Car ratings based on my experiences.Note I favor cars with good powertrains.
Good cars
- Toyota - Good engines. My 10 year old Celica still runs.
- Honda -Nice high reving engines. Our '89 Civic still runs.
- BMW -Smooth I6 designs with great sound. My grandfather had 5 of them back to back and highly recommends them.
- Nissan-Good L4 and V6 engine durability. Questionable styling.
- Mercedes-German engineering at its finest (and most costly)
- Ford -Decent value for the money. In general the trucks are better than the cars. Our '88 Taurus still runs. Transmission problems are common at 100K miles however so beware. Huge quality improvement initiatives are in place at Ford.
In general the repair costs for foreign cars tend to be much higher as these vehicles are not designed with repairs in mind. Toyotas and Honda for example have all kinds of unique specifications so you may not be able to use aftermarket parts. To replace bushings on my Celica you have to buy all new control arms and stay bars.
Decent cars
- GM-Some newer V6 and V8 models are ok. I don't trust GM though after my family had an '80 Citation and an '82 Olds Cierra Diesel. Both were total shit that my dad junked at 60K miles each.
- VW-These cars have historically been troublesome but ride great. The ones built in Germany are better than the Mexico built ones. The turbos don't last. I recently test drove a '98 with 46k miles and a blown turbo.
- Mazda-Japan built units are better than US built units made with union labor and low spec parts.
- Volvo-Avoid high pressure turbos. Great if you wanna crash them and survive.
- Saab -Do you really want a 4 cylinder turbo when for that price you can get a 6?
- Jaguar--nice and quality is improving
Vehicle makes you should avoid if you are looking for something that will last and have resale value.These cars are cheap because these companies use low quality parts.
- Hyundai-Drive a five year old one and you will see.
- Daewoo- They're bankrupt by the way.
- Kia -We rented a Sportage and it wouldn't go faster than 40mph up a hill!
- Chrysler-My family's '93 Intrepid 3.5 L blew its engine at 63K miles even though we did all the preventitive maintenence and changed oil every 3000 miles. On top of that it took the company 3 months to get my Dad a new engine under warranty.
- Mitsubishi-This company covered up recalls and customer complaints for 20 years! Do you really want to buy from a company like that?
Carpoint site to see what other people think about various makes and models
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