Just a little article I found in the paper

[shwartzbewithyou]

I couldn't find an off-topic section for this thread so I just put it here.

I was reading the auto section of the "Globe and Mail" newspaper out of Toronto and came across this article about the reliability of today's vehicles.  

1st guy being interviewed:
"CR (a group that did the study) found that Toyota and Honda models have significantly fewer problems than cars from other manufacturers.  In fact, eight year-old Toyota's says CR, are about as reliable as three year-old Fords and Chryslers and 2 year old Volkswagens!".
 
2nd guy:
"Yes I've seen this study.  On average, five year-old Asian vehicles had 44 problems per 100 vehicles; American, 89 per 100; and European, 97 per 100".


OUCH!  Tells you that they've got there eyes off the prize.

[BlackTieTD]

in response to that, i agree, sounds dead on. however, despite more problems than i can remember with my rabbit, it always gets me there.

i wouldn't trade it for a new car, even a reliable honda, for many reasons..... most importantly, simplicity. what needs to work, WORKS. the extras, meh, don't interest me anyway. if something crucial breaks, its easy to fix 9/10.

if i was in the new car market i'd get a civic probably.. or a camry. how BORING and awful are those cars  :roll: ..but dead reliable.

we'll see how the mkV fare, but the mkIVs are a reliability joke, VW didn't do themselves any favours releasing that junk. of course my apologies to all our forum's treasured mkIV TDI drivers... it is, just my humble opinion.  :wink:

[ajt3nc]

Mercedes and Chrylser's joining has led to many dissapointed euro owners. Several of my friends traded older mercedes in and have not kept the new benzs less than a year.
I beleive the person buying a new BMW/MB/VW is generally pickier than the toyonda buyer.
My 04 Golf PD has been flawless for 140k, my 05 passat(RIP) was good with the exception of having the tranny ECU reflashed twice.My 86 jetta n/a keeps
 (slowly) going down the road.
You generally do not hear about the toyota oil sludging problems and the like.
Perceived reliability goes a long way toward establishing if a owner views an issue as a problem or a quirk.

[shwartzbewithyou]

Ahh yes but I didn't (or the article didn't) say anything about the old VW's.  I'm definetely not saying trade in our old VW's, I'm saying (the article is) if you were to buy a new car, a VW wouldn't be your best bet right now.
Beside's ajt3nc, the oil sludging problems were on the 3ee engine's that were later replaced in the tercels.  Also if you changed out to a higher temp theromstat, and lower viscosity oil then you could keep those problems at bay.  Also I'd like to point out that were generalizing the car manufacturers as a whole so I'd put my money where my mouth is in saying the quantities of tercels with oil sludging problems is far surpassed by the amount of happy Camry owners.  
P.S. BlacktieTD, the camry's over on toyotanation.com are anything but boring.

[Dr. Diesel]

a friend of mine is a service advisor for Honda. He says new hondas, particularly the civic, are junk. among other things, they leak oil right out of the box. Things are further complicated for owners when trying to get things fixed by the fact that honda canada doesn't pay their mechanics for diagnosing. You can imagine that a mechanic working on the flat rate system wouldn't spend much time or energy at all trying to troubleshoot a mysterious rattle or thump or some other issue that might take the pleasure out of owning a new car.

I certainly hope VW mk v's are of higher quality and reliability than mk iv's.

[ajt3nc]

I have seen several later model camrys and avalons have the sludging issue. The local dealer were not honoring warranties unless the owner could document oil changes on the "severe service" schedule.

[shwartzbewithyou]

I think all new cars right now bother me.  I have friends that keep buying newer cars and ask when I'm going to but if I'm just going to end up fixing a car, I'd rather do it on one I don't have to make monthly payments for.

I have one 2001 Nissan sentra (the wife's car) and my Jetta.  After the sentra is payed for, it'll be a while before i buy off the "remotely new" lot again.

[stewardc]

As some of you know, a certain GLS TDI New Beetle almost ruined me and I'll never buy another new VW. I do, however believe in the awesome powers of the Mk 1. My present daily driver is a 2003 Corolla S with 265,000 trouble-free kilometers on it. Say what you want to about nonVWs, but the Toyota beats any new VW in reliability. And this is from a person who's owned 7 new Vws in his lifetime and never put less than 300,000km on one (personal record is a 91 jetta turbodiesel with 680,000km).

[wyldman]

I have a friend who is a dealer tech at Honda.He's worked there for 10 years.He used to love it,as most of the work was CP (customer pay),and very little warranty.

The last few years,the cars have been horrible,and warranty work is now the norm.Engines,transimissions,and overall build quality have dropped dramitically the last few years.

I would still say Honda and Toyota are about the best in the new cars.Nissan is right up there too.VW's have been terrible lately,hopefully some of the newer models may change that.

[stewardc]

I have a friend who is a dealer tech at Honda.He's worked there for 10 years.He used to love it,as most of the work was CP (customer pay),and very little warranty.

The last few years,the cars have been horrible,and warranty work is now the norm.Engines,transimissions,and overall build quality have dropped dramitically the last few years.

I would still say Honda and Toyota are about the best in the new cars.Nissan is right up there too.VW's have been terrible lately,hopefully some of the newer models may change that.

I agree fully.

[ajt3nc]

I think they all have issues. My prior 01 subaru blew 2 headgaskets in 35k.
Then on the other end my inlaws ran a contour for 290k. The amazing part was when the brought it to me complaining of an oil leak. The oil filter had been on it so long it actually rusted a hole through it! These are the same folks who bragged about a 99 metro only needing oil every few months, when the oil light came on.

[Kudagra]

I had a 02 wrx (wish I still had it ) and other then it eating tires every 30k miles I think I had one CEL... miss on #3. I cleared it out and it never came back. That was the hands down easist car to work on. Every bolt had an access. The front plugs were kinda tough but a wobble socket takes care of that. Even had a dip stick for the manual trans.

Full exhaust change, 1st time touching the car, took about 1 hr.

Damn I miss it.

I got 29 mpg on the way to the dealer to trade it in on a bigger car..new baby. I dont get so many looks from cops in the Tribeca.