Real brand ratings

[vikesfankevin1986]

Hey everyone...I need an opinion that's not from someone being paid or that isn't bias. Everyone is always arguing about what cars are good and what cars are not. My wife and I currently own a 95 300ZX TT and a 2006 Saturn Ion. In the near future we will be looking for 1, maybe 2 other cars(1 to replace the Ion.) In the future we want a truck. We just found out last week that we are having our first baby, so we want a car that will good for a baby.
The Z will not be sold and I am getting a 93 Ford Tempo from my parents as a daily driver. A lot of things recently have my head spinning about what car to buy. I have had my heart set on a 2003 Nissan Altima but my wife likes a Nissan Rogue but with recent car issues I am totally lost.
Her Ion is a 2006. It has 47,000 miles on it and we have owned it for around 6 months. Since we have had it, it has had a number of problems...
Door latch broke, the sensor to sence the door is close broke and just spent 300 bucks on replacing something to do with the starter. No motor problems with the car but it seems like a pile of s***.
The car she drove before that was my Mitsubishi Eclipse RS. It seem cheaply made and needed a new head gasket at around 60,000 miles. The breaks and rotors were replaced 3 times in between then and 110,000 miles. At that time the transmisson seemed to be going. Unluckily or luckily she totaled it.
My Nissan sports car makes both of these look like a POS. I have had the car for a couple of years and it has 127,000 miles on it. So far the only issue I have had is a clutch (not suprising since its a sports car and is driven hard) and a bad radiator cap/thermostat.

I personally don't like America made cars but the tempo I am getting has 110,000 miles and has been driven into the ground and never had an issue other than new mufflers. My dad has a 94 Ford Crown Victoria and it never had an issue until around 120,000 miles and then he had to drop a few grand into it. From my family's experience Ford has been real solid. My wife on the other hand says her family has always had major issues with them.

The guy that does the work on my car is bias towards American cars and swears by GM. He does have a lot more respect for my car after working on it and driving it but here are his opinions...GM is the best car you can buy. Nissan is garbage, Ford is garbage, Saturns are 100,000 mile cars, all imports sucks.

From what I understand is American companies team up with imports...Mitsubishi/Dodge, Ford/Mazda, ect. I have heard that the only reason Ford is afloat is because of Mazda. I have also heard trucks is a whole nother story.

I have always heard good things about Honda and never really anything bad about Nissan/subaru/mazda. I hear Toyota relies more on reputation than actual quality.

So wtf is true? What brand should I be looking at? If American cars are so great, why did they almost cease to exist? At this point I have no idea what to look for as far as a daily driver, SUV or truck. What are your guy's personal experiences or insights on this? I don't trust TV or magazines and everyone seems to have a different opinion. I understand all cars have problems but is there anything that can make 100,000 miles without major repairs if maintained properly?

I hope this turns out to be a huge thread...
Thanks for the help guys!

[krimsonviper]

I'd actually say that Ford has gotten seriously reliable. A report I've read here on the forums and most likely outdated by now, actually said it's pushed Toyota out of it's spot. I wouldn't toss Ford out of the equation.

Every brand has it's problems, and I'm no longer apart of the Nissan brand, but my Mazda3(my second one, my first being rear ended) has not given me any problems. If you're looking at a brand new car, or any car from 2004 - current, I wouldn't have any other car that's a small 4 door econobox. Based on looks and performance, spacious room, safety, and name brand I would go with a 3.

For opinions on larger or different class of cars I can't tell you much, if at all. Hope this helps.

[vikesfankevin1986]

Oh and I also should note that the Ion gets around 30mpg hw. My 97 Eclipse with intake, headers and full exhaust got 37 mpg. My wife drives 40 minutes to work and she says she misses the Eclipse. That's the only thing she liked about it though...I think the mods were the reason for the good gas milage.

[nissangirl74]

If you are looking for a truck that is compatible with having a family, a crew cab Frontier would be a great choice. Me, Greg, and three of the four kids take it to CA every six months or so. I have never had a problem out of it and it just turned over 63K. 40K since I bought it. Seriously, all I have had to replace was brake pads (shortly after I bought it), wiper blades, tires, and a battery. My mileage stays around 18. (4x4, 6MT, 20x10 wheels)
The Rogue is a great vehicle and is newly designed for 2011. I know a couple of people who own one and wouldn't take anything else in the world for them. Mileage starts out around 22.

I have owned several American cars but none of them have been the most reliable. Ford Contour, Dodge Stratus, Mercury Marquis. The best was an 02 Taurus but if I had it to do over, I wouldn't have bought it again. My favorites have always been my Nissans/Datsuns.

