Looking at JD Powers, your best bets these days are Toyota/Lexus and Kia/Hyundai.

Sad that Korea has taken down the Americans, Germans, and most Japanese for reliability. Driving enjoyment is a different matter, but if strictly for a commuter, I'd stick with one of those.

Wanting to actually enjoy the car greatly skews things though. German cars drive great and I love a good American v8.

 

those are made in hungary so ure safe!

lol.

meh fak reliability stats. euros are a hit or miss. just don’t miss and enjoy ure euro instead of mediocre crap. u got uber now.

 

JD Power is a very flawed measure. Something like people not liking the car's stereo user interface can make it look worse than expected, that has long plagued Hondas & Acuras.

I can't have a daily driver that's less reliable than my 18 year old sports car haha

 

I do agree with that. Right now though we pretty much have a match with Consumer Reports giving the same results. Toyota and Kia are tops.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...ast/777807001/

Audi is very high on the list though! As is BMW and Subaru.

Acura is lower than Ford, Chevy, and VW.

 

I take any of those quality surveys with a large grain of salt. As Mike has said they can be swayed one way or another due to things that have nothing to do with the quality of a car.

Yes the Korean cars are getting better & others are slipping. The field is constantly moving, as peoples tastes change. Car makers are always trying to guess right. It's a crap shoot for them at times.

One thing I do know all cars are nice when they are new. How a car is with 50,000 miles on the clock is what matters to me.

Have a good day folks. Cold here this morning, but we have beautiful sun shine. Getting to 55 later today.

 

Completely agree! I'll even stretch that to the 100,000 mile mark. Almost all of my previous cars were at 100,000 miles or more when I traded them in and I judge them based on how they fared. Historically, my family has had the best luck with Ford and Honda. Only one Kia to compare, but it went about 180k before being traded in and was still reliable. It wasn't particularly nice and didn't age all that well, but it didn't have any mechanical issues.

My tuned Lincoln is at almost 60k. With two turbo's, awd, and a ridiculous amount of electronics, I'm not betting on it long term. Maybe it would be fine, but I'm thinking I should consider the countless full boost AWD launches as payment for a shorter life. Maybe trade it in before it grenades the center differential, transmission, or pops the head gaskets.

 

mike- i completely understand. lol. but not all are bad. and i’m a guy that maybe puts 30k miles before i sell the car so long term is something i don’t care about. i’m a perfect euro car buyer. lol

considering how bad my GK’s quality is i can careless about reliability. thanks honda for making me into a euro car guy! woot

 

Yeah those are all valid points. I love the way most german cars look and drive, but the hit/miss reliability is rough. I guess if I only drove 5k miles a year or something it wouldn't be terrible, but when i drive 10-12k a year I need something I don't have to worry about.

That is really weird about the welded diff on the bmw.

The GF saw the new Volvo XC40 and really likes it. Not sure how reliable newer volvo's are, but maybe they'll be like the older DL240 haha.

For that 35k though I'd rather her get a Lexus IS350. All just pipe dreams for now.

Yesterday sucked. I am dog sitting for my dad while hes on business trip and his dog started to have seizures (previous condition I was NOT aware of) and I had to take her to the vet. It was a shitty experience, but shes doing better, hopefully take her back home today. I'm a huge dog lover and will be a wreck whenever something happens to our two knuckleheads.

Lastly, my mom texts me that her mechanic is telling her to replace both front dampers (190 parts + 200 labor), sway links (75 EACH insane) and get an alignment (75) FOR $615 total. Sway link prices are insanity. Dampers not too bad...I could do it...just dont want to deal with spring compressor clamps. Maybe I can find a complete shock assembly for cheaper. 2008 Nissan Rogue SL AWD.

Happy Hump Day everyone.

 

Hope your week gets better shinjari!

The dog thing would wreck us as well. We were a dog house, but currently have two cats because a 7yo boy is enough to keep up with for now.

Sounds like your Mom's Nissan has gone Rogue on her. LOL. Couldn't resist. Being a 10 year old Nissan, I don't doubt that it needs those parts. Suspension work is easy if you have ALL the right tools. Impact, pickle forks, spring compressor, vise, torch, press, etc. Suspension work is a royal pain if you're missing one simple tool.

 

shinjari - wow sorry to hear about your dad’s dog. wishing her a speedy recovery!

yah the IS350 is nice. but i still have issues with the current facia.. the 2014-2016 looked nice.

my GTI said oil change due in 30 days. dogdamn.. i need to do 3 cars soon. lol

 

dang GAFIT with his list of tools. all we use are pliers here at fit freak.

 

oil change.. pliers

wheel swap.. pliers

damper swap.. pliers

 

so i was gauging how my DSG-R purchased would or would not make sense this am coming to work.

first off u all know im a MT driver and even though the DSG is a huge improvement over regular AT cars it’s still not that fun to drive. i would never take my dsg car out for my ‘weekend motoring’ purposes. so itdll be a complete dd to work car.

second, the drive itself to work. so basically i stopped using the expressways cause it tires me and the speeds caused a lot of damage to my GTI. my surface road commute is also shorter in distance and saves gas, toll, super relaxing, so a lot more advantageous over taking the express way. but at the same time the drive itself is quite boring and low speed.

taking those 2 into consideration, the GTI is more than enough power, the only silly is the grip when i wot the car at times when i see an opening but that’s like 1-2% of the entire drive. the interior is basically identical to the R besides the new tech on the MK7.5’s.

is that really worth 42k? i honestly don’t think so.. even though i still want the DSG-R a lot..itd be smarter to use that $$ on a more fun car? i mean i already have 2 fun cars, maybe expand on them?

ur thoughts..

 

GAFIT - yeah The rogue is 10, but only has 60k miles on it, original owner. She doesnt drive much. I would 'need' an impact, pickle fork and spring compressor (assuming I dont buy a full assembly).

Pickle fork - inexpensive
Spring compressor - rent from Vatozone
Impact - looking at cordless impacts (600 ft/lbs) - dont have a compressor...yet.

I may have misread my mom's text and I think it's $190 EACH strut + $100 labor each side. I've found complete drop in Monroe assemblies for $180 shipped. Considering that route. They are crazy thinking we will pay $75 for EACH link...those are $25 each...lol.

Mechanic = $190 strut + $190 strut + $75 link + $75 link + $75 alignment + $200 labor = $805
Do-it-myself = $180 strut assembly + $180 strut assembly + $25 link + $25 link + $75 alignment + $200 cordless impact = $685 ----leaning towards this, could do w/o the impact to make it even cheaper...but would make it easier for sure.

Kenchan - Vise-grips? Needlenose? Channel locks? haha.

As for your DSG dilemma...I think for your daily drive that you do...the R would be a moot point. I mean the only true benefit you're getting is the AWD. Those GTI's have good power, and if its not enough just add a tune

Spend $$$ on existing cars.

 

yah besides pliers, duct tape. i have duct tape.


my GTI has plenty of power already but not enough grip when i get on the throttle.. AWD is definitely nice to have and that is the only reason, ure right. no need to swap wheels in the winter is a good thing. hummmm..

 

Well, shitty day. Got a call from the vet, our beloved pup....passed in her sleep.

 

oh noes! so sorry to hear

 

Very sorry to hear you lost your pup.

 

Thanks guys. I just feel really bad that my folks were out on business travel when this happened.

She's in pupper heaven. Having a great time and reuniting with her 'sister' that passed last year.

 

yah puppy heaven and now relaxing with her sister having ice cream and all.