Most reliable car you've ever owned?

[BruceRPA]

How about the Million Mile Saab? http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=538098

I bought a 1988 Saab 9000 Turbo in 1988. It was so far off the list it doesn't even belong in this thread. It was a money pit, but is sure was fun to drive too!

 

[PioneerHPMLuver]

1990 Astro van

My 1990 Astro van bought new in August of 1990...192,000 miles...was my dailey driver up until 5 years ago. Now it's my "recreation" vehicle.
Only issues recently are routine...Starter motor, water pump, alternator...on my 3rd exhaust system and only the third tune up recently. beat the living crap out of it on canoe and camping trips...Still going strong and gets about 20 MPG....Makes a great tailgating vehicle too with the awesome stereo system in it too!

 

[bingperry]

1974 plymonth duster, bought it in 1979 for 500.00 with 49k drove it for 4 years and put 50k on it and I only had to do regular maintence oil, tires. brakes. Sold it to a friend who put 100k on it before finally needing engine work. I now have 2 toyota preiva's both with over 200k and both still drive like new( great for picking up audio gear)

 

[KingBubba]

Mine was a 1976 Toyota Corolla station wagon. Owned it for years and it never failed me. I wish i still had it.

 

[Eunomians]

Most reliable I had was a '95 Accord. It's long gone, but damn was it ever reliable. I used it as a long commuter pushing 1000 miles a week.

 

[thedelihaus]

1971 Dodge Dart- $100 or $150 for it, never put a dime in it, besides a thermostat. Drunk driver drove me off the road, and hit a curb, front end got wrecked. 243k on it.

1986 Honda CRX. $1000. Never put penny in it besides a $1 fuse. Ran as good as a brand new car, with over 100k on the odometer. Left it in California with a girl after a falling out.

1991 Toyota Pickup. Bought for around $100. Already had been terribly abused. Terribly. Front brakes and an electronic ignition module needed replacement- otherwise, not a thing ever, ever went wrong with it. My friend blew it up at 140+k, towing 2 or three motorcycles, and over-reving it- he was an impatient driver, and felt the Toyota should still be able to do 85+ on the highway, bogged down with 1200=lbs extra loaded in or towed behind.

1971 VW SuperBeetle. Probably 200k+. Right rear suspension let go and I hit a telephone pole- walked away from it. The failure I believe was a combination of me off-roading it, and battery acid damage from a previous owner putting a non-vented and leaky battery in the rear battery tray.

Anything I spent over $1000 on seems to have been less reliable. No logic in that at all, just happenchance.

 

[Adam]

1972 Chevrolet Impala 4 door with a 400 and the TH350, that car was built like a tank.

 

[energyandair]

92 Toyota Previa

It just never breaks down, service needs are minimal and even the little things don't break.
A heard a story from someone who went up the East coast of Australia in one that had 1,000,000 km on it and had never had any work done on the engine. This is one vehicle for which I can almostbelieve that.
They are also incredibly practical and the best minivam to drive that I have tried.

 

[6thumbs]

used to drive caddys had a couple i put 170000 on but i drive a 87 town car i bought with 62gs on it it now has 196000 burn a qt of 5w30 every 3 thousand un fortunitly minnesota winters have played hell on the body but even 12 below zero weather cant stop it

 

[krimney]

1988 Olds Delta 88

i bought it with 210000 KM on it and when I finally sold it, it had 420000km on it, and apart from regular oil changes, brakes, tune up etc. I never had a problem with it, not even a flat. the tranny was starting to slip a bit but the engine was running strong. I may buy another GM 3.8L as a second car soon.


Also had a 70 ish Impala Convertible someone tossed a 283ci with 2 spd powerglide in. Drove that thing as hard as I could and it kept on going. Same with a '66 ford falcon I had with a 289.

currently I have a '71 VW van , air cooled. Driving it last summer in 100+ degree heat, it just kept on going. Give me a few tools and lots of time, I'd drive it anywhere without any concern.

 

[TVTeufel]

There were three. I never buy new cars.

1. '70 Olds Cutlass 350 V8 4 dr. base sedan - Bought at 90K for $900.00, retired at 236K. Once sprung a leak at the tranny filler tube, & spouted about 6 quarts of the pink stuff over a 50 mile stretch, but it got me home, & after the tube was welded, never a tranny problem. No other repairs beyond basic tune-ups, etc. 'til the original suspension gave up. I cried when the flatbed dragged her away, but the 50 bucks I got made it tolerable.

