Are Honda/Toyota/Mazda/Subaru overrated?

[dapstuck49]

Are they really that reliable? Have you owned American made cars that were unreliable and then you bought a Honda/Toyota/Mazda/Subaru and it was a lot better? Or are these 4 auto manufacturers overrated?

 

[2531usmc]

I cant speak for anybody else, but I grew up in Pittsburg and strongly believed in “buying American”. For half of my car buying life I bought from the big three and one out of three vehicles were (to a greater or lesser degree) lemons.

After my Chrysler minivan self destructed at 50,000 miles, I bought a Toyota and never looked back. We buy new, maintain them ourselves, and they typically go 225,000 miles with nothing more than tires, brakes, and oil changes.

Between me and the kids, we’ve had six Toyota cars and trucks and have had only one mechanical breakdown. Our first Toyota was a Corolla and the water pump went 4,000 miles after the warranty expired. Took it to the Toyota dealer, they said Toyota knew this was a bad design and they replaced it for free.

 

[handwerk]

between my wife , I and our 3 adult kids we have 6 Toyotas and 1 Lexus GX if that tells you anything...they range in age from 1993 to 2017 so I guess that makes us fans.

 

[ramsdude47]

Lexus, Toyota, Honda. FAR superior to any other auto makers.

Big step down to anything else, but next up would probably be Mazda.

 

[NYyotekiller]

No, they are definitely not overrated.

I won’t buy anything domestic other than a 3/4 ton truck.

 

[Wellsdw]

I have faith in my yotas, 100%. Nissans…….nothing but unresolvable issues. You get a check engine light you better hope it burns out cause you are not gonna fix it long term. Learned that the hard way a few times. I had an earlier 2000s truck I loved but some durability confidence.

 

[Yoder]

I've had 3 Hondas, one Mazda and a Toyota. The Honda civics had no problems other than the AC crapped out on my 2008. No other problems until my step son totaled it at 265k miles. I'm currently driving a 2013 Mazda 3. I just hit 220k. The only thing replaced was brakes, rotors and some front suspension parts from pot holes. It's even the original clutch. I have no doubt it will last 300k. The 2018 Corolla has 140k on it and has needed nothing but brakes. I also had a 2007 RAV 4. That needed the pistons replaced at 100k miles. It was completely covered by Toyota. The transmission went at 220k when it was 14 yrs old. We had it rebuilt and it lasted another 50k before the engine completely blew up.

My last two "American" cars were Chevy's. A Cobalt that was a giant piece of garbage and an Equinox. We only kept the Equinox for about 6 months. It had a couple problems but nothing major. I owned two Ford trucks. 1999 Ranger that had a head gasket problem at 50k and a 2004 F150 that turned into a pile of rust. My 2001 Silverado was a pretty good truck. Lasted 10 years and then the rear blew up at 150k.

I would buy Mazda, Honda, Toyota and possibly a Chevy truck again. Ford can suck it along with any American car. I would also never buy any kind of Jeep, they are unreliable and over priced. I think the American trucks are slightly better than the cars due to the money they make on them but I don't trust the cars.

 

[BugleMeTimber]

Toyota pickups have served me very well over the years with no major issues. Currently have a 2019 Tacoma Off Road with 48k that has treated me well. Have a 2012 Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel that has also had no issues. Won't buy a Ford but have been tempted with a Chevy truck.

 

[Jbehredt]

Modern day Mazdas don’t belong on that list. Subaru is also the clear 3rd place of the remaining 3.

 

[3gunyotehtr]

Between my dad and I, we have had several toyota vehicles almost make it to the 500,000 mile mark. Dad currently has 3 toyotas, the van and tacoma both have close to 400,000 miles with nary a problem. I have also had great success with my 2013 gmc pickup; 220,00 miles with zero issues. Bought it new, use it to plow snow, haul hay, etc., it hasn't been babied. I try not to buy American vehicles with known problems, but some are pretty good if you pick and choose.

 

[Maverick1]

Are they really that reliable? Have you owned American made cars that were unreliable and then you bought a Honda/Toyota/Mazda/Subaru and it was a lot better? Or are these 4 auto manufacturers overrated?

Yes, they are (but not all of the ones you have listed). You are going to get a variety of opinions, based on individual experiences, which amount to a very small sample size and data set, with bias thrown in. A different approach is to look at the data from over 1.3M vehicles. Dashboard Light

 

[kfili]

Yes they are that much better. I've had had a bunch of ford's with incessant issues. Now have 2 Hondas and a Toyota and 0 major issues ever. The accord will even run with barley any oil! All 3 have over 150k and run like new. (Accord CRV and Tundra). Only have had to do routine maintenance and a few alternators on the Hondas.
I'm not easy on vehicles either.

 

[txtransplant]

I don’t think I would put Mazda in the same class at Honda and Toyota. Those two brands are top notch on reliability. There’s a reason why 10 year old 4Runners and Tacomas are so much more expensive than 10 year old Jeeps and Rangers.

I really like Subarus, but they’re a bit quirky. I’ve had two, and no major problems, but they do occasionally have recalls. If I needed a new car today, it would probably be another Subaru.

With Ford making a strong push into EVs, I’m hopeful that they can revive American automakers. Tesla did a lot to push the industry forward, but they have a lot of problems. Ford knows how to manufacture - and I’m hoping that their EVs will be more reliable since they are less mechanically complex than an internal combustion engine. The trade off is that they have to nail it on the software, though - something that no automaker has been known to do.

 

[browning2480]

We just bought a new Subaru so check back with me in a few years lol.

As far as our other cars the last 20 years, we have a 2003 Chevy Tahoe that is still going strong at 334,000 miles. This is my daily driver. Yes there have been a few things over the years but nothing major and most of the work I can do myself.

We just bought the Subaru to replace a 2009 Buick Enclave that was a great vehicle also. This was my wife’s and we ran it to over 180,000 miles with only a few problems over the years, again nothing major. We gave it to our newly married Son and Daughter in Law. They are still driving it with no issues approaching 200,000 miles.

I will say, this new Subaru sure is nice

 

[Seth]

Through my personal experience, yes, without question. All Dodges I have owned needed major maintenance before 100k, including warped manifolds and cylinders that needed to be re-sleeved. Never had a Toyota issue and I have owned several of both over the past 20 years.

 

[Mt Al]

No, they are definitely not overrated.

I won’t buy anything domestic other than a 3/4 ton truck.

Agreed^^^^^

Our family has put hundreds of thousands of highly trouble free miles on Subarus, Hondas and Toyotas.

Time in the shop, doing constant repairs and dealing with crap falling off or electrical problems isn't something I want to deal with.

US made trucks seem to work really well, all mine have.

 

[rcb2000]

Have to give credit where it’s due, and the Japanese make quality products.
China copies and reproduces for pennies on the dollar, but the Japanese have so much pride in what they do that it’s hard to find “crap” products from their companies.

 

[IdahoElk]

Love Ford but have been driving Toyota (4Runners) for the last 15yrs, all have exceeded my expectations, they just keep going.

 

[Yoder]

One thing that a hard no for me is any vehicle with a timing belt. That's one reason I never bought a Subaru. My wife and I both average around 30k miles/year our cars so I would need one every couple years and I don't feel like changing one or paying for it. It's already a big enough pain in the ass changing brakes and doing oil changes.

 

[11boo]

I’m on my first tundra, a 21 so I don’t really know yet. So far happy.

GM and Ford drove me to it. Fords rusted out way too soon. My 3/4 T GM fell apart way too soon. And the UAW is now demanding a 48% pay raise lol.