Maintenance costs over 10 years by brand

[madoka]

I'm surprised how low Land Rover and Mini are.

http://priceonomics.com/the-lemon-index-which-cars-have-the-highest/

 

[jlee]

lol @ Lexus/Scion/Toyota

I'm surprised Saturn is that high!

 

[deathBOB]

These costs seem really high.

 

[k3n]

As an Integra owner, this makes sense compared to Corolla and Highlander.

The pre-05, Cadillac CTS are known for severe rear differential issues.

 

[MongGrel]

I'd take it that is some supposed scheduled maintenance thing, vs reality somewhat.

I do not think I have spent that much on my old Jeep stated there in the last 20+ years, though it needs a few repairs atm.

But Jeeps aren't what they used to be.

 

[SparkyJJO]

BMW and Mercedes at the top - who woulda thunk it!

For just maintenance though that seems a bit much, and why would maintenance be more on a Chevy than a GMC

 

[jlee]

BMW and Mercedes at the top - who woulda thunk it!

For just maintenance though that seems a bit much, and why would maintenance be more on a Chevy than a GMC

Different product lines? Last I checked, GMC doesn't make Corvettes.

 

[TridenT]

Ouch.

Makes sense though... Especially if you're going to the dealer.

A lot of the cars don't really need a lot of adjustment. Less features also means less stuff to replace every X months and less stuff that breaks (and could be very costly).

A typical Toyota that has no turbo, no exotic features, and is low on power/performance... It'll be cheap because you'll mostly be replacing fluids, tires, rotors, pads, belts, plugs, and some filters. And that will be with very low frequency. Of course, some of the models don't even have belts anymore and you might never even have to replace the chains or gears over the course of 10 years.

Now with a lot of other cars moving onto turbos, direct injection, and a host of other things... It'll increase maintenance cost because those things are more expensive to maintain (carbon buildup from DI) and replace (HPFP failures and having to replace/rebuild a turbo seems common now).

Toyota is good for those who want relative affordability with high reliability and low maintenance. People buy a 3-series for a different reason.

(Sigh... I'm looking at buying a 3-series soon. These stats don't make me any more happy about it.)

 

[jlee]

Ouch.

Makes sense though... Especially if you're going to the dealer.

A lot of the cars don't really need a lot of adjustment. Less features also means less stuff to replace every X months and less stuff that breaks (and could be very costly).

A typical Toyota that has no turbo, no exotic features, and is low on power/performance... It'll be cheap because you'll mostly be replacing fluids, tires, rotors, pads, belts, plugs, and some filters. And that will be with very low frequency. Of course, some of the models don't even have belts anymore and you might never even have to replace the chains or gears over the course of 10 years.

Now with a lot of other cars moving onto turbos, direct injection, and a host of other things... It'll increase maintenance cost because those things are more expensive to maintain (carbon buildup from DI) and replace (HPFP failures and having to replace/rebuild a turbo seems common now).

Toyota is good for those who want relative affordability with high reliability and low maintenance. People buy a 3-series for a different reason.

(Sigh... I'm looking at buying a 3-series soon. These stats don't make me any more happy about it.)

Not really, at least not in a 10 year window. HPFP, yeah...but that's BMW.

 

[brianmanahan]

These costs seem really high.

yeah, a little

i know i didn't spend more than $4k during the 10 years i drove my civic, which was already 8 years old when i bought it

 

[jlee]

yeah, a little

i know i didn't spend more than $4k during the 10 years i drove my civic, which was already 8 years old when i bought it

Meanwhile, the Honda Pilot is in the top 20 most expensive cars to maintain.

 

[Meghan54]

BMW and Mercedes at the top - who woulda thunk it!

For just maintenance though that seems a bit much, and why would maintenance be more on a Chevy than a GMC

Because the article combines maintenance costs with repair costs.

Maintenance refers to one thing, repair frequency and associated costs refers to another.

 

[Torn Mind]

While not particularly in depth, it is nevertheless an interesting batch of descriptive statistics. The datasets are not well analyzed and the article is a tad unorganized. And makes a conclusion about dead marques that does not follow.

One must consider the type of customer that would actually use YourMechanic.com. Apparently, some guys use the service for oil changes. Which means that these oil changes are out of the dealership special, since the customer would not be using YourMechanic.com to perform the service.

Toyota econoboxes are fairly straightforward. 14mm drain plug. Filters that are often hand removable(unless someone felt like going Hulk and twisted it on tight). Lift up the car, remove right front tire, position drain pan, unbolt plug, unscrew filter, and then do the reverse and then you're done.

