There are cars of the past that gave earned the reputation of being reliable and "bomb proof" like anything with the Ford 300, gmt400s, gmt800s to a certain extent etc but what is the go to in the 2010-2020 range? I realize that they don't necessarily have the time to have the history of the above but still.....
I may be in the market for an appliance soon and need to start the research
- see a trend :)
IS300, LS460, Tacoma, Tundra, Land Cruiser
As much as VAG products deservedly get a lot of hate, the 2.5L five cylinder boat anchor is a nearly unkillable engine from everything I've seen and heard.
Also Mazdas with the 2.5L four. There was a post a while back that showed one doing hard Uber duty in LA with like 400k on the original engine and slushbox.
pointofdeparture said:
Also Mazdas with the 2.5L four. There was a post a while back that showed one doing hard Uber duty in LA with like 400k on the original engine and slushbox.
Our 2012 Mazda 5, we bought new, drove to 130K miles. Although the motor/trans was ok, everything else fell apart. Should have bought a Honda/Toyota instead. But I was drinking too much miata.net koolaide back then and after 9 miatas, had a 11MS3 and 12 Mazda 5. Learned my lesson, not to buy lower tier japanese products. Wish I learned it sooner.
Maybe I could point you towards the $1500, 25MPG, rolling thunder?
In reply to pointofdeparture :
Funnily enough the reason for this thread is the wife's 13 Golf with the 2.5 just hit 191k miles. I've had to do very little to it most it's life and recently I've had to do more ( fuel pump, coil packs, spark plugs and evap purge valve in the last few months).
I like the engine though, and after a learning curve of the germanist stuff of a German car I do like it.
Mr_Asa said:Maybe I could point you towards the $1500, 25MPG, rolling thunder?
One of the prerequisites of anything I buy is probably gonna be 30mpg or very close.
I am a fan of crown Vic/grand Marquis though
nsxmr2elises2000 said:pointofdeparture said:
Also Mazdas with the 2.5L four. There was a post a while back that showed one doing hard Uber duty in LA with like 400k on the original engine and slushbox.
Our 2012 Mazda 5, we bought new, drove to 130K miles. Although the motor/trans was ok, everything else fell apart. Should have bought a Honda/Toyota instead. But I was drinking too much miata.net koolaide back then and after 9 miatas, had a 11MS3 and 12 Mazda 5. Learned my lesson, not to buy lower tier japanese products. Wish I learned it sooner.
My understanding is that the newer Mazdas built after the Ford divorce are screwed together better than that pre-breakup era (basically anything Skyactiv with the newer design language), but YMMV, caveat emptor, etc.
pointofdeparture said:As much as VAG products deservedly get a lot of hate, the 2.5L five cylinder boat anchor is a nearly unkillable engine from everything I've seen and heard.
Really? They had quite the reputation for eating timing chains, shortly after they came out. Maybe the supposed improvements after '07 really were improvements.
I wouldn't call it a boat anchor, it's a really good engine, mainly hampered by being the base model engine in the cheapest car they sold in the US. The heads outflow maximum-effort porting in the old 16v four/20v five timing belt engines, in stock form, the valvetrain uses rockers so it can whump the valves open more quickly than buckets can, the oil pump is good to 9200 (IIRC) unlike the old five that would self disassemble at only 8000...
Antihero said:Mr_Asa said:Maybe I could point you towards the $1500, 25MPG, rolling thunder?
One of the prerequisites of anything I buy is probably gonna be 30mpg or very close.
I am a fan of crown Vic/grand Marquis though
Yeah, fair.
K series Hondas seem to last forever, they came in lots of flavors and temperatures and all seem to run forever if they get even a bit of maintenance
In reply to Sonic :
They do BUT they need cam chains and intake sprockets on a regular basis. And doofuses wreck the oil drain plugs and it's easier/cheaper to replace the pan than it is to try to repair. I've seen tensioners maxed out in as little as 60k miles (nice of Honda to give you an access panel in the timing cover) and the intake sprockets usually start doing their cold start rattle at about 80-90k, which left unchecked can make the tiny little 1/4" pitch chain (sorry, "6.35mm") jump a tooth, since the rattle happens before the engine has oil pressure, which the tensioner needs to work. The rattle is the intake cam bouncing around inside the VTC sprocket, which hammers the chain.
Given how common that engine is in CR-Vs and Accords, and how many I've done, it's fair to say that K24 timing sets paid for at least half of my S60R...
Are the Colorados any good? Toyotas do come with that tax and all.
In reply to P3PPY :
2nd gen yes. They are solid, drive well, and are probably the only modern pickup I'd ever consider. The 3.6 engine is well sorted compared to the earlier iterations of that family, and the worst thing I can say is that they tend to lose the tone rings from the front wheel bearings, and the fluid cooler hoses like to leak.
1st gen, run away. Everything on them is mechanically contrary, but on the upside they have frame rust issues so severe that they make bad-era Tacomas look good.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
I thought all the Atlas engines were our new darlings? Or is the 4200 the only good one of the bunch?
In reply to maschinenbau :
The 4200 isn't all that great either. Apparently in areas where trailblazers didn't rust apart quickly, the head bolts liked to break in service. Then the new head bolts would break while torquing them down. Ooops.
