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ColdJensens, the reason the Honda starter was hard to find is because there isn't much of a market for them. If there were, the parts suppliers would fill the market demand. On the other hand, there are lots of Chevys that need starters. Hence wide availability.
As for the college kid with a Jensen - I bet his parents didn't choose it. It is an enthusiast car, and someone buying one knows what they are getting into.
ColdJensens, the reason the Honda starter was hard to find is because there isn't much of a market for them. If there were, the parts suppliers would fill the market demand. On the other hand, there are lots of Chevys that need starters. Hence wide availability.
As for the college kid with a Jensen - I bet his parents didn't choose it. It is an enthusiast car, and someone buying one knows what they are getting into.
Exactly! You can find plenty of chevy starters because they sell them like crazy. I have had GM cars that I have put 3 starters on while I owned them. I have never put one on my 19 year old honda accord. lol If it ever does need one, the dealer will have it or can get it in a day or two from the distribution center, or I could just order it online and have it expressed shipped if I was in a hurry.
I don't understand the mentality of basing the purchase of a vehicle on the price of parts. Cheaper parts almost always means they sell far more of them and thus the car is less reliable. Autozone house brand parts are the worst you can buy. They are usually cheap, poor quality china made knockoffs. If they offer a brand name buy it, even if it costs twice as much. The "Duralast" brand they carry is affectionately referred to as "Don't Last" in the automotive circles.
Subaru is not particularly reliable, nor do they get good mileage. They are not super safe either (just averagely safe), but they are good in snow mud and rain, carry a lot and are reasonably neat looking. (Plus did I mention - two sun roofs!)
Those enticing sunroofs are the only reason we bought the Outback. I really did not want a great AWD system that has taken me through several winters, a reliable engine that has had no problems for 10 years, and I definitely did not want the McIntosh stereo system.
Subaru is not particularly reliable, nor do they get good mileage. They are not super safe either (just averagely safe), but they are good in snow mud and rain, carry a lot and are reasonably neat looking. (Plus did I mention - two sun roofs!)
Not sure why you question the safety of Subarus. Almost all of them from 1990-2010 have 5 star safety ratings from the NHTSA.
Very few vehicles from any manufacturer have been tested under the upgraded 2011 standard.
As for reliability, Subaru generally gets very good marks in Consumer Reports. The people I know with Subarus have either Foresters or Outback models, and they are all very happy with the reliability.
Subaru mileage is usually lower than most comparable size/displacement vehicles - a clear compromise caused by the full time AWD system.
Get your child a Mazda3 wagon. That is the coolest of the smaller roomy cars. If not, get him a Jetta. College kids love VWs although they aren't the most reliable. At 2009 Jetta is pretty cheap.
Exactly! You can find plenty of chevy starters because they sell them like crazy. I have had GM cars that I have put 3 starters on while I owned them. I have never put one on my 19 year old honda accord. lol If it ever does need one, the dealer will have it or can get it in a day or two from the distribution center, or I could just order it online and have it expressed shipped if I was in a hurry.
I don't understand the mentality of basing the purchase of a vehicle on the price of parts. Cheaper parts almost always means they sell far more of them and thus the car is less reliable. Autozone house brand parts are the worst you can buy. They are usually cheap, poor quality china made knockoffs. If they offer a brand name buy it, even if it costs twice as much. The "Duralast" brand they carry is affectionately referred to as "Don't Last" in the automotive circles.
Well my F.I.L. has been through 4 starters on his honda in about the same amount of time, while my Camaro (A Chevy) has needed none in 16 plus years. I guess your Honda is balanced out by my Chevy and your Chevy is balanced out by FILs honda, so between us, they have an average that is exactly equal.
This is a silly way of putting my question earlier. I constantly hear about how certain cars are "more reliable" but I have never heard, nor seen any studies or report s on HOW MUCH more reliable any given car is. Is it 5% less likely to have a problem? 20% less likely?
I have owned Honda, Mazda, Subaru, and cared for and driven a Porsche and I did not find any of them less likely to break or have problems than the various American cars I have owned. The one exception being a 1980 Pontiac Sunbird which had a nasty tendency to catch on fire among other problems. As far as major problems. I lost transmissions on a Dodge Van (twice) and on Honda. (And several on the Jensen) I have had to rebuild four engines. One Honda, One Dodge, and two Jensen Healey. But then of course British cars break down noticeably more often than American or Japanese cars. However the point is that in my experience, I do not see a significant difference in reliability between American and Japanese cars. In fact the longest lasting cars that I have personally known are Ford Rangers owned by my Brother and father. I am aware that some Japanese cars are considered more reliable than some American cars, but how much of a difference is really there? Anyone know?
I don't understand the mentality of basing the purchase of a vehicle on the price of parts. Cheaper parts almost always means they sell far more of them and thus the car is less reliable. Autozone house brand parts are the worst you can buy. They are usually cheap, poor quality china made knockoffs. If they offer a brand name buy it, even if it costs twice as much. The "Duralast" brand they carry is affectionately referred to as "Don't Last" in the automotive circles.
