10 Cars that can last to 200k Miles

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: Ktulu
This types of reports are so fucking stupid. Any car model will last over 200k if taken care of properly. Of course some models will have problems, which is true with EVERY SINGLE CAR MODEL. This report proves NOTHING to me.

I'm sure that you can keep an Audi or BMW running for 15 years or 200,000 miles as well, but you would probably end up spending about $50,000 on repair bills after the warranty ran out. Practically everything on those cars costs about three times as much to replace as it should.

If you're spending more to keep the car running than what it would cost to buy a new car, than what's the point in that?

 

[Summitdrinker]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob

Originally posted by: Ktulu
This types of reports are so fucking stupid. Any car model will last over 200k if taken care of properly. Of course some models will have problems, which is true with EVERY SINGLE CAR MODEL. This report proves NOTHING to me.

I'm sure that you can keep an Audi or BMW running for 15 years or 200,000 miles as well, but you would probably end up spending about $50,000 on repair bills after the warranty ran out. Practically everything on those cars costs about three times as much to replace as it should.

If you're spending more to keep the car running than what it would cost to buy a new car, than what's the point in that?

awesome, you said it all right there, how true

I know somebody that had a Audi A8 ( i think it was), when the warranty was almost up he was begging people to buy it at well below bluebook price

 

[mcturkey]

I had an 89 Audi 100 with 176,000 miles on it at time of purchase. It had no mechanical or cosmetic problems whatsoever. But it had electrical problems out the wazzoo. Had to replace a lot of wiring, and went through a couple dozen alternator belts. I even had the local Audi dealership replace the belt one time (at a cost of nearly $200 - FTS!) and that still got thrown after a couple weeks. Thankfully that time it survived the 2000 mile round trip I took through Canadian wilderness, as losing an alternator belt while a hundred miles from the nearest town (at 3AM to boot!) would've been a somewhat nerve-racking experience. Although replacing the belt took me all of about ten minutes by the time I finally got rid of it, the annoyance of having to keep an extra belt in the car in case it died was too much. I'm increasingly of the opinion that European cars don't often last beyond 100,000 miles simply because most Europeans don't drive enough to put that many miles on in a decade anyway, so the automakers don't worry about long-term reliability the way we do in America.

This list is horribly useless, since as has been pointed out, cars like the Crown Victoria will pretty much always last 200k or more with just routine maintenance. In fact, there are a lot of American cars that will typically last that long with routine maintenance.

 

[zanejohnson]

had an Eclipse GSX that made it to 205k and then the HG blew (after taking 15psi of boost for the last 3 years of it's life)

now drive a 98 Accord coupe, just passed 200k....still runs great.... went through 2 clutches, but other than that it's still perfect.

 

[Dudewithoutapet]

Originally posted by: exdeath

Originally posted by: senseamp
Consumer Reports' "Good bets" for making 200,000 miles: Honda Civic, Honda CR-V, Honda Element, Lexus ES, Lexus LS, Toyota 4Runner, Toyota Highlander, Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota Prius, Toyota RAV4

So basically, all the cars I would get bored of after 20K miles and wouldn't want to drive for 200K miles in the first place.
I may consider keeping an MX-5 or a G35 coupe for 200K miles, and they are also good bets to make it there.

Thats why they last 200k miles, because they are just used for transportation and not beat to shit

It's the same thing with the urban legend about the slant 6 being indestructible (compared to a V8). That wasn't necessarily the case, it wasn't really built any more special, it was just the nature that the people buying the slant 6 were not performance oriented people. As a result they expect much less and didn't beat their cars on a regular basis wringing performance out of them like someone with a V8 would.

Which makes me wonder why the Camry isn't on there. The Accord I can understand, it's popular and sleek and sporty enough for teens to want and pretend to race and rag on the car. But something like the Camry is an anonymous boring car that you find old ladies driving who never shift past 2000 RPM for 200k miles, compared to a sporty stylish Accord driven by some teenager that takes it to 9 grand at every shift.

You really have to look at the target markets for the cars when considering the reliability ratings. Someone who is cheap and/or lazy who buys a Neon or Corolla for $2000 and waits until the oil light comes on to change the oil and sees the car as a temporary and disposable thing isn't going to take as good care of their car as someone who just spent $40,000 on their Lexus pride and joy. Also the related demographics: that Lexus is most likely going to be in a garage and taken to the best mechanics and that Geo is going to be parked outside in the weather at an apartment complex and taken to Jose's Bondo Shop to be maintained as cheaply as possible.

With the exception of the Civic, most of the vehicles on that list are somewhat upscale, in the $25,000+ range, compared to some of the models that didn't make the list. The MSRP on the Land Cruiser is $56,215.

Which car is most likely to be riced out? Made fun of? Raced? Modded? The Civic, yet it is on that list. You are definitely more likely to find a Civic that has been "ragged" on than an Accord. This doesn't explain why the Camry and Accord aren't on that list.

