What country makes the most reliable cars?

[steamboat26]

In my limited experience with cars, but general knowledge, it's Japan, no contest. American reliability has really gone to hell in the past 20 years. I can't say Germany because i've heard too many horror stories about VWs breaking, and costing thousands of dollars for very minor repairs. I would say Sweden, but both of their major companies (Volvo and Saab) are owned by American companies, which led to their demise. My thought on Korea is that they give you a 10 year warranty because they are fairly shotty cars.

 

[Queso]

Pfft. America makes the best cars. Everyone knows that.

Best movies, best cars, best computers, ad nauseam. But Germany makes the best pornos.

Heh heh. Except it's all Made In China

 

[ErikCLDR]

British of course.

Kidding.

I would say japanese or american and definitely not german as much as I like german cars. American cars interiors are built like $*** but as cheap as they are they never seem to brake. We're friends with the people that bought my dads 1996 Suburban, it has over 215,000 miles on it. We never had any major issues with it and neither have our friends. It has had the AC recharged, new fuel pump, and the 4x4 solenoid replaced. I know that my friends moms Nissan Murano has had horrible electrical issues.

People that buy japanese cars usually tend to buy another. We've never owned one so I am not one to speak. Supposedly though Toyotas reliability is going down and they are trying to stop it.

Don't even get me started with VW. My moms Touareg has had so much go wrong with it it's not even funny. I don't even know where to start. How can the license plate light burn out every time you need an oil change. How about 2 xenon headlights in one month. How does a CD player break? What about 2 CV joints. The car only has 40,000 miles on it. Luckly most of this is under warranty. When it runs up, its going to be sold.

 

[true777]

Japan, definitely -- though those cars have no style and cheap interiors, and just don't feel solid and well-built. But just in terms of not breaking down they are the best. I don't like them, drive a German car myself, but they're a great buy for people who don't mind (or even like) their bland appearance and lack of style.

 

[ErikCLDR]

Japan, definitely -- though those cars have no style and cheap interiors, and just don't feel solid and well-built. But just in terms of not breaking down they are the best. I don't like them, drive a German car myself, but they're a great buy for people who don't mind (or even like) their bland appearance and lack of style.

Its quite interesting the way I see it. Less solid cars seem to be more reliable, and more solid cars seem to be less reliable. I mean, look at a Land Rover, they are solid, but they are last or 2nd to last in reliability.

I should also mention everyone in my family that has owned a VW has sold it due to reliability and repair cost issues. That includes my uncle, my other uncle, my cousin, my other cousin, and soon to be my mom.

 

[maccam]

my dads 1996 Suburban has over 215,000 miles on it.

Yeah American cars & trucks are the best... But, guess who makes the parts for americans? CHINA and thats why I voted China.

EDIT: By the way suburbans ROCK, I hope to get one

 

[psycoswimmer]

I know that my friends moms Nissan Murano has had horrible electrical issues.

I think Japanese. The German cars do have "status symbol" to them though, IMO. (Think Mercedes, BMW...)

And I'd just like to put in a + for the Murano. My mom has one and it's a great SUV. Extremely comfortable and roomy on the inside. Gets horrible MPG, but what SUV doesn't?

 

[Neurocity]

Hell, the hyundai Veracruz just beat a lexus in a motor trend head-to-head.

Its just too bad the Hyundai will loss 80% of its resale value because of its name.

Hey my first noob post!!! I love this site BTW!!!

 

[ErikCLDR]

I think Japanese. The German cars do have "status symbol" to them though, IMO. (Think Mercedes, BMW...)

And I'd just like to put in a + for the Murano. My mom has one and it's a great SUV. Extremely comfortable and roomy on the inside. Gets horrible MPG, but what SUV doesn't?

My friends mom with the Murano, despite its electrical issues, says its the best car she's ever owned. Their family swears by Nissan. My friends dad has an Infiniti G35. In the past they've owned a Quest, Pathfinder, and a Maxima. He almost bought a 350z for his midlife crisis car but due to some tire wear issue he opted to get the Honda S2000.

I have a saying, "People that buy one Toyota usually buy another". Lexus,, Honda or Acura could be substituted for the word Toyota.

Suburbans are great cars though. We owned a 1993, 1996, and a 1998 and never had an major issue with any of them. Our 1999 did very well in a collision. The 'burban had a dented wheel center cover and a 5mm scratch. The Subaru that hit us had its entire front end crushed in.