[MinisterofDOOM]

The guy that does the work on my car is bias towards American cars and swears by GM. He does have a lot more respect for my car after working on it and driving it but here are his opinions...GM is the best car you can buy. Nissan is garbage, Ford is garbage, Saturns are 100,000 mile cars, all imports sucks.

From what I understand is American companies team up with imports...Mitsubishi/Dodge, Ford/Mazda, ect. I have heard that the only reason Ford is afloat is because of Mazda. I have also heard trucks is a whole nother story.

Actually, Ford sold most of its stake in Mazda back in 2008, now owning only about 13% of Mazda. They no longer have a controlling interest in Mazda.
Mitsubishi and Dodge no longer have much to do with each other, either.

Ford stands on their own and is doing quite well. They actually make quality products. Unfortunately their profitability strategy has meant blandifying a lot of the lineup in order to maximize mass-market appeal. But the quality isn't lacking.

Saturn is dead. For the last couple years they actually sold rebadged euro imports.

And yes, trucks are a big part of the reason all 3 big American brands are successful. F150 is very important to Ford, so much so that when it dropped off the #1 best selling vehicle spot for North America, Ford went back to the drawing board with a minor redesign to see how they could get that lost interest back.
Silverado's just as important to Chevy (and if you combine Sil and Sierra sales the truck actually knocks F150 out of the top seller spot for many years).
Ram is especially critical to dodge because it's really the only thing Chrysler has to offer that doesn't suck. Chrysler actually spun Ram off as its own brand, which seems extremely stupid to me. But that's the kind of importance they place on it. If you watch Ram commercials, you'll notice no one ever says Dodge anymore. It's "Ram Truck" now.

I'm a repeat Nissan owner, and a Nissan enthusiast, but if I were buying brand new right now Nissan wouldn't be on my list. Infiniti would, for the M56, but no Nissan. There are plenty of slightly- and very-used Nissan models I'd love to own, though.

What brand should I be looking at? If American cars are so great, why did they almost cease to exist?

You have to understand reality lies "somewhere in the middle." I have an uncle who is such an American-car elitist it annoys even me (who loves GM, drives a Ford, and has owned two other American cars in the past). He avoids genuinely good cars simply because they aren't American and buys mediocre cars simply because they ARE American. Foolish. Then there's the import-phile who thinks anything American is garbage because their friend had a Corsica that was crap. Reality is in the middle.

And there's no such thing as "American" or "Japanese" anymore anyway. Altimas are built in America by a French-owned Japanese company. The Pontiac G8 was built in Australia. The Saturn Astra is a German-built Opel. The Buick Regal is another German-built Opel. The Accord and Mazda 6 are both designed SPECIFICALLY for North American buyers and are built right here in the US (the US Accord has nothing in common with cars called "Accord" in other nations).

You have to look beyond that kind of stuff. Don't look at cars by brand or nationality. Look at cars as individual models. I'd own a Malibu but not an Impala. I'd drive a Fusion but not a Focus. I'd drive a 370z but never a Sentra. It's all down to what you need from the CAR.

[vikesfankevin1986]

Wow that was a lot of good info but it also made things even more confusing.
I have always been a fan of Ram Truck and strongly prefer the Ford F150 over the other American brands. The problem is, my in-laws own a Ford F250 and after it they said they will never buy another Ford. The gas miliage blows on it too. The GOV we have in our unit is the Ford F350 Turbo Diesel and that thing is fun. That truck has some serious ball and yes it will go over 100 mphs.
I haven't looked into "Import" trucks and I would still love an altima if the quality is there...

[ScrapMetal]

I work for Hertz Rent A Car and I've basically driven the base model version of almost every new car out right now. I guess I'll give my opinions on some mid size sedans and trucks because I think that's what you're most likely gonna end up buying. Here's a quick overview, and I mean quick...

Mitsubishi Galant: The car's not bad but out of all the sedans listed it's the worst. The engine(I've only driven the 4 cylinder of each model) is the least powerful and most noisiest and the car feels super heavy because of the anemic engine, or maybe it's that the car is super heavy. The interior quality is alright and the ride and handling is alright but the car is just overall boring.

Honda Accord: The car is powerful and the stock engine sounds pretty sweet...but at least for me, I don't like the exterior design. The interior design isn't much better, has a weird shaped dashboard and the center console also looks weird. They tried too hard to make the dash look like the Civic's(which is sweet BTW) but the Accord's is just a mess of angles and weird shapes. The seats are very comfortable and the ride is smooth, not as smooth as the Galant's. The Accord has a slightly more stiffer suspension...slightly.