I never saw that, because the trailblazer was a remarkable example of a vehicle that was not only expensive to repair, bit needed repairs frequently. They either needed $2000 every few months or they lived trashed until they lost a ball joint on the highway and the vehicle was abandoned.
On the Mazda stuff:
The 2nd Gen Mazda3 with the MZR engines are pretty stout overall. We had two of them: a 2010 with the 2.0/5AT and a 2012 with the 2.5/6MT. They do have their issues once they get into higher mileage territory like any other car. They are dead simple to work on and cheap to buy and maintain. Rust isn't nearly as much of an issue with the 2nd gen cars, either. I had the 2012 for 9+ years in New England and there wasn't a speck of rust anywhere on the body.
The kill shot on both of them: transmission issues. At around 150k, the 2010 started having issues with the selector shaft and that caused intermittent starting. It got loose/worn in the transmission and wouldn't play nice with the neutral safety switch. I'm sure there was a way to fix it, but we wanted to upgrade to something bigger.
Documented in my old Mazda build thread, I had bad noises coming out of the 6-speed manual starting at around 160-170k miles. I think it was an output shaft bearing, and was probably fixable, but it was in the middle of supply chain interruptions with the pandemic and I couldn't get either the parts to fix it or a used replacement trans anywhere, so I opted to trade it in. I'd likely still have it now if not for that. The rest of the car was great and the engine was perfect at 185k+ miles.
The 2014+ cars are even better, though. Mazda purged all the Ford stuff from their cars by then, and they have very little issues after that. And the Skyactiv engines are much more efficient to boot.
Car is the Gen 2 Prius though 2009 is the last year. That thing will run until the heat death of the universe if even remotely maintained. I have seen them with 600K+ miles.
Gen 2 Coyote F150 in a XL stripper will also run basically forever as far as trucks go. The 6.2 is even better in the raptor and again I would happily drive one for 350K+ miles and not have to many worries.
I also second the 2.5 VW motor, thing is a boat achor and they survive typical VW lease ownership with no service and then bought at auction and driven into the ground. That engine will last longer then the interior plastics. The 1.8T is decent as well IMO when service but not like the 2.5.
For luxury the RX300 with the V6 is again unkillable but the transmissions will die sub 200K in every single one.
wearymicrobe said:Car is the Gen 2 Prius though 2009 is the last year. That thing will run until the heat death of the universe if even remotely maintained. I have seen them with 600K+ miles.
Gen 2 Coyote F150 in a XL stripper will also run basically forever as far as trucks go. The 6.2 is even better in the raptor and again I would happily drive one for 350K+ miles and not have to many worries.
I also second the 2.5 VW motor, thing is a boat achor and they survive typical VW lease ownership with no service and then bought at auction and driven into the ground. That engine will last longer then the interior plastics. The 1.8T is decent as well IMO when service but not like the 2.5.
For luxury the RX300 with the V6 is again unkillable but the transmissions will die sub 200K in every single one.
^Truth, i personally know of a 2011 Jetta 2.5/6 speed manual that went well over 300K. It needed a clutch and 2 transmissions, but that 2.5 was bulletproof.
maschinenbau said:In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
I thought all the Atlas engines were our new darlings? Or is the 4200 the only good one of the bunch?
I put 600k+ on two 3.5 I5s as company trucks with zero issues beyond plugs, 2 coils, and one thermostat. One of them, I sold to an employee. His father is still driving it. The other one I bought and gave to my youngest son. He's still driving it.
My H3t has the 3.7. I haven't had any issues with it other than some Passlock issues that I eventually disabled.
I have heard rust is a big issue in the Rust Belt, but there are a ton of Colorados and Trailblazers running around down here in the South.
In reply to Toyman! :
That's been my observation too. Tons of Atlas-powered beaters still roving around Atlanta. I've been shopping donor cars a lot lately and the 1st gen Colorados with mega-miles don't seem to dip below $3k unless they're non-running or wrecked. Work truck tax, same as express vans.
I'd add the 2014-2020 2.5L Fusion to the mix. We are at 230K miles at 29.7mpg lifetime, and I've done nothing but rear brakes and spark plugs. Even comes in AWD or hybrid if you want.
wearymicrobe said:Car is the Gen 2 Prius though 2009 is the last year. That thing will run until the heat death of the universe if even remotely maintained. I have seen them with 600K+ miles.
I second this - a friend's parents bought one new sometime between '06 and '08, it carpooled us to middle school and high school and I think it even went off to college with the friend, and I still see the mom driving it around town to this day. It looks a little worse for wear, but it's still kicking.
Nicole Suddard said:wearymicrobe said:Car is the Gen 2 Prius though 2009 is the last year. That thing will run until the heat death of the universe if even remotely maintained. I have seen them with 600K+ miles.
I second this - a friend's parents bought one new sometime between '06 and '08, it carpooled us to middle school and high school and I think it even went off to college with the friend, and I still see the mom driving it around town to this day. It looks a little worse for wear, but it's still kicking.
this makes me feel old; going to middle school in a 2006 car... The constant back pain, grey beard, balding head, etc. I can get over but when somebody posts about going to a car that was made when I was years out of school...
You'll need to log in to post.
