Anybody have trouble with car biases - which brands are "supposed" to be good and which are not? (2012, German)

[Coldjensens]

To give you an example of why such biases make no sense here are the cars that use the ZF 8HP automatic transmission. Note this is only ONE transmission from ZF (they make dozens of different transmissions). Use a different transmission, and you get more lists. Thus, to say brand or model X has a better transmission than brand or model Y is silly most of the time. They are all the same transmission in all kinds of brand/models. Do Audi or Rolls Royce or BMW have better transmissions than Dodge? No they are the same - at least with these models.

Alfa Romeo[edit]
Alfa Romeo Giulia
Aston Martin[edit]
Aston Martin Vanquish
Aston Martin Rapide
Aston Martin DB11
Audi[edit]
Audi A4 North American version
Audi A5 North American version
Audi A6[13]
Audi A7[14]
Audi A8[15]
Audi Q5 8AT version[16]
Audi Q7
Bentley[edit]
Bentley Mulsanne (2010)
Bentley Continental GT V8
Bentley Continental Flying Spur (2013)
BMW[edit]
BMW 1 Series
BMW 2 Series
BMW 3 Series
BMW 4 Series
BMW 5 Series
BMW 5 GT
BMW 6 Series
BMW 7 series
BMW X1
BMW X3
BMW X4
BMW X5
BMW X6
BMW Z4
Chrysler[edit]
Chrysler 300 V6 (2012+ MY),[17] V8 (2015+ MY)
Dodge[edit]
Dodge Challenger (2015+ MY)
3.6 (845RE)
5.7, 6.4 (8HP70)
6.2 (8HP90)
Dodge Charger
3.6, 2012+ MY,[18] 845RE
V8 (2015+ MY; 5.7, 6.4 8HP70; 6.2 8HP90)
Dodge Durango [19][20](2014 MY+)
3.6 (845RE)
5.7 (8HP70)
Iveco[edit]
Iveco Daily 2014-on [21]
Jaguar[edit]
F-Type
F-Pace
XE
XF (2012-)
XFR (2012-)
XJ
Jeep[edit]
Jeep Grand Cherokee (WK2) (2014 MY+)
3.6 (845RE)
3.0, 5.7, 6.4 (8HP70)
Lancia[edit]
Thema V6
Land Rover[edit]
Discovery 4/LR4
Range Rover
Range Rover Sport
Maserati[edit]
Maserati Ghibli III
Maserati Quattroporte[22]
Maserati Levante
Ram Trucks[edit]
Ram 1500 3.6 L V6 (2013 MY+)
Ram 1500 3.0 L V6 (2014 MY+)
Ram 1500 5.7L V8[23][24][25] (2013 MY+)
Rolls-Royce[edit]
Rolls-Royce Ghost
Rolls-Royce Phantom (2013)
Rolls-Royce Wraith (2013)
Rolls-Royce Dawn
Volkswagen[edit]
Volkswagen Amarok[26]
Potential future vehicle uses[edit]
Jeep Wrangler
Maserati GranTurismo
Maserati Alfieri

[dkf747]

I have always been a Ford man. I would drive anything, and have driven many makes, but I would only buy a Ford. When I became disabled, I had to go with a Chrysler minivan. For years I believed Chrysler was crap. Now, 5 vans later, I now know I was wrong for years. I think any car is good, though I still prefer Ford most of all.

[lkb0714]

With the big brands putting out so many models, with so many partnerships and so on, it is hard to have brand loyalty vs model loyalty, and even then, it is common for the first year after an overhaul to have "bugs".

That being said, I likely will own the same brand again three years into the current car I own.

[shadowfax]

Originally Posted by unit731

Great if you can trade in every few years.
But older ones are quite expensive to repair. In heavy salt areas they rust which makes repairs even more expensive.
AND
They got the CVT transmissions. Good luck with those.

