29th Oct 2009, 10:16
Well the last domestic I owned didn't even make it to 100,000 miles before I put at least $6,000 worth of repairs and "maintenance" into it.
29th Oct 2009, 17:11
Exactly the same for me. None of my domestics has ever made 100,000 miles without needing many repairs. On the other hand, all of my Honda's have made 200,000 miles with nothing beyond oil changes, a few brake jobs and a few sets of tires. And all of those ARE maintenance items.
29th Oct 2009, 18:52
How about all the Honda trans issues on the Acura TL reviews on here... isn't Acura the high end flagship car for Honda. Under 30000 miles trans, then another then another on various ones I am seeing on here. I liked the old Hondas, not recent
29th Oct 2009, 21:42
There are always late model Hondas and Acuras on our local GM and Ford used car lots. A check of CarFax records virtually always reveals one or more replaced transmissions. I have never replaced or repaired a domestic vehicle's engine or transmission in vehicles we've driven over 300,000 miles. Our family company uses Ford trucks and many of them routinely go 300,000 miles without a repair. The idea that Japanese vehicles require less service and repairs is one of the biggest urban myths around.
30th Oct 2009, 11:58
Yeah, and every Honda dealer I go past has a slew of American cars out on their front line too so what's your point? I highly doubt virtually every Honda and Acura has a bad transmission in it.
I have known quite a few domestic owners with transmission issues too. The Chevy 4 speed AT that they have been using in their trucks and SUV's for years is the weakest piece of junk out there. Ford trucks are good but far from perfect. Every line has it's issues. My cousin has an Expedition that was like $47K new and it is literally falling apart inside and out. It has such unbelievably bad build quality... like nothing I have ever seen. Then you go and drive a Mustang and it is solid as a rock.
I think all of the companies have a certain inconsistency in their lines. Unfortunately, the Asian brands still have the edge on quality across the board. It'll take more than a good model or line here or there for Ford and GM to compete with that. Now that Chrysler lost Daimler's support, they are pretty much not worth talking about anymore.
People are so quick to think American cars are so much better than foreign cars because they scored it big with a limited number of examples like the Ford Fusion or the Buick line. Trouble is, the limited number of cars they have that are good equals out to the number of badly produced cars by Honda, Acura and Toyota combined.
And before I get slammed as an "import lover".... I drive a Ford. The facts are out there though and pretty hard to dispute.
31st Oct 2009, 08:39
I drive a Jeep, a Saab 9-3, and my wife drives a Saab 9-7x. My family has owned an equal amount of domestics and imports. The only automatic transmission failure we had was in a Buick, and it happened at around 50,000 miles.
All in all the most troublesome cars we've owned have been some Chrysler products, a couple of GM's, one Lexus (with over 100,000 miles on it and some Volkswagens. (Some of the VW's have been real money pits).
Most of our other imports have been extremely reliable.
My Wrangler has been extremely reliable.
31st Oct 2009, 16:36
I used to sell Hondas, and I know as well as anyone whose ever traded a car in.. there aren't many cars that can keep a grip on its value as well as a Honda.. look at the prices of used BMW's, then look at the Accords.. you will see that a BMW drops a lot faster than almost any Honda will. Test me on that theory.
31st Oct 2009, 18:29
"And before I get slammed as an "import lover"... I drive a Ford. The facts are out there though and pretty hard to dispute."
I drive a Ford too (two of them actually). I used to drive a Honda. Never again. I can't afford constant repairs after the puny 36,000 mile warranty expires.
31st Oct 2009, 20:35
I, like the above commentor, drive a domestic vehicle. But I'm not going to say that imports are all "crap" because they clearly aren't from the reviews on here and from my personal experiences. I've owned Honda's in the past and not a single one of them needed a repair before 200,000 miles. I've also owned some Volkswagen's and have found them to be somewhat less reliable than my Honda's, but not real money pits. I currently drive a Dodge Neon. Now THAT, is a money pit.
1st Nov 2009, 21:01
"I currently drive a Dodge Neon. Now THAT, is a money pit."
That's not usually the case. I recommend cars to friends often (I'm a mechanic) and in 2001 a handicapped friend of mine asked me to help him select a new car. Reliability is, for him, a MUST due to being disabled. I had recommended his previous car (a Ford) which had served him flawlessly for over 200,000 miles. I tried to talk him into another Ford, but he liked the Neon's styling better. Since none of my previous Chrysler products had ever had any problems, I told him to "go for it". He did, and as of last week he had over 124,000 miles on the Neon with absolutely NOTHING but scheduled maintenance. I might also add that the car he owned before the Ford was a Japanese import recommended by his family. It left him stranded so many times that he kept it less than two years.
2nd Nov 2009, 17:58
Well, small world. I wrote the comment your responding too. And I too am a mechanic! I've meticulously maintained this thing and with only 83,000 miles, I've replaced nearly every part it has. The only reason I'm keeping it is because now that I've replaced everything, I should be good for another 83,000! And, I've come across some hard times and simply can't afford a new vehicle as of right now.
2nd Nov 2009, 20:34
If someone owns a basic Civic or a Neon basic starter cars, I find it hardly enough to say the entire Honda or Chrysler line up is flawed. I find that there are many cars loaded with features, performance, engine choices that can make a recommendation day or night even when comparing the same manufacturer. That is why it is flawed on many comments... if you say you know a lot about Civics, that's fine, but it's unlikely you know a lot about Dodge Challenger Hemi models to condemn Chrysler as a whole.
3rd Nov 2009, 20:10
I've owned 4 Chrysler products.
The first (a Plymouth Duster) was sold at 156,000 miles. It never had a single repair.
The second was a Dodge Daytona. It was traded at 110,000 miles. It never had a single repair.
The third was a Dodge Omni. It was sold at 240,000 miles. It had had two timing belts replaced and one heater hose.
The fourth was a Dakota pickup. It was totaled at 60,000 miles. It had never had a single repair either.
Although I now drive Fords and GM's I have no concerns about Chrysler reliability. I just don't care for their styling and I've found the service to be horrible.
Since the Neon was the replacement for the Omni, I'd expect it to be just as reliable, and 240,000 miles out of an $8,000 car (what the Omni cost new) is pretty darn good.
27th Oct 2009, 14:29
Actually some cars need much MORE maintenance than others. Our Honda required 3 or 4 times as much maintenance as any of our domestics. Brake pads wore out 4 times as quick, CV joints went at 40,000 miles, the engine required more frequent servicing, etc. Only 1 of our domestics has ever required brake pads before 90,000 miles, and none required a tune-up before 100,000 miles.