Ot. Kbb value

[Clare Snyder]

Agree - can't beat a Toyota, generally speaking. That said, my 24 year old Found On Road Dead Ranger Pickup has about

368000km on it - all of that in the centralOntario rust belt.I put in a new clutch release cyl at 307,000km and a windsheild when I bought it.

It got new shocks and ball joints and a new Radiator last year. New rear brakes too(the ones I took of WERE the originals -- - - ). It's on it's 4th set of front brakes and 4th set of tires - the third set was a set of half worn tires that came with the used 16 inch alloy rims I bought for it. Other than that it's had one evap hose changed twice, a cam synchronizer, a coolant temp sensor, and U Joints, mechanicaly. I've had to change the drivers door handle twice (first replacement I cheaped out and bought a chinese part on-line - wasted my money -) and I also bought a set of cheap replacement headlight units - that leak. When I changed the headlight units the ORIGINAL headlight bulbs were still working - and that was about 3 years ago. I have replaced one taillight bulb. The original owner said he had never replaced a single bulb. I put a new serpentine belt on when I added the A/C - the belt I took off was an OEM belt and I have no reason to sustect it was not the original. The last set of front brakes were replaced because I opted to put on a big brake conversion (12 inch rotors) after switching to 16 inch rims.(from the original 14 inchers) which also necessitated changing the speedo gear.

Rust is just starting to show on the rear wheel wells and there was some paint loss across thr front of the roof that started to rust so I touched it up.

Not bad for a FORD.

[Clare Snyder]

Like I said - it's a NISSAN, not a Honda. You can practically buy a 3 year old Micra for what your Pelude is worth.

[hubops]

Where do Kia & Hyundai rate in that list ?

It's frustrating to see the Kia model line-up - - it seems to change yearly for no good reason - .. marketing that might draw in new young buyers - but repel people like me ... a Rondo owner.

And VW .. ? My wife's base gas Jetta so far has been a decent little transportation device .. .. except for my old decrepid bones crawling in & out ! John T.

[Ralph Mowery]

If it is in the book I don't think of it as a breakdown item. My 1991 Camry required the timing belt to be changed about every 60,000. My mechanic did change the water pump as a precaution and all the hoses on it each time. I let it go the last time and it was about 80,000 on it when I got rid of it.

I was planning on getting a new car and it would have cost more to replace the belt than the car was worth on a trade. Sold it to a co- worker for the $ 500 the dealer was going to allow me. He was a mechanic that could replace the belt. I told him the belt was way over due and to replace it before he drove it. He did, not sure how long he kept it. The factory air still worked after 16 years with no work on it.

[Clare Snyder]

Kia and Hyundai are up there above the mazda - just a a hair. I bought my wife a 2014 Sorento. My oldest daughter has a Hyundai Elantra GT. 2012 IIRC - other than replacing brakes and changing oil there has been no expeces - and she's been very happy with it.

My other daughter just sold her very dependable Honda Civic (2008) and bought a used Audi Q5- only to find it needed the timing chain replaced - Dealer cost something over $2200. Her hubby just bought an A6. Thankfully HE is a mechanic - so it doesn't fall on MY plate - - -

VW have proven to be fair-to-middling quality wize - and NOT cheap to repair when the eventually do require repairs. I believe the 2.0T in theQ5 is also used in a VW.

Personally I have decided "nothing german" is playing it safe. More likely to buy english than german - and that's not terribly likely either - - -

[rbowman]

They are in the middle of the pack, not horrible but not on par with Toyota or Honda. I been eyeing the Golf Hatchback but the so-so reliability and repair costs are a drawback. Also I'm not sure the local dealer even has a Golf selection. The Iguana firs in better in this land of SUVs and pickups.

Apples and oranges and a long time ago but I had an Audi that had a long list of annoyances. Admittedly it was VW's first attempt at FWD. My wife traded it for a Rabbit (1st Gen Golf in the US) and that was okay as far as I know. She got almost nothing for the tradein.

My first Toyota met an untimely death at the hands of a snowplow the the current one has been completely dependable and is a cheap date, only wanting oil and a filter every 5000 miles. It's also a chain drive for the cams rather than a belt. Sure, chains fail too but less frequently.

[invalid unparseable]

I mentioned watching those Scotty Kilmer you tube videos. As an long time mechanic he mentions the ups and downs of the car companies and quality.

In general he would avoid any German car as an eventual money pit.

Best cars are made in Japan but some of these like Nissan have had their ups and downs.

In the US he would avoid anything from Chrysler and GM.

He says Korean cars are not as good as Japanese cars but he says OK if you only want 100,000 miles out of it.

[gfretwell]

I certainly have nothing bad to say about this Honda I have had it for

18 years and I haven't done diddly to it. The oil changes are certainly way more than a year apart, probably closer to two and that is pretty much the only maintenance I do. I put gas in it and drive. The less I do is the less I am inclined to do. I think it will rust out long before it stops running.

[Clare Snyder]

Unless its a VW or Audi - - -

[gfretwell]

I am not sure the belts fail all that often either but it is a scary thing on an interference engine like I have in the Honda. If this was an Accord, I would have done it myself. Remove the left front tire, take out a few screws and remove the wheel well plastic and go at it.

On a Prelude, step 1 in the shop manual is "See remove engine". The belt is about 2" from the support in the unibody for the strut. The dealer took it loose from the motor mounts and tilted it back as far as they could to get to it. This was still tight. The job took 2 days. Best $1000 I ever spent. When I stopped by at the end of day one, they had just got the old belt off.

[rbowman]

There's not much left for English cars if you go by ownership -- Tata, Geely, BMW, Groupe PSA ...

[rbowman]

Oh, wonderful. I replaced the belt on a 4 cylinder Geo. It was tight but doable. iirc the belt was $47 and I was on call and had to hang around the house anyway.

That was cheap compared to the $150 belt on the Sportster.