My first Subie was 18 years old when I retired it for the current car. It had a little rust yes,. We have winter here and salt is used. The rust was easy to take care of with a little body work. The car ran beautifully until the timing belt broke unexpectedly on the highway at 60mph. It had been replaced on schedule so the failure was not due to excess age or wear. The car continued to run for me for another year after that with only a mild tick. If the timing belt issue had not happened I would still be driving the car. It only had 206k miles on it at the time. It wasn't really costing me that much to keep it running but it just got to the point that too many little things were happening.



Yes the new one does have the CVT. It also has a full bumper to bumper warranty up to 100k miles or 7 years. I'm not terribly worried. I've had the car for 7 months and not one problem yet. Even took it on a 3000 mile road trip this summer. I fully expect to keep this car until it is ready to die.

Anyway. I've had Ford, Chrysler, Hyundai and Subie. Some were really good cars and one was an absolute lemon. The one I bought with my eyes was the one that turned out to be the big mistake.

[eddie1278]

Originally Posted by mclasser

Honda and Toyota have adopted the ways of the "Big 3" and let the bean counters take over. Fit & finish and materials quality isn't as good as the 80s and 90s but the powertrains are still relatively solid. The domestics are pumping out some attractive stuff but I still don't trust what's underneath. They're still plagued with unaddressed issues carried over from previous model years. I want a car that doesn't spend half its life in the shop.

Yet millions continue to buy "plagued" domestics... By the way Honda and Toyota are technically domestics also because they are manufactured here in the USA.

[goillini8]

I test drove a couple of Hyundai Sonatas today (the base and the mid-trim Sport). Overall, very nice. Love the looks. Some nice features. Felt much more substantial than the Elantra I'm renting (which honestly isn't a bad small car). Sales people were nice and very helpful.

Unsurprisingly, it drove fine, but lacked some power. It's an everyday driver, I don't need intense performance, but compared to my 2003 Accord, it felt a underpowered, and had a noticeable hiccup between maybe 35 and 25. But, I could deal with that.

Just the beginning though. Going to Mazda tonight, and then 30 miles down the road to Honda tomorrow. Our local Honda is horrible, IMO. Won't deal, crap customer service (I know from my days going there for service), and just unpleasant.

[Pretzelogik]

Check out reliability here... Car Reliability Comparisons

[Gustav Halbach]

Originally Posted by eddie1278

Yet millions continue to buy "plagued" domestics... By the way Honda and Toyota are technically domestics also because they are manufactured here in the USA.

Not completely true.....my 09 4Runner and 08 FJ Cruiser are both made in Japan.

[J Baustian]

Originally Posted by Pretzelogik

Check out reliability here... Car Reliability Comparisons

While the website asks contributors to distinguish between repairs and routine maintenance, it appears that they are including maintenance work in the reliability data. The reports themselves are useful, but the statistical data is not especially useful when comparing different models. For instance, you could be comparing a 2003 Golf TDI with 500,000 miles against a 2003 Honda Civic with 150,000 miles -- the high-mileage Golf would have a far more extensive maintenance and repair history, so would appear to be less reliable. For comparison, there are just not that many high-mileage Honda or Toyotas. Some, but not as many.

[goillini8]

I test drove a Mazda 6 and a CX5 this evening. All I can say about the 6 is wow, just wow! What an impressive driving experience from a relatively inexpensive car (I drove a base Sport and a mid-level Touring). It felt SO good and handled so well. Wish the touch screen was integrated into the dash and not sure I need controls near the cupholder. But, those are small quibbles. What a drive.

The engine on the CX5 was good too and it drove very nicely. But, I don't think I've ever been in a vehicle where I had such a sense of not being able to see anything on the sides and in the back. I know with all the raised belt lines, thicker pillars, ergo shapes, smaller windows, that visibility has been reduced for a lot of cars, but this really stuck out to me.

Worried about long-term Mazda reliability, though coming from a 13-year-old Accord, I think that about every non-Honda.

Am I crazy for really preferring sedans? I'm a biker, so I used to tell myself that my next vehicle would be something like the CX5 so I could just throw my bike in the back. But, I MUCH prefer the sedan driving experience.

On to the 2016 Accord tomorrow.