It's hard for me to recommend new vehicles these days.

[CarDoc66]

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[Zee09]

There aren’t many to recommend anymore in my opinion anyway. Here is my list in no particular order.

Toyota Tacoma 2.7 only, maybe 3.5 if you aren’t going to drive it a lot. I’ll explain why below.

Toyota Tundra they look sweet and have cool colors and are hybrid which isn’t something I’d want but it does make it very gas efficient.

Subaru Crosstrek, in my opinion one of the most reliable and practical cars on the market today.

Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, a sweet looking crossover SUV. Very reliable based on what our Mitsubishi techs have said at work. I personally would love to have one of those.

Here is my reasoning on the 2.7 over the 3.5 Tacoma. Keep in mind it’s coming from a mechanic who works on them everyday so maybe just my experience with the ones we see but the 3.5 has a lot of problems with the piston rings coking in them. The three that I’ve torn down (all under 100k) and my coworkers have torn down (many more than 3 for them) out of the Tacoma in particular has all had at least minor coking on the rings. Of course I’ll have people disagreeing with me here but we believe it’s from long oil changes but we have no proof. And we believe bulk oil could be the cause as well but again no proof. However all of these vehicles have been in the range of 60k-200k with a history of dealership oil changes but we don’t know the conditions they drive in or anything. If you were going to do shorter oil changes and not the 10k that Toyota says then you’d probably be fine. However I haven’t had the opportunity to tear down one with short oil changes to look at. And many here will say the 3.5 is bulletproof. Not in the Tacoma it’s not, maybe the Highlander or Camry. Another advantage to the 2.7 that is a dealbreaker on the 3.5 for me is the 2.7 has a spin on oil filter and is so much easier to work on and do oil changes on. You trade off a little bit of power but in my opinion it’s worth it. I’m waiting on my dealership to get some more 2.7 on the lot so I can test drive them. That’s the only place I can get financing from so I have to buy it from my dealership and I want a 2.7 Tacoma or a Subaru if I decide to get something but I’d prefer a 4WD 2.7 Tacoma.

You get. from Jimmy...
Mitsubishi Sport.....
I may have to get another....
I love those turds
Simple as snot to work on too.

 

[goingplacesanddoingstuff]

I would buy an N/A Skyactiv powered Mazda in a heartbeat. They’re pretty reliable, you just have to take care of them.

As a 3rd gen Tacoma owner… meh. It’s ok.

 

[Vil_Riker]

I find the total opposite. Our choices here in the UK/Europe are somewhat different to you guys accross the pond. However, being the petrolhead that I am, I get asked quite regularly by people what I think of certain cars.

I think you'd be hard pressed to go buy any car and not get a reliable 200k out of it over 10 years with suitable maintenance.

Cars are more reliable now than they have ever been.

The cars are packed with high tech and expensive gadgets with questionable reliability. Maintenance costs are quite high in the US. Add to that a lack of trained mechanics, a cultural approach of treating cars as disposable items, long driving distances, and you end up with high overall cost of ownership.

But I agree that overall the reliability is higher. Yesterday I started watching Peak Practice from 1993 and in every episode someone has the hood up fixing something on the car.

 

[KrisZ]

I think most of the Toyota hybrids are still a good and reliable option, although pricey and hard to get.

 

[andyd]

I'm all set with new cars. I have a pair of '17 Camrys. I own them both. One has~70K, the other 90 something. I'm retired and my son has a 33mile commute. Realistically these are my last cars. I was thinking of selling one and buying a small 4x4 pickup. But I won't buy a new one. A lot of the bling on new cars has no appeal whatsoever. Is it true that the front end of a Chevy PU has to come apart to change a head light? How long is a DOHC V-6 timing chain/belt? 20X50x2.85 wheels on a 4wd 1/2 ton PU