The article is not very good at transitioning. The second list of costs, by their own admission, "one-off" costs that skew the mean higher but they do not provide the median. One must also suspect that the first list might not be just oil changes every six months...

Also, that marques were discontinued are not necessarily a condemnation of the vehicles themselves. It is an interesting correlation, but the causal link is not given just by the presence of the correlation. Scion is dead too.

It also used Lincoln when Cadillac was #3 on the first list.

Interesting that Chryslers have trouble starting, as they often use Denso starting system parts. Yes, a little bit of Japan in an American car. lol.

 

[Insomniator]

How is Mini so low? Its a BMW owned brand that is known for its laughable reliability + has BMW repair costs. I know so, I own one.

 

[gorcorps]

How is Mini so low? Its a BMW owned brand that is known for its laughable reliability + has BMW repair costs. I know so, I own one.

I don't know either. I had a buddy that had two minis and finally got fed up and sold the last one... so maybe that's what keeps the maintenance costs low. Mini owners will run into issues so large that they can't or won't fix them, then they get rid of it and never technically incur the maintenance cost.

 

[gorcorps]

Now that I think about it, are these results skewed for Toyota and Lexus because they all include the first 2 years of normal maintenance for free? I would expect them to be the best on the list anyway, but maybe the gap between Toyota and Honda wouldn't be so large if they didn't have the first 2 years of maintenance

 

[PricklyPete]

Meanwhile, the Honda Pilot is in the top 20 most expensive cars to maintain.

Makes me just want to stick with a highlander/Sienna when the family hauler time comes (probably next year). Seems Pilot/Odyssey never seem to live up to Honda's reputation.

 

[PricklyPete]

Now that I think about it, are these results skewed for Toyota and Lexus because they all include the first 2 years of normal maintenance for free? I would expect them to be the best on the list anyway, but maybe the gap between Toyota and Honda wouldn't be so large if they didn't have the first 2 years of maintenance

BMW provides 3 years of maintenance unless that has changed recently. So either that is truly damning of BMW, or not really a factor.

I have no idea how YourMechanic gathers its data, but I am always a little suspect of this kind of report. There is no denying that Toyotas are reliable based on them acing nearly every reliability study out there.

 

[sontakke]

This does NOT pass my "smell test". Land Rover is cheaper than Acura over 10 year period? I want what these guys are smoking.

 

[Anubis]

These costs seem really high.

I agree like 2-3x anything ive spent over a 10 year period on a car

 

[gorcorps]

Makes me just want to stick with a highlander/Sienna when the family hauler time comes (probably next year). Seems Pilot/Odyssey never seem to live up to Honda's reputation.

I have a 2015 highlander and like it, but if you need a functional 3rd row you have to look elsewhere. From what I can tell it's only there to check a box, and I doubt anyone over 10 years old would fit. I just keep them folded flat at all times.

 

[clok1966]

These costs seem really high.

depends on user and how you do this. I have had cars that take lots of fixing and those that don't (all brands), same car same year, one works forever, the other breaks.

Basically saying you can make a graph to prove any point you want if you can generalize.

Just take the Toyota, the Rav 4 has a way higher repair rate than a corolla (almost 6X higher) so the generalization makes it appear they all work well. Also, is this all Toyota products or just car? This is from a website that generates revenue from ad hits, so the more sensational the more money. the data set is theirs, not dealers, and it never gives any information on how its collected or verified. So a website says they have complied data a bunch of people have posted on the net.. everybody post 100% correct data on the net dont they? This is just a hit generation story, not a fact based one.

While I wont dispute the repair rates, it looks about right, the prices and such are a bit "who knows". JD, consumer reports, etc have actual verified data on repair rates, look at them, not some website that doesn't give any information on the data its using.

 

[Spicedaddy]

Top 5 = luxury brands, makes sense

6-10 = american non-luxury brands, LOL

 

[tsupersonic]

BMW provides 3 years of maintenance unless that has changed recently. So either that is truly damning of BMW, or not really a factor.

It used to be the first 4 years/50k miles, for a new car, and it could transfer to another owner. But, they tightened it down to 3 years/36k miles

 

[Beer4Me]

Now that I think about it, are these results skewed for Toyota and Lexus because they all include the first 2 years of normal maintenance for free? I would expect them to be the best on the list anyway, but maybe the gap between Toyota and Honda wouldn't be so large if they didn't have the first 2 years of maintenance

BMW, Mercedes, and Audi all do the same to for all lessees. Free 2 years of maintenance. I also know that BMW, MB give away 2 years maintenance if you buy outright. Not sure on Audi.