2. '87 Chrysler GTS turbo 5 door sedan. Bought at 120K for $1,500.00, sold at 252K for $400.00. I think I changed the timing belt once. Never an issue with the 2.2 OHC 4 banger, the tranny, or the turbo. The guy who bought it then drove it to Mexico & back to Baltimore - THREE times! It's probably still out there somewhere.

3. My present daily beater - '93 Nissan 240SX base fastback. Bought two some odd years ago with 228K for a whoppin' $100.00. (Needed a radiator & windshield.... seller anxious), but very good body, & less than pretty interior. Just turned 260K - had to replace the original alternator & cat (emission failure) last year. That's it. It's still on the original engine, CLUTCH!, suspension, A/C, tranny, & God knows what else; & I autocross this beast. If it gets me to 300K, I'll treat it to a new un-ripped driver's seat.

Buying tip - Always buy from a private original owner (never a dealer) preferably over 40 years of age, who has all service records. Give yourself a ten percent discount off asking price, & pay cash.

Ron (professional cheapskate).:yes:

 

[e2e4c7c5]

'77 Monte Carlo with a 305 engine. It was a pretty quick car, took a lot of abuse at my hands and kept running. It was great car. I should of kept it!!

I have to give my current S-10 truck/Vortec V-6 some credit too. It's been pretty reliable and is a nice truck that is now approaching 180,000 miles.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

My 89 Honda Accord Hatchback -- LS...? Got totalled at ~180K, and had absolutely no signs of being anywhere near breaking down, would otherwise have been good for at least another 100K. I tried to argue with the adjuster about it, but then it got vandalized while at the shop. Still pisses me off about that, I still wonder if the adjuster didn't have something to do with that.

 

[Yamaha B-2]

'85 M-B 300TD. Over 325K before sold it for $1200.

 

[Kamakiri]

Hm, considering I've had over 90 cars :scratch2: ..................

Probably my current vehicle, my '85 Chevy conversion van. Put work into it, paid $900 for it 3 years ago, smokes like a Diesel locomotive on startup from bad valve seals and gets horrendous mileage, but man, lemme tell ya, the thing can HAUL. And it will do a 1000 mile drive with anything I pull at a moment's notice without hesitation.

How many of you guys remember how loaded down I had it at the Fest?

I had TV broadcast gear, my system, actually 2 systems, a pair of HPM-100's, a big block Ford 352, and luggage inside, and pulled a U-Haul trailer with yet more speakers and a Suzuki GS850 bike.

Not bad for an old 305 and a 3 speed trans, 2.73 gears. Probably makes all of 160 very tired HP. But it's a vehicle that I can never outgrow.....

Just have to get the tranny leak fixed and put on a new choke thermostat in the near future. I've put on about 25K on it. The speedo shows 113K, but the speedo cable was broken for about a year....

 

[jaymanaa]

87 S10 pick-up. Had over 275K when I traded it, and was still going strong.:thmbsp:

 

[Dynacophil]

Hi

The 1960 Mercedes Benz 220b W111 i had to buy 1977, because i had a little accident with it picking up parts as a helper in a garage. It was already 17yrs old with 128.000km on the clock, and it stayed w/o making any problems for 8 years and ~another 100.000km, when the headgasked died on left lane driving 170km/h way back from Italy. never had a car that reliable again. I loved it. I sleeped in on holidays, it was really a friend.

Helge

 

[piece-it pete]

The '84 and '87 Grand Marquis (crown vic, towncar platform). Wonderful, cheap, bulletproof. Never let me down, nothing but routine maint., both over 200k when I sold them running fine.

Not just the most reliable, but the overall best cars I've owned. I've got a '97 now, it does everything better (power, handling, ride, mpg, etc) but it's not a better car. Go figure.

Pete

 

[1 Starr]

Top Three.

A 1977 mid size Plymouth Fury 4 dr. One of the best cars I ever owned, I ran that 318-V-8 to 290.000 miles and never let me down. It always did what I needed it to do. The second was a 1978 Cadillac Coupe De Elegance with a425 V-8, 200,000 miles it too was a born runner, never let me down I finally sold it because it was getting too ruff looking. Nothing worse than a raggady Cadillac. And third Or a tie was a 1973 Cadillac coupe De Ville, Silver and black,what a great running car that one was, non stop. I drove that car everywhere and it too was extreamley reliable. In 2001 I drove it from Mi.to Arizona, a 4600 mile road trip with no problems. I sold it after 7 years and it had about 135,000 miles. The engine purred and it still looked good. The build dates on the best cars I have had were made in Febuary. I bought my Eldorado,made in Febuary 1977, last summer. Coincidence? :scratch2:

 

[pioneer54]

240z

purrrrs like a kitten-runs like a swiss watch!