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

1st Gen. Neons don't make it to 200,000 miles. My Dad and I went to the junk yard, there were 5 perfect looking neons there from 95 - 99, all didn't go over 150,000 miles. And it ranged from 90,000 to 150,000 miles. I really hope my 2002 will last, it's ar 45,000 miles right now.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Out of curiosity, I did a search on Autotrader.com for high mileage cars and was reminded of something I'd heard years ago:

"If you want a car that lasts, buy a luxury car or a truck."

My search parameters were all cars within 25 miles with greater than 100K miles on them

Then I sorted by mileage, highest to lowest.

It returned ~90% trucks and luxury cars that had over 200K miles on them.



The reasons that trucks and luxury cars last so long are:

People that buy them maintain them, they don't go 20K miles over on an oil change.

The engines are larger, have more (larger) wear surfaces, and are in a relatively low state of tune.

I'm not saying an 08' Camry/Accord/Maxima won't last 200K miles, but because most people want a dependable car, they start looking for another vehicle when some of those gremlins show up as a result of the accumulated mileage.

Also, don't know if it's still true, but the #1 reason people dumped their old car last time I saw a printed reason, was because of wear on the upholstery/carpet.

 

[Nymphaea]

get a Lexus!!

 

[steppinthrax]

Originally posted by: bigdog1218

Originally posted by: steppinthrax
Somehow I knew before i clicked on that link all of those cars would be either (toyota, Honda, Nissan). And not to my surprise that is the case.

A big hoot for Toyota :thumbsup:

Why do people still think Nissan makes quality cars? I see 3 Nissan brands in the bad car list and zero on the good. It's a crappy brand that relies on "It's Japanese so it's reliable"

I couldn't agree with you more. I have a 94 Atlima and the interior is shit. Nissan cuts corners. They cut it on their interior,paint and other "soft" components. However, their engines and trans are generally good. My altima has about 132K on the engine and looks like shit but the engine is compressing at 180 on each cylinder (cold, dry or hot). That is the factory specs for each cylinder!!!!!

 

[steppinthrax]

Originally posted by: evident

Originally posted by: bigdog1218

Originally posted by: steppinthrax
Somehow I knew before i clicked on that link all of those cars would be either (toyota, Honda, Nissan). And not to my surprise that is the case.

A big hoot for Toyota :thumbsup:

Why do people still think Nissan makes quality cars? I see 3 Nissan brands in the bad car list and zero on the good. It's a crappy brand that relies on "It's Japanese so it's reliable"

We have an 88 nissan stanza w/ over 200k miles on it and had no major repairs whatsoever...

The older Nissans are of much higher quality.

 

[desy]

The were more reliable because now Japanese manufactuere puts in all the bells and whilstles the consumer demands that they didn't used to.
Power everything, air bags, premium sound systems, automatic trannys, and A/C means you have to build heavier alternators, batteries , larger engines.
Way more secondary systems to A fail, B put load on the engine

 

[AdamK47]

Can Consumer Reports really be trusted if the majority of their subscribers own these vehicles? I would think that would skew the results a tad.

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: desy
The were more reliable because now Japanese manufactuere puts in all the bells and whilstles the consumer demands that they didn't used to.
Power everything, air bags, premium sound systems, automatic trannys, and A/C means you have to build heavier alternators, batteries , larger engines.
Way more secondary systems to A fail, B put load on the engine

I have no idea what you're talking about. I used to have a 1990 Camry. Power everything(including moonroof), air bags, automatic and ac. Or look at lexus, #1 spot and it's always had those things too.

 

[InflatableBuddha]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Top Tier : Honda/Acura, Toyota/Lexus
Better than Average : Nissan/Infiniti, GM, Volvo
Average : Ford, Hyundai, Mazda, VW, Mercedes, Suzuki, Saab
Worse than Average : Audi, BMW
Terrible : Mitsubishi, Dodge

i'd argue that one. ghosn took the quality out as a cost-cutting measure.

and i'd also put VW in 'Terrible.' it can't be better than audi.

Arkaign, your list is pretty solid.

I agreed with moving VW to the "Terrible" category. Mercedes should be there too, or at least in the "worse than average" category, as well as Jaguar - both of these because of poor electrical systems.

Why are electrical problems much more common in European luxury cars as compared to the Japanese luxury marques?

 

[desy]

Maybe your Camry, but when I went looking a couple years ago at Camry's the salesman said most sold are 'modest' versions even now.

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: desy
Maybe your Camry, but when I went looking a couple years ago at Camry's the salesman said most sold are 'modest' versions even now.

I had a 1990 DX. CE is the lowest model and DX is just above that. I now have a 2002 LE(lowest trim) and it has all the aformentioned equipment. I have a friend who's had a 1996 and a 1992 Camry(both CE). Power windows were there, so was AC and the auto tranny and airbags.

