Most reliable 10 year-old car that isn’t a Toyota or Honda?

Vlad can't be wrong. That puppy shines like a new penny!


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2012 Ford Fusions are supposed to be pretty reliable. I’d also look to Volvo.

Ford Focus, Fusion, or 2010 to 2012 Volvos, if a mental instability precludes a Lexus or Toyota.

My family members, because I insist on quality and reliabitly, all have Lexus, or Volvos from that era. We are all happy. The Volvos accept certain Ford parts, which make them happy.
 
If you wanted to buy the most reliable used car from 2010-2013 that isn’t Toyota or Honda, what would you buy?

By “car” I mean sedan, hatchback or crossover. I explicitly don’t mean pickup truck, van, or large SUV. Let’s also exclude the Pontiac Vibe because we all know it’s really a Toyota.
A latter Ford Fusion with the 2.5L I-4 engine. No DI or turbo. My lady friends 2015 is approaching 200K with the only major expense being a steering rack and a $300 all around brake job. She has spent less than $2K in 8 years. The steering rack was $1400 installed (indy shop) and a hour ($160)at Ford Scanning it in. The steering rack could have been avoided if a leaking seal would have been caught. The most impressive part is the solidity of the frame and body. The car has a nice soft well controlled ride, yes on the OG struts.. The only negative for us is getting in and out at our age. It is a 4-door low slung coupe.
 
If you can fix little stuff and remember to oil spray it underneath, I think the 10-11 manual(probably auto too?) Focus should go for a long time, its a KISS drivetrain with no common problems, but lots of rocker rust... The 12+ Foci are pretty good with a mtx too.
 
I forgot about the Crown Vic(until 11)and Gen 2 Focus(08-11) both good as well. Ford’s(just not 5.4 3vs and I wouldn’t have a diesel of any make or model)from this era were the reason I quit being a Ford tech that drove GM vehicles to driving what I worked on. Well GM quality at that time may have helped in that decision tremendously as well. Too bad MOST vehicles in production now from all manufacturers are questionable at best.

I’m sure hrv will be here in a minute to tell everyone recommending any Ford product of any era the error in their ways 🤣
 
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I do all the mx on our vehicles-DIYer.
So far this year I've driven the following between our 2 homes 1000 mile apart (TX & CO mtns, pretty darn remote). I've been doing this trip back and forth for 10 yrs.
12 Lincoln MKX-owned for 9 yrs
07 Toyota FJ Cruiser- for 15 yrs
07 GMC Yukon- for 5 yrs
95 Prevost Bus/MH-10 yrs
02 Corvette- 7 mths
The only issue I've had was with the Corvette, auto shifter cable end came off. This happened 4 mths after I bought it and hadn't whipped it into shape yet.
 
Haven't owned one but I would guess a Sentra with an mt wouldn't be too bad.
my buddy had decent luck with a 4 cylinder BMW. I don't think I would hazard either though, lol!

Give me a Satellite or Fury with a 318 and 3 on the tree, or an 80's FWD Buick Skylark with Tech iv iron duke power.
 
Haven't owned one but I would guess a Sentra with an mt wouldn't be too bad.
my buddy had decent luck with a 4 cylinder BMW. I don't think I would hazard either though, lol!

Give me a Satellite or Fury with a 318 and 3 on the tree, or an 80's FWD Buick Skylark with Tech iv iron duke power.
Saw that the 2024 Nissan Sentra with 5 speed manual and freight included is $17500
 
A latter Ford Fusion with the 2.5L I-4 engine. No DI or turbo. My lady friends 2015 is approaching 200K with the only major expense being a steering rack and a $300 all around brake job. She has spent less than $2K in 8 years. The steering rack was $1400 installed (indy shop) and a hour ($160)at Ford Scanning it in. The steering rack could have been avoided if a leaking seal would have been caught. The most impressive part is the solidity of the frame and body. The car has a nice soft well controlled ride, yes on the OG struts.. The only negative for us is getting in and out at our age. It is a 4-door low slung coupe.

I had a 2013 that I got cheap because the rack was bad. I think it was a fairly common issue. But not too common - I nabbed a rack from a junkyard for $35 if I remember right (they are $50+core now) and was able to install and reprogram it myself (FORSCAN). It took a few hours though, kind of a tough job without a lift.

FORSCAN also helped me install an ebay replacement for the dead radio. Anyway, my 2013 had 175k+ miles on that 2.5 and it ran great, although the 6F35 transmission shifted sloppy from 2-3. Pretty good car.

Agree with you - very solid chassis, great smooth and quiet ride, handling was not bad either.
 
I don't know about all the "Volvo" responses on here. I have a 2006 S40, getting close to 250k miles, and it's not horrible but I do have things I have to fix periodically.
 
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