10 worst used vehicle

[MrPots]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Her having lived in Japan should I be foolish enough to bring home a rice burner Florence would set fire to it in the driveway..When I first came down here I bought a used Buick Century 1981 vintage put 145,000 miles on it and it still only took less than a quart between oil changes - 3.8l engine. Traded it on the Ford Probe and put 135,000 on it. Then Chck 'Ethanol' Grassley convinced everyone that ethanol was cheaper than gasoline (without noting that refining it causes more pollution that it saves) and the Probes gas mileage went to hell. Not to mention that I have had to put new gas lines in every gas powered tool I own. So when I bought the Impala it got better gas mileage with a 3.8l six than the Probe did with a 2.2l four.

The missus has a 3.8l in her LaCross. No problems with the engine but the car itself is a POS. Door locks don't work, dash lights work sometimes.... crappy trim..... sometimes the heater quits working for no apparent reason.

[d-ray657]

So far, I'm kind of liking the idea of knowing that after three years, I will just turn my car in. About the most serious problem I have had with the Malibu is when the stereo system fails to recognize the flash drive with all of the tunes on it, but I like the idea of moving on before any serious problems are likely to get here.

In this weather, I am really liking the remote start. Nothing like getting into a warm car when it is 3 degrees outside.

Regards,

D-Ray

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by MrPots

The missus has a 3.8l in her LaCross. No problems with the engine but the car itself is a POS. Door locks don't work, dash lights work sometimes.... crappy trim..... sometimes the heater quits working for no apparent reason.

I just cannot figure these things out, our two Impala LSs are fully loaded, power everything, RDS radio system six way heated power seat and everything works, what the heck do y'all do to your cars?

Mine will sit in the garage for a week or more but the engine fires on the first revolution.

[MikeG22]

How many miles do you put on those cars a year? Anything will last if it sits in the garage and gets driven once in awhile.

[MrPots]

Originally Posted by merrylander

I just cannot figure these things out, our two Impala LSs are fully loaded, power everything, RDS radio system six way heated power seat and everything works, what the heck do y'all do to your cars?

Mine will sit in the garage for a week or more but the engine fires on the first revolution.

Nothing out of the ordinary. It has low mileage, maybe 50,000 miles on it, not bad for an 06'. It's also has a weird steering wheel creak since we got it. Took it in to the dealer, they had a service notice on it and fixed it. After it was fixed the front end felt like it was falling apart every time we went over a bump. After 5 visits they put it back the way it was and we just live with it. That black trim in the window, has discolored and browned. We had all the trim replaced and it's done it again. The driver door lock just quit working, and the dash lights and heater, sometimes they just don't work.

The engine is OK though. works fine.



Now the Mustang, I've not had any problems with it. Never had it in the shop.

[Ike Bana]

Originally Posted by merrylander

I just cannot figure these things out, our two Impala LSs are fully loaded, power everything, RDS radio system six way heated power seat and everything works, what the heck do y'all do to your cars?

Mine will sit in the garage for a week or more but the engine fires on the first revolution.

Well that's the point, isn't it? It's hit and miss. It's hit and miss with any car, but IMHO it's way more miss with the big three US manufacturers than with the Asians and the Europeans. And it's not the engines. So Ford makes the "best" engine...really? OK fine, who cares? Because the technology is so locked in that pretty much everybody makes engines that will last a long time without any attention but regular oil changes. (Although note that Honda has supplied the best racing engines to US open-wheel classes for years.)

But it's all the other stuff, like Mr.Pots is talking about. Auto door locks quit or one day the fucking thing just won't open up. Or the heater fan (like on a friend's Ford Escape) ends up being a one-speed (high) heater fan. And the car feels like it's still a relatively new member of the family and it's already out of goddamn warranty.

Everybody's got their anecdotal evidence about their wonderful F-150 or 1500 or Expedition or Denali. Congratulations. But in the long run, taking into account the reliability and frequency of repair of these things...find yourself one of the dozens of models that are recognized for reliability from one of the four big Japanese manufacturers (Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Subaru, Mazda)and you pretty much never have to worry about when the passenger side power window just quits.

But I have my anecdotal evidence as well. I have a '98 Honda CRV - 5 speed manual. It's a fucking sardine can. And last year I had to replace a failed front ABS sensor in one of the wheels. First non-wear and tear work I've ever had to do on it. (And it sat in the garage through two weeks of our single digit to -19 recent weather here in Chicago and it's 16 year old engine fired on the second revolution.)

[merrylander]

Then against all odds we got lucky when we first bought Florence's Impala LS and them I bought mine almost a year later and we woumd up with the only two 100% reliable autos?

Neither one was recalled for ruaway acceleratio, or failing brakes. Now there is a number to look at, recalls on the Chev Impala LS. So far mine was reclled for seat belts. Oh and both had a recall because some guy at NTHSB thought that a plastic guide on the front of the engine block "might" catch fire.

[MikeG22]

How many miles have you done in 13 years of owning the impalas?

[merrylander]

Around 85k, enough to have any crap parts fail had they wanted to do so.

In any case this debate is going nowhere as I wrote earlier My wife taught in Japan for a number of years and if I brought home a Toyota or Honda she would take great pleasure in setting fire to it in the driveway.

[Tom Joad]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Around 85k, enough to have any crap parts fail had they wanted to do so.

I can remember back in the day, if you got 85K out of a car that was damned good. Usually you needed a complete engine and transmission rebuild before that.

Nowadays, for a car like a Toyota or my Honda, 85K is just getting broken in.

I switched to Japanese in 1990.

When I did I noticed a huge improvement in durability and workmanship.

Next to them the American vehicles that I had had for the previous 26 years were crap.

I have heard that since 1990 the American vehicles have caught up in quality.

Well, maybe they have, and maybe they haven't, but I have no intention of finding out.