I'm not sure you can even find a camry after say 1993 or so without power equipment and air bags and AC. Good luck finding a manual Camry also.

I'm not sure where you get the preception that Camrys after 1990 ever came without AC or Airbags and that most camrys didnt come with power equipment nor automatic transmissions or that premium audio wasn't at least an option.

Also, just look at Lexus then, in 1990 the Lexus LS had everything you mentioned, in 1992, the SC300/400 and in 1993 the GS300 also came with everything you mentioned and yet they are basically the most reliable cars on the planet. Traction control, automatic transmissions, premium sound and airbags came on basically every Lexus ever.

 

[GoatMonkey]

The thing I like about American cars is that they seem to be 80 to 90 percent as reliable as the Japanese cars, but with parts that cost half as much.

 

[steppinthrax]

Originally posted by: mwmorph

Originally posted by: desy
Maybe your Camry, but when I went looking a couple years ago at Camry's the salesman said most sold are 'modest' versions even now.

I had a 1990 DX. CE is the lowest model and DX is just above that. I now have a 2002 LE(lowest trim) and it has all the aformentioned equipment. I have a friend who's had a 1996 and a 1992 Camry(both CE). Power windows were there, so was AC and the auto tranny and airbags.

I'm not sure you can even find a camry after say 1993 or so without power equipment and air bags and AC. Good luck finding a manual Camry also.

I'm not sure where you get the preception that Camrys after 1990 ever came without AC or Airbags and that most camrys didnt come with power equipment nor automatic transmissions or that premium audio wasn't at least an option.

Also, just look at Lexus then, in 1990 the Lexus LS had everything you mentioned, in 1992, the SC300/400 and in 1993 the GS300 also came with everything you mentioned and yet they are basically the most reliable cars on the planet. Traction control, automatic transmissions, premium sound and airbags came on basically every Lexus ever.

The early 90 Camrys were the BEAST. The 91 I think was the best. The only problem with the 91 was the panels would rust out. Esp. around the wheel wells. It's hard to find a camry with no body damage (used all sheet metal) with no rust around the wheel wells. People sell these camry's for great condition (recently re-painted) for 4 to 5 K. 92 is when they changed the body but the engine kept the same (3SFE). The 3SFE hasen't changed though. All the way up until 2001 the SFE engine was used and essentially re-badged 5SFE.

The A140E Automatic Transmission was used in the 87 Camry all the way until the 2001 Camry with minor spec changes.

 

[steppinthrax]

Originally posted by: GoatMonkey
The thing I like about American cars is that they seem to be 80 to 90 percent as reliable as the Japanese cars, but with parts that cost half as much.

Really??????

 

[hellokeith]

Originally posted by: woodie1
I would have expected an Acura or two on the list.

142k and counting on my 9 year old Integra.

 

[geokilla]

We used to have a 1994 Volvo 850 with 232km before we sold it to our friend. Now, he's sold the car for a new Civic coupe, but he says that the 850 has a total of around 330km on the odometer. Pretty impressive. Engine still ran strongly. Tons of power. Practically service-free when we had it, but our friend was a bit less lucky. For 12 years, the muffler never had to be changed. That proves how reliable the Volvo was.

Volvo FTW.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Strk

Originally posted by: ElFenix

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Top Tier : Honda/Acura, Toyota/Lexus
Better than Average : Nissan/Infiniti, GM, Volvo
Average : Ford, Hyundai, Mazda, VW, Mercedes, Suzuki, Saab
Worse than Average : Audi, BMW
Terrible : Mitsubishi, Dodge

i'd argue that one. ghosn took the quality out as a cost-cutting measure.

and i'd also put VW in 'Terrible.' it can't be better than audi.

I don't think Nissan has ever rated as highly as they do now on quality comparisons, so I'm not sure what you mean about Ghosn taking quality out. If anything, he's put it in.

maybe that's it, then, and everyone only thinks nissan is as reliable as toyonda until they have the misfortune of coming across one.

lower than mitsubishi

 

[woodie1]

Originally posted by: hellokeith

Originally posted by: woodie1
I would have expected an Acura or two on the list.

142k and counting on my 9 year old Integra.

That's one of the models I thought of. The Legend or RL too.

 

[GullyFoyle]

Originally posted by: desy
The were more reliable because now Japanese manufactuere puts in all the bells and whilstles the consumer demands that they didn't used to.
Power everything, air bags, premium sound systems, automatic trannys, and A/C means you have to build heavier alternators, batteries , larger engines.
Way more secondary systems to A fail, B put load on the engine

IMO, Older Nissan's were more reliable because they used to be made in Japan.

The Armada and Infiniti QX56, which were recently rated worst for reliability, along with several other with truck models, all came out of the same factory in Mississippi...

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: ElFenix

lower than mitsubishi

BMW is as reliable than Toyota, riiiight.