Nissan Altima: Let me tell you something, I hate push button start and because of this the Altima annoys the hell out of me. I like the exterior design and the interior is also nice, nice but nothing out of this world. The base engine seems just as powerful as the Galant's but it's not as noisy as the Galant's. Still not as smooth as the 4 banger in the Accord, that engine is a work of art. One thing I can't stand...I mean I hate this thing with a passion is the stupid CVT transmission. I would really enjoy the Altima a lot more if it had a regular automatic or maybe a stick

Mazda 6: I LOVE THE MAZDA 6, but...it wouldn't be the car I'd end up buying(If I had kids, which wouldn't happen because I don't really like kids nor want them). The stock 4 cylinder is very powerful, not as smooth as the Accord's but better than the Altima and Galant by miles. My favorite thing about this car is the ride, the suspension is the stiffest but not to the point where it's an uncomfortable car...it just feels very performance oriented(for a mid size sedan of course). All that BS you hear on Mazda commercials about sportiness and Zoom Zoom, well I guess it's true because this car feels the sportiest out of all of them. The interior is very comfortable, well at least just as comfortable as the others, well aside from the Altima, which I think has the most comfiest front seats(I left that out sorry)

Chevrolet Malibu: The only thing I like about this car are the exterior, the interior looks...well...funky. The interior has a mix of weird two tone colors and weird feeling materials(the dash feels like it's made of foam?)...I don't like it. The front seats are the most uncomfortable out of all of them and the car drives basically just like a Chevy Cobalt...it's bad. This car is based on a German Opel/Vauxhall and I expected a much better performance oriented ride like the Mazda's but was seriously disappointed...

Ford Fusion: If I had a wife and kids and had to live with a mid size sedan for the rest of my boring life it would definitely be the Ford Fusion. I can't really find anything bad to say about this car, the ride is somewhat like the Mazda's but a bit more smooth. The engine has good power and doesn't sound like a small tractor's engine. The interior is very comfortable and looks very nice, as with the exterior which to me looks great. Driving this car gives me the same feeling as when I'm wearing a nice suit that I got at good deal at the Men's Wearhouse...it's a good feeling.

Toyota Camry: This car does everything you ask it to do and does it very well. I would go as far as to say it is the best mid size sedan out of all of them, but...it is very boring and will steal your soul like Shang Tsung in the Mortal Kombat video games.

Conclusion: Go test drive a Ford Fusion and feel like James Bond in a cheap suit...it's that good.

I'm gonna go have lunch and I'll be back later to do the trucks

BTW, today is my day off...so it's not like I'm writing these reviews while on company time(just in case there are any of Hertz's many spies lurking the NICO forums)

[crazspence]

vikes, could you please tell us what youre looking for in your future car? from what i read in your first post, it seems like you and your wife are looking for a DD that does well on gas. but what is the price range that you are looking to spend? are you looking for a new (2010/2011) car loo or are youking for a preowned car thats fairly new? (2005+) or even something older? all of us could just throw good cars at you but if the price doesnt fit you, its not going to matter anyways.

and to answer your question about car quality and such. like ministerofdoom said, no certain car is made in their respective home country anymore. especially for the US market. as much of a nissan/toyota enthusiast i am, every car company has their "good batch" and their "bad batch" of cars. there are certain cars of each car company that you just dont want.

remember no matter which car you gets, just know that maintenance is everything. every car will be reliable if and only if you make it reliable. the reason every company gets bad reputation for unreliability is because the owners have to be told that their cars need fixing instead of doing maintenance to prevent it. im only 19 but even ive seen the change in the auto industry. when i was little and saw the commercials, none of the auto makers had to explicitly advertise warranty. why? because back then (the 90s, ahh the good old years), america had the common sense to know that you need to maintain your vehicle. now a days, the warranty takes up half the commercial to put out the message that "(insert car company name here) will tell you when your car needs fixing up every X miles. companies have had to extend their warranties more and more (im not saying this is bad) just so that their reputation stays up. bottomline: ALL THINGS BREAK, you just need to take care of it to make it last longer. and in the auto sense, a little maintenance goes a LONG way.

and now some of you might argue "what if i dont know how to do maintenance". my answer? LEARN! even an 8 year old can do this kinda stuff (yes i was 8 when i learned how to do an oil change). people these days make it as if maintaining a vehicle is the hardest damn thing there is to do (especially my people, asians). all you need to know is the basics and it doesnt take that long to learn. i say if you know how to change/maintain your fluids and your brakes, you're good to go. but most people dont even take the time to learn that. i understand that certain things are unexpected and s*** happens. thats what the warranty is for. but if id have to say, most people f*** up their cars when it could have been prevented with just the basic maintenance.

i may have gone off on a tangent to talk about reliability and such but keep up updated on what youre looking for. the more information you give us. the more were able to help.

