jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Here are reliability ratings based on owner reports to Consumer Reports. I just signed up for their online subscription, and I get several newsletters.

BebuLamar

The thought scares me. I do kind of need a new car but the thought scares me and I don't really want to think about it.

fourlocks Loc: Londonderry, NH

Interesting but not surprising that not a single American car is in the top 10 and even relative newcomer Kia beat out the top rated American car. I know pretty much all the "foreign" cars are assembled in America but the reason they're all at the top, is that they have better quality control standards than Detroit seems willing to implement.

BebuLamar

Or perhaps they don't have quality controls but rather quality is built in from the start rather than inspecting to find the defects.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

Only the well-to-do can afford a new car these days. I haven’t bought a new car since the late 80s.

Stan

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Quality control people don't build anything - don't generate income. That's why Boeing dropped so many of them.

tcthome Loc: NJ

I kept a boat in a marina & another worked at the GM plant in Rahway, NJ. Not there anymore. They built the S10 series trucks & Blazers I believe. (I dodne some mechanical work there & the Blazer was being produced at the time. When I told of a problem a co-work was having (a known poroblem) , he said, ah, thats nothing, the'll fix it under warranty at the dealer. I purchase a vehicle because Me, myself don't want the hassle of being down for repairs & no other reason. I'm not sure he got it.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I like doing the research. The first scary part is dealing with the dealer - The Prince of Deception. Then you might have to deal with the service department - The King of Profit.

If you do buy a new or used car, be sure to read the entire contract carefully. Motorhome dealers are using contracts that do not allow for warranty work or lawsuits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xElhTNS_xn8

And the video he mentions in the beginning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP_u2JR51_Y

BebuLamar

Sure car dealers are so bad and they are about the only remaining bad kind of dealers. Buying a car is worse than buying a house. The service dept making good money out of you but they pay their mechanics badly.

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

You still trust Consumer Reports, Jerry?

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I bought my first house in 1973. It cost $30K.

That has defined a psychological limit to spending money on big ticket items. Up until 2017 I was able to buy cars and tractors for less than that amount. I doubt that I will be able to do that for the next car or tractor.

Since I'm retired, it might be possible to downsize the tractor, but since I have developed arthritis in pretty much all of my joints, I am going to have to find a car that doesn't require me to fold up to get in or out. That pretty much rules out sedans, so I'll be looking at SUVs. The question then becomes 'Do I want to go for a used vehicle instead of new'? To date I have only bought a couple used cars (most of my tractors were bought used). My car ownership style is to drive the car until it won't pass inspection any more. Then it becomes a field vehicle until the engine is toast.

There's a big difference between the price of a car and a tractor. A car will lose value in a couple weeks after you buy it new. (I had a new car totaled 3 days after purchase and my insurance gave me full purchase price for it {although since I got it on a sale, the replacement cost more}). OTOH, every tractor I ever bought used cost me more than it cost the original owner new*. So the cost of the tractor is not the capital, it's the maintenance.

*there are several reasons for that and a couple exceptions. Tractors don't get as much running time as cars. Tractors last longer than cars -- it's not unusual to have a 35 year old tractor in full production use. Replacement parts for tractors are produced much longer than they are for cars. I had a John Deere model B (production stopped in 1957) that I could still get parts for in the '90s. And I sold it for more than I paid for it. The limitation is that this only applies to popular models of tractors. My first tractor was new in 1988. It was a middle of the line tractor -- there was a model smaller than that and two models larger than that. When the engine died after 28 years, parts were available for the smallest model and the largest model. My model was sent to a parts yard.

ken_stern Loc: Yorba Linda, Ca

One thing to be cautious about with listings like this is so many customer consumer complaints target electronics sections such as the navigation & entertainment components versus what this old guy would consider basic auto reliability such as engine, transmission & brakes -- My example with my then brand new Subaru WRX:
The car ran just fine however the CK, Engine light kept coming on -- Bottom line was they needed to reboot the damn computer software -- The Car continues running just fine for these last 5yrs

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I had a couple of Valiants. They had a slant 6 engine. All the knobs and handles fell off but the engine ran forever. I really considered not trading it in back then but I wasn't in a position to keep an engine lying around for possible future use.

ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

I see these ratings all the time. Before putting stock in their proclamations, I want to know what the qualifications of the raters were, and how, specifically, were the rating criteria actually measured. And just what does "average predicted reliability" mean?

Usually, they don't provide such useful information. Since there are so many people out there pretending to be analysts while making up lists like these based upon personal opinions and inappropriate data, we should beware of making decisions based upon them.

ken_stern Loc: Yorba Linda, Ca

Since you're talking about really old cars let me tell you about my mid 70's Fiat 1300 Sport:
About 6months after I purchased it the Weber Carb fell off its engine mounts while the vacuum assist brakes produced about half-breaking power -- Had the car towed into the dealership where the mechanic took me aside and showed me the open-end 10mm-12mm wrench that came with the car -- Then told me the car would last me as long as I wanted to drive it as long as once a week I bolted down the following screws -- Which I did for the next 10 yrs & 135,000 miles -- Most folks pronounced the Fiat as a pile of crap & by their standards -- that is without my mechanic's advice -- IT TRULY WAS