front of me on the highway and stopping with me doing 55, flying through the air is great I just suggest you do it in a airplane.
I didn't drive cars that much after that but I picked up a great deal on a 2017 Lincoln Continental black label that I still have today but I keep it in the garage 300 miles from where I work.
Needing a around the town vehicle I bought a 1987 jeep yj wrangler last November and 2 weeks later the engine block cracked after I replaced the valve gasket cover and did 4 oil changes.
My question here is what would you do with the jeep and what do you think about the upcoming Ineos Grenadier that comes with a BMW 3.0L Petro engine or should I buy one of those new electric trucks? I drive less than 8,000 miles year most of those are from Baton Rouge, LA to Shreveport, LA. I have a large garden where my house used to be and I run parts for my semi truck. Thanks for you time and your great shows on YouTube!
Wow...that is certainly a lot of bad luck. I've noticed each time the gov't has gotten involved is every time things have gone downhill for vehicle reliabilty. There are good vehicles still out there, even after 2005 @Doc. But like you said, have to do a good deal of research as every brand/model have issues, new and used. We're almost an all-Toyota household.
Remind me not to be standing next to you during a lightning storm. I personally wouldn't buy any vehicle made after 2005 since this seems to be the year everybody went to electronic junk add ons and stupid EPA compliant devices like start/stop and AFM. For the $45,000 average cost of a new car today, I'd get something old, put a new crate motor, a new Monster transmission and an aftermarkert fuel injection system. It would last at least 200,000 miles or more. Who needs an infotainment screen anyway?
Go out west to a desert state and find something rust free from the 69's to around 1975 and put a modern engine and trans in it. Preferably before 1972 [ pre-emissions] .
Computer problems? Emission problems? TPMS? all that chit? Nope, Nope, Nope!
You'll drive with a big smile on your face as you pass all those computers on wheels.
Oh yeah, put an air horn on it for when you pull up behind a Prius or E V and HONK!
Unfortunately NOTHING is perfect, not even Toyotas and Hondas. I have owned all makes over the last 50 years of driving and never really had a bad car BUT I was always meticulous about self maintenance/repairs and only bought used from private parties with lots of research and well documented history. I would still say your Toyotas/Hondas/Mazdas are your best gamble. Been my experience. I also loved the older Volvos from 1989 to 2007, they will last forever and were the most comfortable seats in the industry BUT with lots of self love and care required. If you do not work on your own cars then stay away from older volvos.
My luck also hasn't been great in the past few years, but truthfully with modern cars it's not really about luck - all of them are built like disposable single use trash.
Also, are you sure you want to keep the Lincoln? Lincoln is considered to be the LEAST reliable car brand, by a long shot - but I don't have any details on that specific models.
IF you want something reliable - the last thing you want is "Italian engineering meets German complexity" on that FiatChrysler, and you definitely do not want some toy with lithium batteries and super complex electronics.
As far as new cars, you can not go wrong with a Mazda CX-30 / CX-5 ("SkyActiv-G N.A" engine and a "SkyActiv-Drive" transmission) or a Toyota Corolla (E210) (1.6-2.0L engine and a manual or a K120 transmission) those two are just the most reliable ones out there.
As far as used cars, the best commuter car ever made IMO are late production (2011-mid 2013) E150 Corolla with ZR series engines and conventional automatics.
although some E170 Corolla models had the same ZR engine with manuals or a decent 4 speed automatic although they're a bit rare.
Additionally, manual Scion iM (2015 - 2018 What's called "corolla" in Europe) are also great cars, but only with a manual, and it's crucial to have a long test drive to see that ValveMatic isn't dropping in and out as that's the achilles heel of the European spec 1.8L but those are getting super rare in the US and it's important not to overpay as Scion isn't a brand anymore and getting body panels and other things like that might be difficult in the US.
Personally, After messing with all kinds of overly complex cars, remembering all of the genuinely good cars I had - I just decided to get a new car with a naturally aspirated engine with port injection only mated to a conventional torque converted planetary automatic transmission and just pray it lasts.
Dude I think you got a combo of bad luck and probably buying out of curiosity. Not gonna say you didn't research any of the cars and prolly bought from the stealerships, but this is what I assume to be true.
Any vehicle can be good if you sink enough money into it. As for your examples, for the Tacoma, was the frame rust delt recall delt with? Idk why the radio of all things was replaced under warranty but it sounds like the dealer didn't have anyone experienced. For the Forester, they had a lawsuit about excessive oil consumption, unsure over the fire but hope you got reimbursed, and for the jeep, idk why the block cracked, usually it's due to overheating issues built up or freezing from straight water without any coolant, I know they do that with some old cars for transportation purposes.
My recommendation would be for overall reliability would be Honda Toyota, but of course research the year and make of the car, every generation is going to have some sort of issues, ya just want to reduce as much as possible. For example I would steer well clear of the 2010 Toyota Prius due to a lot of complaints about braking issues.
I'm a bmw, Benz guy btw so that's my take haha
Being a BMW, Ben's guy what do you say about the 3.0 petro BMW engine in the ineos Grenadier SUV?
While I'm not personally a fan of the SUV, I believe the B58 is a better platform step up than the N55 and N54 before it, Toyota approved it for the new supra so to me that is saying something, and it is capable of 1000 HP on mostly stock internals as proven by papadakus racing (idk if I spelled his name right... Whoops) Being turbo charged is just the thing to do nowadays so I won't knock it too hard. I prefer my engines naturally aspirated as there is no replacement for displacement. A bit old school that way I guess. Other than that it has the typical BMW issues, coolant, plastic, and vanos are the more common ones. More to see what will come as it is only a 6ish year old platform I believe? That said, the SUV is being handled by the British correct? I don't have high hopes in that regard even with the B58 and the ZF automatic, sure they got the heart of a BMW but they stuck it in what is essentially a g wagon land Rover thing. Modern BMW's are finicky so we'll see if they screw it up haha.
They definitely still do make good cars these days. So many people are buying brand new cars and don't have any issues with them and they last them some good time. It is normal for even brand new cars to have issues and it has been enough for them to come up with the lemon law; but still it's not that much to justify never buying a new car. If you want good quality long lasting cars then go for a Toyota or Honda as they make great cars.
