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Toyota's can be just as unreliable. It's amazing the amount of people who think "oh hey, I bought the most reliable vehicle ever, it doesn't need anything except gas. Oil changes? pfft. Brake pads, rotors, fuel pumps, knock sensors, spark plugs, air filters.... that's all stuff for those crappy, unreliable non-Toyota vehicles. I don't need any of that."
You must be confusing me with someone else, because I don't think that about any car and I am no Toyota leghumper. However, if I had to bet on a typical IS versus a typical 3 series on which one makes it to 150k with the least troubles and out of pocket expense I would bet on the Toyota every time.
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OK - I'll take the bait.
1987 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ60 - I now have 225k miles. Other than regular maintenance I replaced a radiator (twice) and the manual choke cable. Driving to south america on those rough roads in the 80's and 90's took a toll but nothing left me stranded.
1994 Toyota 4Runner - 225k miles. Outside of regular maintenance, I had to replace one head gasket under recall (the original was fine but why not?) and 2 O2 sensors. Nothing else.
1998 Toyota Land Cruiser - I now have 335k miles on it. Outside of regular maintenance, I had to replace a starter. Nothing else in 18 years. Every single thing works like new, even the power antenna.
2002 Lexus SC430 - One side light bulb burned out. That's it, after 90k miles.
2008 Lexus RX400h - 125 k. Never had anything break, not even a light bulb.
2013 Lexus LX570 - 60k miles, too new to tell but I would expect the same reliability
I bought them all new and still own them. Lots of my high-end cars were gone the second their leases were up. I never BUY anything other than Toyota. I may lease other brands, but I would never buy one.
Jalopnick is a click-bait site, nothing more. The writers are a bunch of kids with no real experience in the industry....go look up Doug DeMuro on youtube as an example.
So I own a 2007 335i convertible that I bought nearly new (at $20k back of sticker). Just turned 105k. In terms of reliability that counts (getting stranded or having major comopents fail) the car has been very good.
Several minor issues through the years, the most serious of which is turbo wastegate failure.....meh, never bothered me so I never fixed it.
You don't buy BMWs for reliability, you buy them because they are fun to drive. True car people will gladly accept less reliability for greater driving enjoyment. Others need to go buy the boring Japanese stuff.
If it were a Challenger, Mustang or Camaro, we would be calling it American trash and not to buy it. I dont see why a $40-50K car cant be reliable, especially when its extremely expensive to fix.
If it were a Challenger, Mustang or Camaro, we would be calling it American trash and not to buy it. I dont see why a $40-50K car cant be reliable, especially when its extremely expensive to fix.
My two BMWs have been reliable for my expectations. Combined around 200k miles, have only been stranded twice (both tire blowouts) and never had a repair bill above $2,000.
Make no mistake, I drive these cars hard.....because they are fun as hell to drive hard.
Have no issues with the American cars you mention....loved those kind of cars when I was in my 20s. Just want better more sophisticated cars now......don't ask me what my weekend fun car is these days
Again, if reliability is your #1 concern break out the Consumer Reports.
My two BMWs have been reliable for my expectations. Combined around 200k miles, have only been stranded twice (both tire blowouts) and never had a repair bill above $2,000.
Make no mistake, I drive these cars hard.....because they are fun as hell to drive hard.
Have no issues with the American cars you mention....loved those kind of cars when I was in my 20s. Just want better more sophisticated cars now......don't ask me what my weekend fun car is these days
Again, if reliability is your #1 concern break out the Consumer Reports.
According to Consumer reports apparently, Toyota is God and Honda is Jesus. Those 2 brands are perfect and can do no wrong lol
According to Consumer reports apparently, Toyota is God and Honda is Jesus. Those 2 brands are perfect and can do no wrong lol
The fact that those 2 brands have a cult like following where consumers keep going back speaks volumes to their reliability track record. Even when problems do occur, its usually an affordable easy fix.
When I picked up my 2016 Accord Sport back in Dec 2015, every few minutes there was a Honda being driven off of the showroom floor or off of the lot. Dont even know why they need salesmen. Honda's seem to sell themselves. Just slap a no haggle price on them and have a finance person process the paperwork. lol.
Is my Honda as engaging to drive as a BMW? No. Far from. It fits my needs though and I'm quite happy with it. Spacious, good looking, latest safety tech (honda sensing package), fun to drive for what it is. It's equipped with a direct injection inline 4 that only puts out 189hp/182lb ft tq, but the car feels very light on is feet and have no problem getting up to speed or keeping up with vehicles that have more hp. Sticker was only $26k and some change. Lots of car for the money. I can keep the car for 7-10yrs and still get a decent amount for it when I decide to sell.
I've owned a few BMW's many years ago and if I were to ever consider getting into another one, it will have to be a lease where I get to enjoy it and hand it back after 3yrs. Did not enjoy the stress of trying to figure out the many electrical and sensor issues that would occur every few months. It got to the point where I would dread turning the car on just so I wouldnt see a new light on the dash light up. Best friend at the time had an early 2000's Audi A4 and that car was an absolute nightmare!
Stereotypes exist because there's some truth to it, and the truth is, many German cars arent known for long term reliability nor are they inexpensive to maintain when things do wrong. On the contrary, Japanese cars have a reputation for long term reliability and inexpensive maintenance compared to its German competitors.
Last edited by louie0406; 08-26-2016 at 05:18 PM..
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