 

[psycoswimmer]

My friends mom with the Murano, despite its electrical issues, says its the best car she's ever owned. Their family swears by Nissan. My friends dad has an Infiniti G35. In the past they've owned a Quest, Pathfinder, and a Maxima. He almost bought a 350z for his midlife crisis car but due to some tire wear issue he opted to get the Honda S2000.

My family is the same way... Before her Murano she had a Maxima, and my dad recently got a Pathfinder. My uncle has a Versa, too.

 

[steamboat26]

I have a saying, "People that buy one Toyota usually buy another". Lexus,, Honda or Acura could be substituted for the word Toyota.

Suburbans are great cars though. We owned a 1993, 1996, and a 1998 and never had an major issue with any of them. Our 1999 did very well in a collision. The 'burban had a dented wheel center cover and a 5mm scratch. The Subaru that hit us had its entire front end crushed in.

Are Acuras as good as their reputation with Consumer reports and the like? I have been trying to get my dad to buy a TL for a while now, but he just won't give in.

With regards to your comments about the Suburban, are you sure that your luck in the accident didn't have to do with your Suburban outweighing the Subaru by almost a ton?

 

[cleanup]

Who says Japanese cars don't have style?

My brother has one of these, but without the fancy rear skirt/muffler thing:

See quite a few of these on the streets of Shanghai:

This is the European/Japanese version of the Accord:

Also, cars just tend to be more stylish in Europe and Asia, even American ones. I don't think these are in the U.S., yet. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

 

[quagmire]

In my experience it is American. Our family's '96 Suburban, '02 Suburban, '06 Equinox, and '07 Saturn Aura XR have been so far reliable. Then it is Germany as our 2002 BMW 330xi had a blown water pump at 45K and a worn pulley at 70K. Then it is Japan as my dads 80's Corolla blew a manifold at 20K and my dad decided to get rid of it after that.

BUT, in general, Japan is probably the best with a slight slip( Toyota), but by a slight margin now with Americans catching quickly and German quality is falling( VW, Mercedes). Anyone using the American vehicles from the 80's need to get with the times and realize the Americans are improving and at least trying to get back their lost marketshare.

PS: Who voted for Great Britain? Their car industry is almost none existant with most of their major international brands being bought out by German and American companies.

PSS: To the person who said GM sources there parts from China. the only major China part that is in an American vehicle is the 3.4 V6 that is in the Equinox and Torrent. But, the '08 MY will be the last year for the 3.4 V6 with the 3.5 V6 replacing it in '09 MY. The only non American cars is the Korean Aveo and German Astra.

 

[ErikCLDR]

Are Acuras as good as their reputation with Consumer reports and the like? I have been trying to get my dad to buy a TL for a while now, but he just won't give in.

My friends parents bought an MDX. They've had it for a 4 months maybe now and they just purchased an RL to replace their expedition.

My old neighbors also had an MDX and RL.

Come to think of it another friends of mine had parents with an MDX and an RL. The dad last year traded in his RL for an RX350.

Another friends dad bought a Honda Accord, her brother then got a Civic as his first car, and later on her mom replaced her suburban with a Pilot.

Another friends dad replaced his Mercedes C230 with an RX400h and his mom just got a Toyota Sienna.

Another friend's mom had a VW Passat and his dad has a Sienna. His mom traded in the Passat because of reliability issues for a Highlander.

I could probably think of more examples. But people that buy a Japanese car usually buy another, so they must be good.
------
Many VW's are made in Mexico, BMW's in America, etc so who really does make the most reliable cars...

 

[steamboat26]

In my experience it is American. Our family's '96 Suburban, '02 Suburban, '06 Equinox, and '07 Saturn Aura XR have been so far reliable.

Would you really expect a 5 year old car to have had serious problems already? If a car fails when it is less than 5 years old, my guess would be that it's a lemon. But i guess it really depends on how you define reliable. If you consider it to be requiring little maintenance, then it has served your purposes. I consider reliability to be running consistently strong after many miles (ex. Volvos from the 1980s that still run with 300k or 400k miles on them)

 

[quagmire]

Would you really expect a 5 year old car to have had serious problems already? If a car fails when it is less than 5 years old, my guess would be that it's a lemon. But i guess it really depends on how you define reliable. If you consider it to be requiring little maintenance, then it has served your purposes. I consider reliability to be running consistently strong after many miles (ex. Volvos from the 1980s that still run with 300k or 400k miles on them)

