OT: Cars

I have a 2007 Lexus GS350 AWD that is running in top shape and I've put not one cent into fixing anything other than maintenance. 80,000 miles and been in a garage its whole life. Heated and AC seats (good luck finding both now in a car that doesn't cost $100k plus). LOVE this car. The mechanics have told me that older Lexus/Toyotas are GOLD. Built to last. $53k back in the day, lol.

Ive owned 3 CRV super efficient and practical. Not fancy, not fast, good gas mileage and reliable. Might be the cheapest per mile driven car. At least in the late 2000. The first one I bought was parked in the mall. Boom!

First new car I ever bought myself was a Honda CRX back in the late 90's. With a manual transmission. Loved that car.

My wife drove Rx's for years and yah, Lexus build quality is legendary...Not enough spice for me personally, but their build quality is indisputable.

The vehicle with the best odds of making it to 250k? The Toyota 4 Runner

Honda, Toyota have been in the top 10 for JD Power Quality awards for decades now. Try to find a new Rav4 hybrid on a lot these days if you dont believe me.

Kia and Hyundai now need to make the worthy consideration list too.

I have a CPO (certified pre-owned) Porsche Macan now and I luv that thing - Porsche quality is just SOLID.

purplefaithful wrote:

My wife drove Rx's for years and yah, Lexus build quality is legendary...Not enough spice for me personally, but their build quality is indisputable.
The vehicle with the best odds of making it to 250k? The Toyota 4 Runner
Honda, Toyota have been in the top 10 for JD Power Quality awards for decades now. Try to find a new Rav4 hybrid on a lot these days if you dont believe me.
Kia and Hyundai now need to make the worthy consideration list too.
I have a CPO (certified pre-owned) Porsche Macan now and I luv that thing - Porsche quality is just SOLID.

Yep, I spent the last couple months on those lots discovering what everyone else already seemed to know about Hondas and Toyotas...and why they tend to cost a little more in the year, mileage, price formula.

I drove German cars for years (mostly Audis), and while I love their styling and performance, they just started nickel and diming me to death.

This video is what inspired my research...and very likely why my daughter's not currently driving a Nissan with a CVT transmission. :-)

MaroonBells wrote:

Yep, I spent the last couple months on those lots discovering what everyone else already seemed to know about Hondas and Toyotas...and why they tend to cost a little more in the year, mileage, price formula.
I drove German cars for years (mostly Audis), and while I love their styling and performance, they just started nickel and diming me to death.
This video is what inspired my research...and very likely why my daughter's not currently driving a Nissan with a CVT transmission. :-)

I know the industry (and tricks) well as I sold for 7 years...

It's been tough for consumers buying cars lately. It started to get worse (and stayed worse) literally since Covid.

People are holding on to their vehicles longer, meaning fewer pre-owned vehicles for trade in, for sale - and that drives prices up.

purplefaithful wrote:

Kia and Hyundai now need to make the worthy consideration list too.

Agree, they both have done an excellent job of totally transforming their vehicles, their cars are now great quality and have the most innovative designs. I have had mostly Hondas and Toyotas and was going to get a Honda SUV on my last car buy and after researching and test drives ended up with a hybrid Hyundai Tucson, great driving vehicle, SUV that drives like a car and really roomy inside, love it.

MaroonBells wrote:

Funny that Kirk Cousins first purchase was a "heavily-used" Honda CRV. I just bought my daughter the same car and told her it would be the last car I'd buy for her. I'm expecting it to hit at least 250K miles. I got into an Uber the other day. It was a CRV. Driver said he had "several" of them and one of the others just hit 400K. Damn. Is it just me, or is there some not-very-well-kept secret that Honda and Toyota (or Acura and Lexus) are the most reliable, lowest cost of ownership and highest resale value cars on the road? Because after doing a bunch of research, the evidence seems overwhelming. View embedded content

I was a Sales Manager at a Honda Store in MN at my last job. Funny thing is, they actually have 368 issues per 100 cars according to JD Power and in 2018 that number was almost a 1:1 ratio. We always get these reports sent to us for various things. Issues per 100 cars they are below middle of the pack now. Their engines and transmissions are bullet proof for the most part. Just do your maintenance. We had the biggest Service Shops in MN for a Honda location. The issues now are all the tech that are on these vehicles. We replaced a lot of infotainment systems. The driver assist features are incredibly unreliable. Much more reliable in a higher end vehicle. Their tech and driving assist features are less than desirable and dependable in many circumstances. Many brake issues and fuel problems within the Hondas as well.

That is great that you bought her a CR-V! They are great for and father buying it for their daughter. What year CR-V?

purplefaithful wrote:

First new car I ever bought myself was a Honda CRX back in the late 90's. With a manual transmission. Loved that car.
My wife drove Rx's for years and yah, Lexus build quality is legendary...Not enough spice for me personally, but their build quality is indisputable.
The vehicle with the best odds of making it to 250k? The Toyota 4 Runner
Honda, Toyota have been in the top 10 for JD Power Quality awards for decades now. Try to find a new Rav4 hybrid on a lot these days if you dont believe me.
Kia and Hyundai now need to make the worthy consideration list too.
I have a CPO (certified pre-owned) Porsche Macan now and I luv that thing - Porsche quality is just SOLID.

Kia and Hyundai are at the tops of JD Powers list of reliability.