As I said it was a rebuilt starter. They are OEM.
Intersting perspective on the batteries. Of ocurse it may depend on which level your friends are buying. Last time I bought one, the Autozone salesperson described the three levels they sell as:
"1. Wouldn't put it in my car if it was free.
2. Ok to get you by until you can afford a good battery.
3. The one worth buying. Sears Diehard battery (they are the same battery made by the same company and the diehard is highly rated)."
Regardless of brand, if your friends are buying the cheapo battery, it will be a "don't last" battery unless they are really lucky. I generally buy Duralast gold or diehard batteries and I usually get 7-10 years out of them unless they freeze while they are dead, which no battery can survive, not even the $250 boat batteries. Sometimes I get 15 years or more, but not too often. We are hard on batteries (forget things a lot and have to jumpstart often). I have played around with other brands and never had any perform noticeably better or last noticably longer. My B.I.L. used to work for interestate and would give me their test results of their and other comany's batteries (back then there were more battery companies). There were a few crummy brands, but the quality batteries were pretty much all the same.
Actually it is my understanding that there are really only two battery companies. They just manufacture several different brands, but the batteries are essentially the same. The quality level is more important than the brand (Except the Optima batteries which are now pretty much just an over priced average to below average battery - the old ones were superior, but no longer).
This just reminded me. We had a car with one of the original (good quality) optima batteries in it, but I forgot to switch it out before my wife scrapped the car.
Intersting perspective on the batteries. Of ocurse it may depend on which level your friends are buying. Last time I bought one, the Autozone salesperson described the three levels they sell as:
"1. Wouldn't put it in my car if it was free.
2. Ok to get you by until you can afford a good battery.
3. The one worth buying. Sears Diehard battery (they are the same battery made by the same company and the diehard is highly rated)."
Regardless of brand, if your friends are buying the cheapo battery, it will be a "don't last" battery unless they are really lucky. I generally buy Duralast gold or diehard batteries and I usually get 7-10 years out of them unless they freeze while they are dead, which no battery can survive, not even the $250 boat batteries. Sometimes I get 15 years or more, but not too often. We are hard on batteries (forget things a lot and have to jumpstart often). I have played around with other brands and never had any perform noticeably better or last noticably longer. My B.I.L. used to work for interestate and would give me their test results of their and other comany's batteries (back then there were more battery companies). There were a few crummy brands, but the quality batteries were pretty much all the same.
Actually it is my understanding that there are really only two battery companies. They just manufacture several different brands, but the batteries are essentially the same. The quality level is more important than the brand (Except the Optima batteries which are now pretty much just an over priced average to below average battery - the old ones were superior, but no longer).
This just reminded me. We had a car with one of the original (good quality) optima batteries in it, but I forgot to switch it out before my wife scrapped the car.
"Rebuilt" basically means they repaired whatever caused it to stop working, it is not the same as buying a brand new quality name brand or OEM part.
I didn't mention batteries so I'm not sure where that came from. Autozone uses the "Duralast" name on many parts that they import. It is their in house brand. It is not my "friends" that refer to it as "Don't Last", I know some mechanics and that is what they call them. I don't know of any quality mechanic shops that will even touch Autozone parts. The ones I know won't even put them on for you if you buy them yourself. They have too many problems with them.
Anyway, as far as the debate on reliability goes; I own a business that has a number of vehicles and I also know the manager of a major business that has a fleet of vehicles. We put anywhere between 30,000 to 50,000 miles a year on them so I usually see maintenance issues much faster than the average consumer. I can tell you from my experience and what I know of the other business I mentioned, dodge trucks and chrysler products in general are by far the most unreliable. GM cars and trucks are next and then Ford is the most reliable as far as American manufacturers go. I have personally owned the Honda I mentioned and a Mazda. The Mazda was pretty good but nothing comes close to the Honda and I know several other people that have Hondas and they too have been top notch. I have an Uncle that died a few years ago that bought a Honda brand new in 1983 and one of my cousins took it and still drives it today and it is completely reliable.
Since we are on the battery topic, last I heard the cheap Autozone batteries were made by Exide and suck. Whereas the top end ones are made by the same company that makes Diehard which at one time was Interstate I believe but I'm can't remember for sure. I have a local place that sells "blemished" Interstate batteries which basically means the case was scuffed or the stickers were messed up or whatever so they get sold at a steep discount. I get them for a little over half what a comparable battery cost at full retail and usually get 5 to 7 years out of them.
"Rebuilt" basically means they repaired whatever caused it to stop working, it is not the same as buying a brand new quality name brand or OEM part.
I didn't mention batteries so I'm not sure where that came from. Autozone uses the "Duralast" name on many parts that they import. It is their in house brand. It is not my "friends" that refer to it as "Don't Last", I know some mechanics and that is what they call them. I don't know of any quality mechanic shops that will even touch Autozone parts. The ones I know won't even put them on for you if you buy them yourself. They have too many problems with them.
