No real surprises here, but a good summary of brand reliability from the front lines. I thought these were well presented..
This shop tallied maintenance cost by brand
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I watched them both between last week and this morning. 
Mazda was #1. Who woulda thunk it?
Interesting line on their #2 (no pun intended): Kia/Hyundai. They said that it really was the second-least expensive model, but that they see "a LOT of declined repairs on these vehicles just simply because they're not worth fixing" (around 6:50, second video). Engine replacements on those cars are declined, so those cars go in & out of the shop with only the diagnostic fee. His words were that if you factor the cost of an engine (or having to buy a replacement for your K/H), that would bring their ranking "way way down." So if your engine isn't one of the few that is nuked, it appears to be a very reliable brand.
Interesting line on their #2 (no pun intended): Kia/Hyundai. They said that it really was the second-least expensive model, but that they see "a LOT of declined repairs on these vehicles just simply because they're not worth fixing" (around 6:50, second video). Engine replacements on those cars are declined, so those cars go in & out of the shop with only the diagnostic fee. His words were that if you factor the cost of an engine (or having to buy a replacement for your K/H), that would bring their ranking "way way down." So if your engine isn't one of the few that is nuked, it appears to be a very reliable brand.
honestly they should add the estimates for declined repairs aswell, that would fix the list somewhat.
Absolutely. The guy says that a lot of Hyundais & Kias came in with engine problems that were declined, because it was more than the car was worth.
The car wizard mentioned this in a video a few months back. A friend of his kid drove a Hyundai and apparently the oil got very low many times ruining the engine. His comment was to ask a dealership how many complete long blocks they have on hand. If it's more than a dozen then it's a problem. Apparently after all of the labor involved he told his friend that they could pick up a low mileage vehicle of the same model for the same price.
I worked at a dealership, and we never had longblocks on hand, and were not allowed to order them for warranty repairs.
We had to order every part individually and assemble it ourselves. so you order a block casting, the freeze plugs, a crank, pistons and rods, see what exactly shows up so you can order the bearings, and rings and everything else, and then you order a head casting that you need to finish aswell. Not as much fun as it sounds
While some information value is present in these videos, it doesn't factor in rate of repairs, so doesn't even approach being able to tell you which are most or least expensive TCO (or at least total lifetime cost of repairs) in a way that a prospective buyer could use to make a choice.
I can't watch a Royalty Auto Services Youtube video any longer, after the one they did where they claimed that 7,500 mile oil changes caused an engine to sludge up. Their conclusions were so bad!!! Since then, every time I see a Royalty Auto Service video pop up, I wonder what type of stupid assumptions are they making now.
For those who don't want to spend a LONG time watching videos is there a printed list somewhere to view?
I still think the gear oil was worse.....
Toyota (camry and corrola) did not make the list as no. 1 or even in the top five. Perhaps they are so reliable that he does not work on them and no data to talk about?
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