Canthony wrote:

Kia and Hyundai are not at the tops of JD Powers list of reliability.

No, but its arrow up for them over the years...They have a strong value proposition and their designs are (imo) nicer than lots from Japan these days.

Very personal choice as you know.

I would definitely have it on the consideration list if I was shopping that price class. That along with some of the other imports noted.

purplefaithful wrote:

No, but its arrow up for them over the years...They have a strong value proposition and their designs are (imo) nicer than lots from Japan these days.
Very personal choice as you know.
I would definitely have it on the consideration list if I was shopping that price class. That along with some of the other imports noted.

I meant to say they are at the tops now. Kia and Hyundai have really come full circle. They don't have the technology standards as of yet, probably why they are at the tops for reliability.

Canthony wrote:

I meant to say they are at the tops now. Kia and Hyundai have really come full circle. They don't have the technology standards as of yet, probably why they are at the tops for reliability.

u still in the biz?

I got out after 7 years..Its a young person’s game, I hated snow days and they want you on call 24/7.

I sold a german brand and had zero intention of going that long after 25 years in corporate.

It started as a bit of a hobby for me with a brand I had driven for literally decades. I knew the cars inside/out from day one, a big advantage over my peers.

Then the $$ became stupid good once Covid hit. So I kept at it for a while.

purplefaithful wrote:

u still in the biz?
I got out after 7 years..Its a young person’s game, I hated snow days and they want you on call 24/7.
I sold a german brand and had zero intention of going that long after 25 years in corporate. It started as a bit of a hobby for me with a brand I had driven for literally decades.
Then the $$ became stupid good once Covid hit. So I kept at it for a while.

Yeah, I am still in it. Took the next step in a promotion at my current location. Covid was stupid and I have never seen anything like it, that is where I made my first $350 in a year in Finance. No joke, if you were there, you know I am not joking. I have a strong finance side of it. Why I got asked to run one.

Canthony wrote:

Yeah, I am still in it. Took the next step in a promotion at my current location. Covid was stupid and I have never seen anything like it, that is where I made my first $350 in a year in Finance. No joke, if you were there, you know I am not joking. I have a strong finance side of it. Why I got asked to run one.

I was there...People literally coming in to please take my $$, I can't spend it anywhere else right now lol!

Sadly, the hurricanes in Florida (for my clientele with a 2nd winter home) put $$ in my pocket too.

Congrats on the promo!

Have a 2008 Toyota 4Runner with 250k (4.0 6 cylinder). Everything works well on it. I've never had to fix anything other than general maintenance of fluids, brakes, plugs, etc. I even pull a 16ft boat with it without any problem. Bought it used in 2012. Great vehicle!

PurplePastor wrote:

Have a 2008 Toyota 4Runner with 250k (4.0 6 cylinder). Everything works well on it. I've never had to fix anything other than general maintenance of fluids, brakes, plugs, etc. I even pull a 16ft boat with it without any problem. Bought it used in 2012. Great vehicle!

It is a solid vehicle!

PurplePastor wrote:

Have a 2008 Toyota 4Runner with 250k (4.0 6 cylinder). Everything works well on it. I've never had to fix anything other than general maintenance of fluids, brakes, plugs, etc. I even pull a 16ft boat with it without any problem. Bought it used in 2012. Great vehicle!

That's awesome!

There are a couple of Benz's out there in the world with over 1mm miles on em believe it or not.

I thought the 4 runner was the #1 vehicle with odds to make it to 250k, its actually their Sequoia. 4 of the top 6 are Toyota.

But your 4 runner is a (not too shabby) #3 on the list:

• Toyota Sequoia: 42.3% chance

• Lexus LS: 38.8% chance

• Toyota 4Runner: 33.1% chance

• Lexus RX Hybrid: 28.9% chance

• Toyota Tundra: 28.2% chance

• Toyota Tacoma: 25.0% chance

purplefaithful wrote:

That's awesome!
There are a couple of Benz's out there in the world with over 1mm miles on em believe it or not.
I thought the 4 runner was the #1 vehicle with odds to make it to 250k, its actually their Sequoia. 4 of the top 6 are Toyota.
But your 4 runner is a (not too shabby) #3 on the list:
Toyota Sequoia: 42.3% chance
Lexus LS: 38.8% chance
Toyota 4Runner: 33.1% chance
Lexus RX Hybrid: 28.9% chance
Toyota Tundra: 28.2% chance
Toyota Tacoma: 25.0% chance

Well essentially they are all Toyotas lol

Surprisingly, I have a 2016 Ford C-Max (hybrid) that has 165k with only general maintenance and everything works well on it. Bought it in 2017 with 3,500 miles on it for $16,900.

Been driving TOY/HON/SUB (wrx), the unicorn is still 60's 390/289 big/small block. Love these in a Fairlane, the GT with a 390 four barrel three speed and the 289 four barrel auto. The old man was a Ford mechanic so I had a bias, he also loved the Vikings, Twins and Lakers. Have had fun with small blocks , looking to gift the grand boys with more than a coin and watch collection since a SB is kinda a dream.

In all honesty, I hate buying cars. Such a colossal waste of money. Wife just got a new BMW SUV like 4 years ago and she'll have it for 15+ years for sure. If you can buy quality in whatever price range you're looking at and keep that car as long as you can, that's the only way to win with depreciation and cars. We also don't put a ton of miles on our cars.