Anyway, as far as the debate on reliability goes; I own a business that has a number of vehicles and I also know the manager of a major business that has a fleet of vehicles. We put anywhere between 30,000 to 50,000 miles a year on them so I usually see maintenance issues much faster than the average consumer. I can tell you from my experience and what I know of the other business I mentioned, dodge trucks and chrysler products in general are by far the most unreliable. GM cars and trucks are next and then Ford is the most reliable as far as American manufacturers go. I have personally owned the Honda I mentioned and a Mazda. The Mazda was pretty good but nothing comes close to the Honda and I know several other people that have Hondas and they too have been top notch. I have an Uncle that died a few years ago that bought a Honda brand new in 1983 and one of my cousins took it and still drives it today and it is completely reliable.
Since we are on the battery topic, last I heard the cheap Autozone batteries were made by Exide and suck. Whereas the top end ones are made by the same company that makes Diehard which at one time was Interstate I believe but I'm can't remember for sure. I have a local place that sells "blemished" Interstate batteries which basically means the case was scuffed or the stickers were messed up or whatever so they get sold at a steep discount. I get them for a little over half what a comparable battery cost at full retail and usually get 5 to 7 years out of them.
Their rebuilt parts are fine. They are rebuilt in the same shops as NAPA or any other shop selling rebuilt parts. I always use rebuilt starters when possible and never had any problems with them unless I installed them improperly. I like rebuilt parts (except brake shoes and clutch plates). Generally they seem to be better quality than post manufacture parts, especially on older cars. I have never had a rebuilt part fail. Plus they rebuild them right here. I prefer that to buying a new part made in China.
I did not know Duralast is on anything but batteries. I have never seen the brand on anything that I bought there. But then, other than rebuilt parts, I almost always buy the premium parts. It is not worth it to me to spend the time to replace a part and then have to do it again.
My experience with the big three is the same. Dodge was the worst quality form the late 1980s through the Fiat buyout (now I do not know). However Dodge has some of the neatest designs. GM is generally the next least durable, but some of their models are far better and some worse, so the order depends on the model. Further, GM cars were generally nicer and often performed better (just not as long or with more problems - for many models.). Ford is perhaps the most durable for many models, but not all models. Ford tended to be less nice, more basic. However now things are very different. Looking at them, and poking on them, they all appear very close quality wise. They have changed a lot in the past two or three years. I will say that the Dodge minvan seats seem really chintzy.
Even looking at older cars, it is unclear how big a difference there is. I am well aware that Chrysler had loads of quality problems in the past 15 years. But how much is "by far"? They are lower quality, but they are a lot cheaper, especially used. Is "by far" a greater quantity than the amount of initial savings plus interest? I do not know. You can buy an old Chrysler or dodge minvan for $1800 while a comparable Honda is $5500. Your dodge minvan will lose its transmission in 1-3 years, but you can scrap it for $500 and get another one. You can do that four times before you get to the price of the Honda. Will the Honda last longer than four Dodges? Will a $5500 Honda van be completely trouble free (no it won't).
That is why I am asking. For example: Clearly the Honda is a better quality minivan than the Dodge. But how much better? "A lot" or "by far" really has no meaning. It is not different than saying "somewhat" or just "better" . Is it better by a factor of 2? 6? 0.5? I am not sure how it can be measured and I am not sure that the difference is all that extreme. It is certainly hyped a lot, but is it really all that significant? As I said, I did not see it with my cars. (Which varied in yearly mileage from 44,000 miles per year to as low as 4800 depending in which year). There was a difference in reliability with some of the Japanese models (Subaru was terrible), but not significant.
Also does it make sense to discuss or compare the quality of a 1983 Honda? If you go back that far, didn't the Hondas have major safety problems? How many are still around to compare with?
In comparing the quality it depends on the year and model. Subaru is a perfect example. They had defective head gaskets for a time. They used a horrid water cooled turbo on some models for a while. they had major suspension problems. Honda had faulty transmissions for a while (90s?). From the 70s through today certain GM engines were great while others were horrible. Go back far enough and Honda frames always rusted out. Again, go back far enough and the Dodge 318 was unstoppable and far better than any Japanese engine at that time. If you want to claim Japanese cars are better, you have to pick a year and a type of vehicle. I can remember when Japanese cars rusted out completely in about 5 years (1970s).
Further it is difficult to make such claims with more recent cars. It makes no sense to try to generalize b where the corporate headquarters is located. Do you claim that the Toyota Matrix is better quality than the Pontiac Vibe of the same year?
Fast forward to 2011 and I think that the quality gap has closed to nothing on many models. No one can really say. Some of the better testing companies can make some sort of prediction, but they are often wrong. They also make determinations on ridiculous issues. (e.g. downgrading Ford's overall quality rating because the Ptouch system has problems).
ColdJensens, the reason the Honda starter was hard to find is because there isn't much of a market for them. If there were, the parts suppliers would fill the market demand. On the other hand, there are lots of Chevys that need starters. Hence wide availability.
Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better.
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