My Nissan Altima’s(2004 & 2015) have been the most reliable cars I’ve ever owned. And they shouldn’t be especially with the Honda’s & Toyota/Lexus’ we’ve owned.
Because everything you see on the internet is true. OK.To be fair, we can't own them all, so the experience of others helps fill in the gaps.
I was a Mopar fan and owner in the old days when Chrysler was Chrysler...This included 1968 Dodge Charger....1973 Plymouth Road Runner...1973 Dodge Colt...1980 Chrylser Cordoba...1987 Chryler Le Baron coupe turbo...1989 Plymouth Acclaim turbo...1999 Dodge Grand Caravan and the last was a 2004 PT Cruiser turbo....I've got a driveway and garage full of them....2004 to 2021. All have been great. I never thought I'd have a driveway full of Chrysler products when I was growing up. Never dreamed it.
I stand correctedI don't think so. We've got the 2.4 Multi-Air. It uses a little oil, but supposedly there's a TSB for a PCM flash that corrects it by adjusting something to do with idle.
I know of a guy in the UK with a Renegade with the little turbo and he's got over 300k miles on it and says he's had no issues, either. That might be the engine in the Abarth?
But I think you will find more people in just the opposite of what you said....I know those with Chrysler products that have been TOYOTA reliable. I mean, they've owned them >15 years and >250K miles without too many issues if any real problems. Same with Chevy, Ford and their other vehicles. Whereas I have had 3 Japanese made popular cars that showed to be at the top of their game in terms of scoring in segment and reliability. And they left something to be desired for reliability and/or quirkiness which made me think that the automotive press was FOS.
Funny, we had an old neighbor who was just a great guy and a WWII vet. He worked for the Chrysler engine block foundry in Indianapolis. He ALWAYS drove Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge cars. My Dad was a GM engineer, so we didn't have a great view of Chrysler products growing up, to say the least. (Or Ford, for that matter, Lol!). Anyway, when I was a teenager and our neighbor had a K-car, I went over and asked him about his cars. That K-car at the time had about 200k on it. I think it had the corporate 2.2 4 cylinder engine. He said he never had any trouble with any of his cars. That K-car (I think it was a Reliant) had just ticked over 200k miles! He swore by them. Of course he and my Dad and all the old guys around the neighborhood knew how to maintain their cars. The folks who had trouble with them (any make) were the ones who didn't take good care of them.I was a Mopar fan and owner in the old days when Chrysler was Chrysler...This included 1968 Dodge Charger....1973 Plymouth Road Runner...1973 Dodge Colt...1980 Chrylser Cordoba...1987 Chryler Le Baron coupe turbo...1989 Plymouth Acclaim turbo...1999 Dodge Grand Caravan and the last was a 2004 PT Cruiser turbo....
What I've found from a half century on the planet and from growing up in a town where everyone's dad was a mechanical engineer (mostly for GM), is that the folks who maintained their cars well very rarely had trouble with them and they lasted a long, long time. Those who didn't weren't so fortunate. It didn't matter what name brand was on them.But I think you will find more people in just the opposite of what you said....
FIAT always has very nice cars at the Detroit Auto Show:
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One of my very first cars that I drove as a teenager in 1975/1976 was a 1969 Fiat 850 Spider convertible that was a hand me down from my folks who bought it new. This car leaked so badly from the roof and doors, I had to keep a coffee can in there so I could bail out the standing water in the foot wells after a rain storm. By the time it was about 8 years old, the floors were so rotted out, I literally had to wedge a length of 1" x 4" under the seat rails to keep the seat from dropping through the floor. Sure do miss that carI've heard reports about these cars that go both ways. More so than a lot of other cars. Some people have had Toyota like reliability others have had dumpster fire cars.
One thing I've seen is that these cars seem to rust really fast underneath. Do you live in an area with road salt? What's your experience?
Well of course. Statistically (world wide) you are absolutely correct. There’s no argument here!But I think you will find more people in just the opposite of what you said....
My 2019 GTI has been to the dealer 11 times in less than 5,000 miles. They still haven’t repaired my proximity key (6 times) or my radio (2 times). If it was as reliable as your Tiguan I would still be a VW fan. But this is my 5th and last VW.Our 2018 VW Tiguan with 98k has not needed a trip to dealer for anything besides maintenance. I can’t say that for precious Honda and Subaru all needing a few warranty repairs.