Being 17 my car( the Aura) will be driven to its death most likely seeing how money strapped I will probably be in my early 20's. So see me in 8 years or so and I will tell you how my Aura has faired. Anyway, that is why I said in my experience. That is how long my parents kept the '96 Suburban. They didn't trade in the '96 Suburban due to problems, but to take advantage of the post-911 deals GM had out. If it wasn't for that it could of been a few more years with that '96 Suburban. It will probably be similar situation when my parents trade in the '02 Suburban for the new ones due to I am working at my local Chevy dealer and can get the employee discount. The point that you make is why I made the 2nd paragraph. Japanese vehicles will probably outlast any other vehicles. But, that margin is shrinking with the Japanese quality slipping a bit and the Big 2.5 catching up.

 

[mad jew]

The only non American cars is the Korean Aveo and German Astra.

I thought the Astra was built in Belgium, but I could be wrong.

There's no mention of Australia's build quality... But that's probably fair enough. We're getting better but we're still no match for the Japanese.

Different cars can last longer in different conditions. For example, our Holden Commodore will almost certainly last longer out in our scrub, but give it the salt-ridden roads of Northern Europe and it'll struggle. By the same token, the Saab 9-3 probably goes forever in Sweden but wouldn't last a day by Uluru. It seems like the Japanese cars last pretty nicely in our harsh climate. In the outback you'd probably want a Toyota LandCruiser or a Nissan Patrol.

 

[ErikCLDR]

I thought the Astra was built in Belgium, but I could be wrong.

There's no mention of Australia's build quality... But that's probably fair enough. We're getting better but we're still no match for the Japanese.

Different cars can last longer in different conditions. For example, our Holden Commodore will almost certainly last longer out in our scrub, but give it the salt-ridden roads of Northern Europe and it'll struggle. By the same token, the Saab 9-3 probably goes forever in Sweden but wouldn't last a day by Uluru. It seems like the Japanese cars last pretty nicely in our harsh climate. In the outback you'd probably want a Toyota LandCruiser or a Nissan Patrol.

Nothing will last in New England

 

[quagmire]

I thought the Astra was built in Belgium, but I could be wrong.

There's no mention of Australia's build quality... But that's probably fair enough. We're getting better but we're still no match for the Japanese.

It's German. Opel is GM's German division. The BMW X5 is built in South Carolina. Does that mean it is an American car? The X5 was engineered by BMW. Where a car is built doesn't equal the company is where the car is built. While most Camry's are built in the US( some are still imported from Japan) doesn't mean Toyota is an American company. I hate people who think under that philosophy.

Bah, Australian automotive industry is nothing more of an extension of the American industry with Ford AU being owned by well Ford and Holden being owned by GM.

 

[mad jew]

...And Toyota being owned by Toyota; Mitsubishi owned by Mitsubishi. Also, Opel is the European arm of GM although the special UK kids get their own badge: Vauxhall.

Where a car is built has a huge influence on how reliable it is. It's all very well for a car to be designed well, but if it's not built well then it's not gonna be reliable. The American-built Mercedes and BMWs tend to be less reliable than their German and even South African counterparts in our conditions here.

 

[quagmire]

Where a car is built has a huge influence on how reliable it is. It's all very well for a car to be designed well, but if it's not built well then it's not gonna be reliable. The American-built Mercedes and BMWs tend to be less reliable than their German and even South African counterparts in our conditions here.

Where is that slap my head smiley? You missed my point. I said, " The only non-American cars are the Aveo and Astra. I meant Engineering wise. Where the car was developed.

 

[johnmartin78]

A lot of the companies we consider foreign are owned by American companies,so they kind of deserve more credit than we give them.

However,I have never looked up any statistics,but I have worked in the after market Auto Parts industry for over 10 years,and I can say from personal experience the only manufacturer that I see as a clear stand out from the rest as far as replacement parts is Subaru.

That being said,American cars do tend to be cheaper to replace parts for than foreign autos.

 

[mad jew]

Where is that slap my head smiley? You missed my point. I said, " The only non-American cars are the Aveo and Astra. I meant Engineering wise. Where the car was developed.

Ahh, okay cool. Hopefully you'll be adding the Pontiac G8 to that list soon. As important as design is, actual manufacture is just as important if not more so. Just ask the Russians about their T-72s.

 

[3nm]

Nippon, definitely.

too bad they don't really have "soul." =\

 

[MrSmith]

Who says Japanese cars don't have style?

Not me. My machine has lots of style.