Opinion=What is the 'best-most reliable car in the world' Is it the Prius,or another car??

Meh, every generation has their quirks.

If you lose the water pump on a Gen2, guess what happens?

And that’s a wear part solved on the Gen3 with the electric mag drive water pump.

The same could also be said for the inverter water pump between generations.

Just be thankful we’re not talking about Jeeps or anything made by Fiat / Chrysler here.


Have a relative out in PA that had to have an engine replaced at 11 k miles.

Good thing for warranties.

 

yeah, i wouldn't list any chrysler products under 'reliable'. and we owned a bunch of them.

still, i would call the 2004 a tank before the 2010, no offense, i'm in the same boat with the 12, i think.

 

I don't think anyone can say what is THE most reliable. I will say that I see a ton of late 90s Camrys around here. Lots of them still look new.

As for best, that's just opinion, in my opinion. It depends on what you think is most important. Power? Handling? Reliability? Efficiency? Comfort?

 

Last Dodge I owned was a 1999 Avenger. I met my wife with that car and the drivers handle didn’t work (had to replace it 3 times).

The wife thought it was quaint that I opened the door for her, only to find out that I needed her to open my door for me.

It definitely made an impression .

 

Those old Lincoln Town Cars, Crown Victoria's and Mercury Grand Marquis have not gone away yet either.

All the old people will own them until they die. I got mine. lol

 

my 97 year old dad just gave his '94 to the salvation army.

or as he calls them, 'the bell ringers'.

 

Not miserable to drive, once you learn how. I think the fact that mine had a manual transmission helped. If yours was belching smoke, the injection pump was timed incorrectly, and that does lead to reduced performance.

I'd still be driving mine if it wasn't for the rust monster.

 

We have my wife's dad's 1989 Lincoln Town Car and we have A 2003 GRAND Marquis with 27,000 miles.

They really aren't worth much but are real nice cars.

 

We drove a Marquee on Oahu; affectionaly called it The Boat.

 

Transportation used to be the killer app. Now it is taken for granted- cars get sold for what they let you do while the transportation happens. So naturally cars are being scored on how comfortable, entertaining and productive they are rather than their primary performance.

 

I use to believe, and I still do, because nearly 28 years later, you still see a few on the road, but when I was young I bought a small "new" at the time, early 90's small Nissan Pick-up.
Not only were they incredibly cheap, but they were so basic very little could go wrong with them.

The flip side?
Compared to vehicles today, the safety standards and features were near non-existent.
I think my very first Nissan Pick Up had straight bench seats...and not even an airbag.

But basically, engine, fuel system, transmission, suspension...all tried and true, and basic. And it may of not been the safest vehicle on the road----ladder frame, lousy in crash tests...no airbag...BUT...you could drive those from 1990-2018...I still see them.

There is no such thing as a basic, stripped down small truck made today.
Which from a safety standpoint is probably a good thing.
From a " I saved up $7000, and I want something cheap to drive that also offers a lot of utility." it's a shame.

Trucks today are a hybrid...of a luxury vehicle and a utility vehicle, and so expensive.

As far as reliability today?
I really think competition has leveled the playing field a lot. If a vehicle has a immediate flaw, you'll hear about it. But on nearly all new vehicles I expect 2-5 years of very solid reliability.
Long term, I think it starts to reflect on ownership. How much have you invested into maintenance along the way. But a lot of vehicles can offer a lot of reliability.

 

I agree..I really miss the small 'economy' pickup trucks ( Ford Ranger, Chevy S10, Nissan, etc.. ). Pickup trucks today are horrendous 'luxury' vehicles. Why? Because people are buying them and they deliver huge profits to the manufacturers.

And just to clarify...the Ranger that Ford is 'bringing back' is in name only...it is NOT small.

 

When we lived in Honduras, I had a '98 Frontier, 4WD, 4-door, non-turbo diesel. The thing was amazing in spite of how I abused it hauling stuff around our little island. A friend with a repair shop there said that that was the best engine Nissan ever built.

 

I don't think the Prius could every qualify as 'the most reliable car' as our hybrid batteries crap out on average at about 15 years, regardless of miles. For this reason, first gen Prii are rare on the road today.

I would say that the Japanese sedans from the 90s and 2000s should probably win this award - Corollas, Camrys, Civics, Accords. These cars are extremely reliable, and when they do break, the parts are dirt cheap. If you know how to work on your own car, owning one of these probably has the lowest cost of ownership versus anything else you can drive.

 

...Or one of these:

 

Computers have progressed similarly.

 

My brother-in-law still drives our 1996 Camry. It is still on the road even though he tends to murder cars.

 

I drove a Ford Ranger from 1997 to 2001. It was a reliable utility truck- held up very well.

Unfortunately when I sold it, there was no demand whatsoever. Still holds the record for worst resale performance out of any car I've owned, by a country mile.

 

3rd or 4th gen Toyota Camry. Still campaigning a '94 with the 5SFE
3rd Gen Nissan Maxima. Still campaigning a '97 with 385k+ on the original mill and trans.
2nd Gen Nissan Pathfinder WD21's. Did 240K before the frame rotted and broke in half. Mill and trans never missed a lick.
The little Pri are fairly robust for as sophisticated as they are.

 

we had a ranger, nice little truck. sold us on the idea of something bigger. i guess that's the problem.