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I need vehicles with relatively good idle engine power (for generating electricity through the alternator and need the A/C compressor running) and it seems most cars these days are going to the 4 cylinder or 4 cylinder with turbo. Every year, more and more cars are ditching the 6 cylinder and going to a turbo 4 cylinder instead.
I keep cars til over 200k miles and definitely over 10 years. I've owned mostly 6 cylinders that have no problem doing this. It seems my choices of getting a naturally aspirated 6 cylinder for a SEDAN or WAGON/CROSSOVER are getting very limited. In my head, I'm thinking that a 6 cylinder with more idling and power usage will last longer than a 4 cylinder or 4 with turbo. But the naturally aspirated 6 cylinder is dying. BMW made the best 6 cylinder engines and they're all gone now.
My friend recently pointed me toward the Subaru Outback with the 3.6 Boxer engine. It's nice they still offer that, but is that going to the graveyard as well? What about people with 4 cylinder or 4 with turbos? Have you guys made it to 250k miles or maybe even 13 -15 years of heavy use life with minimal issues? Lexus offers naturally aspirated 6 cylinders still, but I don't necessarily need luxury cars with those high price tags. I drive 70 miles a day so rack up the miles fairly quickly and need something very reliable. I guess the all wheel drive would be an added benefit.
I realize transmissions are a big limiting factor these days, but most manufacturers have made decent transmissions that last over 200k miles. I never considered Subaru before, but seems like they have a lot of fans and the Outback and other Subaru cars are selling quickly.
I would go with a 6-cylinder Toyota motor. The one on my wife's 2010 Rav4 produces 269HP, and is quite good on fuel, somewhere around 29-30 MPG on the highway, and around 21 combined (city/highway). At 65-70 MPH the motor coupled to the 5-speed automatic transmission is under 2,000 RPM.
The Toyota 3.5L 2GR-FE engine is an excellent engine.
The Subaru 3.6L EZ36D is also an excellent engine.
Both are extremely durable. There are more Toyotas out there so you're more likely to hear more people who own them and promote them. The Subaru engines run up high mileage but there are few 3.6L Outback and Legacy models sold compared to the 2.5L models, so the overall numbers are very small compared to the Toyota 3.5L 2GR-FE, which is standard in the Avalon and the Lexus ES, and is/was optional on other vehicles. The Subaru 3.6 is not prone to any head gasket issues that the older 2.5L suffered.
However, at idle, no engine is working much, even the 4cyl turbos. The turbo engines are as driveable as the 6 cylinders because their torque "curve" is really not a curve at all, but a torque line producing maximum torque at almost all RPM across the range.
If you buy a not-very-used Lexus, the GS 350 and LS 460 are the best used values with your requirements, as they have 6 or 8 cylinder engines and depreciate quickly for the first few years. Several other models would also qualify for your requirements, but depreciate slower. The LS is a 4.6L V8. The GS 350 has a 2GR-FSE (not same engine as ES 350). So with your 70 mile a day drive, either could be purchased a few years old for ~60% of original MSRP with 85% of remaining lifespan (conservatively). Just a thought, not necessarily a recommendation. Both available in AWD (the LS has less power in AWD vs RWD configurations but at its power, the de-powered AWD version is still powerful).
Other used cars that are known to go high miles with very little drama are the Acura RL (3.5L V6). The Infiniti G37 and M37 (especially '12 and '13 as '10 and '11 had some transmission complaints) also do well, but the high rollers seem to be Lexus models and the RL. The RL, G, and M are available in AWD.
I'm only mentioning cars that are known to go a long distance with little drama. In other words, 200k+ cars. All would be late 00s through present. There could be others though.
Last edited by 43north87west; 10-13-2016 at 08:08 PM..
The low sales number on the V6 Subies comes from the company being niche market to begin with, and then charging what seems to be a pretty steep premium to go from the 4 to the 6. They're also CVT-only in the USA. I like Subaru's current version of the CVT, but others differ in that regard.
I am surprised no one has mentioned the Accord V6. You get Hondas quality, reliable, gas milage, long life. resale.
The V6 Accord coupe 6 speed stick is a hot rod.
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