Most Reliable

It's official. I saw in the paper today.

Japanese cars are the most reliable on the road.
The Honda accord is apparently the number 1, with the civic and hrv in the
top ten aswell as most reliable cars based on breakdowns.

Mazda have a few cars in the top ten as well.

Least reliable are Audi TT, Ford Galaxy, VW polo, Vauxhall vectra, and
Citroen C3.

 

Good news for me is I bought an Accord. Bad news is that the Audi TT
is one my favorites.

 

This must be some european ranking. Maybe in Europe Hondas are more
reliable, but certainly Accord does not hold the top spot in the US.
Actually, the quality of the Accord has been declining since its
bullet-proof days of early '90s. Not sure if manufacturing it in the US had
anything to do with this decline. Lexus and Acura have been sitting at the
top of reliability rankings, IIRC.

Cheers,

Pete

 

Huh? How did you come to this conclusion?

 

I am hearing more and more problems reported with the newer Accords, the
issue with the automatic transmissions on the V6 Accords in '98-'01, just to
name one. In addition, my '00 Accord was so poorly made, it drove me nuts
and I sold it only after a year of ownership. I may have been just unlucky,
but reading this newsgroup, just about everyone agrees that older Accords
were more reliable.

Accord may be the best selling US mid-size sedan, but it is not the most
reliable. Honda has created a good name based on quality of its products a
decade ago and is still riding on it.

I'm not saying Honda makes bad cars. Compared to many American brands,
Honda is still better in overall quality. However, I have also seen many
rankings (US based), and Accord is not in the top three in terms of
reliability.

Cheers,

Pete

 

See my previous post. Other car makers can increase their reliability above
Honda, _without_ Honda reducing quality.

 

I'm not saying that the Accord is on decline.
I'm saying that it doesn't seem like European data.

 

My guess is he owned one and had some problems.



mike hunt

 

From what I see in our business, every manufacture is building
good vehicles today. No particular brand stands far above any
other in it class. There are no outstanding 'bad' models of any
manufacture, just the occasional problem with individual
vehicles. The only real difference today is style and price.
Buying the one that best suits ones needs and budget would be the
best advice to follow. Avoid the dealers that are trying to get
top dollar, it a buyers market today. Don't forget interest
rates as well. Even 2.9% will cost you a $1,000 or more in
interest over one available at zero interest.



mike hunt

 

The auto-trans is one "problem" and Honda dealt with it fairly well - I
can't think of anything else off-hand. I've been very impressed by our 2K
Accord but it's a I4 MT so I can't comment on the autos. If you thought
your '00 model was "poorly made", I wonder what you've found which is
better... other than a Camry which is AFAIK still slightly ahead on
quality/reliability. I think there was a period in the early '90s - I
owned a '90 Civic where the difference in fit 'n' finish was obviously off,
though the car was otherwise reliable - where the U.S. Honda mfr was behind
the JP but it's been my impression that that gap has been narrowed to
near-zero more recently.

In surveys I've seen reported here and elsewhere, Camry was slightly ahead
but in the class of vehicle I don't think any other make was close.

We've been reading different surveys then. I haven't seen any where a
Detroit car was ahead.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

According to Consumer Reports, it is right up there. Only competition
is Toyotas and other Honda models.

Like most manufacturers, Honda quality steadily increases.

The early '90s Accords were mostly made in the US.

Lexus/Toyota/Honda/Acura, they are all reliable. Doesn't mean you
can't have a problem with one but these are your best bets.

 

You should try keeping them for more than two years.

 

You mean all those Toyotas built in California by those Union
thugs are crap. When I was in collage we were always taught
quality was a function of management, when did that change? LOL


mike hunt

 

The majority of government and corporate fleets keep their
vehicles in service for five years or 300K WOF.


mike hunt

 

Before you were born, but that is still the case. Study
Dr. Juran and his associates, that rebuilt Japans industry for
under General Douglas Macauther, WBMA
Try;
From:schools.sbe.saskatoon.sk.ca/Lawso/grassroots2001/glauser/socialre..



mike hunt

 

At least we agreed that an union is a legalized Mafia family.

My friend's mom has a 99 Camry. The visors keep breaking. The engine keep
dying after start up. If I don't know any better, I would guess that it is
carburated. Dealer can't fix it. Who should I salute?

Last time I checked fuses in a 2001 Honda Civic, I saluted the middle
finger to Honda. There were puny fuses, and a big power cable in the
middle of the fuse box. What a piece of shit engineering. Should I blame
"made in Ohio"?

 

Audi A4. Again, YMMV, but I guess I just had bad luck with Honda and good
luck with Audi, which on average is less reliabile.

I didn't say a Detroit car was ahead. I only said Accord was not in the top
three. As I noted in another post, Lexus and Acura we occupying the top
spots. Are there any US-made Acuras, or do they all come from Japan? What
about Lexus - did Toyota start making them here in the US or not yet?

Cheers,

Pete

 

if its the 4 cylinder, try cleaning out the IAC (idle air control) valve,
right under the throttle body.

yes, its a crappy design, and WILL get dirty again, but it beats replacing
neon headgaskets, caravan trannys, and whatever fails with the american
cars. feel free to switch back tho. for every one of you, there are probably
30 pissed off american car owners.

yeah! and the clock drains the power, and the sparkle plug wires need to be
solid copper core, etc, etc.

 

And the battery terminals need to be silver, IIRC.

Thanks for the chuckle.

 

Real Men (tm) carry a Leatherman tool for such little problems.

I'd love to hear you whine if you had to change a fuse on a '70s GM vehicle
when you had to crawl under the dash to get at the fuse block!

George