[Rev_D21]

Seriously, how much car can 1 baby really need? I see people dumping perfectly good 4 door cars for Hummers at the first sign a baby might be on the way. I was raised in the back seat of a Datsun 610 and I turned out semi-alright.

[Bubba1]

I was raised in the back seat of a Datsun 610 and I turned out semi-alright.

Ahhh, so that explains it! j/k

[Speedy7_7]

I got a Nissan Versa when we had our first baby. It works great. It is the plainest car I have ever driven, it doesn't have any character, the hubcaps fly off when you sneeze, it doesn't have cruise control, the plastic feels cheap, the seats are uncomfortable on long trips/short trips. Yet I love it, it is awesomely reliable, it is purely functional with no frills. We bought it brand new in 2008, for less than 10k and it has a cd player and AC. It was cheap and it works great, thats all we needed. I still like it more than every american car I have driven from the last 30 years, excluding the corvette.

[vikesfankevin1986]

Well my Z will be a weekend summer driver so I want a daily driver. I agree that you do not need to get an SUV for a baby. If it has back seats, it will do. My wife wants me to get a sedan but in the end I'm the one driving it. I drive to school on some days and it's a 40 minute drive so I want something that gets solid gas miliage. At the same time I want something with some balls. I can't drive that stupid Ion for distance because I fall asleep. 50mph feels like 80mph. For the last couple years I have been thinking about a 2003 Altima V6 (mostly because of the money.) It offers good power. Now though I am thinking something a little newer. I really want something under 20,000.
Honestly after watching and reading some stuff last night I am kind of in love with the 2011 V6 Mustang. I must admit that for years all I have done is talk s*** about V6 Mustangs. I think they are the dumbest car out there right now because they are a chicks mustang or a wannabe mustang but tell you what, if they are reliable I think they are a steal. 22,000 brand new, 31mpg hwy and performance that rivals the 2010 GT. What more could you ask for? Nothing would piss my friend off more than if a V6 Mustang with intake, exhaust and a tune could keep up with his 2010 GT that has smiliar upgrades.

My wife is more open. She is your typical girl that just wants a nice cute car. She also drives 40 minutes to work every day so gas is an issue. 6 months ago she got an 06 Ion and after dumping 300 bucks into it yesterday we both think another car is the best option. I know she wants a sedan or SUV. She likes the Murano and the Rogue. For a Murano in our price range I don't think I would trust the CVT transmission.

In the future we want a camper and we would need a truck to pull it, but the fact that we don't have one yet and we both need good gas miliage a truck probably isn't right for us right now. And when it comes down to it, we can use her parents truck.

When I say reliable I am talking about things that regular matinance can't prevent. Yes if someone doesn't know the basics of taking car of their car its their own problem. I am talking about stuff like s*** transmissions or s*** head gaskets. Or for example her Ion has a broken door latch and we just spend 300 bucks on a f*** lock cylinder and some other crap (and funny enough the person right after us had the exact same problem.) Her car has 47,000 miles. It should not be falling apart already.

Also we live in Minnesota, so we get a lot of snow. She needs FWD or would like AWD. I really don't give a crap if its FWD or RWD. I'm a good driver and after driving the Z for a winter, I think I can drive anything. I know I didn't want to drive the Z in the snow but my wife totaled my Eclipse and the year before she totaled my civic...and the year before that she totaled her Grand Marquis...

I guess we are looking for something 2005/6+ that won't cost thousands if maintained properly.

Finally I know (for the most part) that there are no such thing as "imports" anymore. Its more the American car lovers that don't understand it. I don't get American car guys. They are f*** Idiots...When I watch pass time I see an American car come up and I know what kind of motor they are talking about but then an import comes up and they start scrambling. There was one with a Datsun truck with a skyline motor. The 3 guys were like so thats a 4 cylinder right? He said it has a turbo and other stupid questions. The only thing those guys rely on is hp to weight. They are always suprised when an import goes really fast or when a FWD car screws up the launch...Take a f*** class or something. This isn't hard stuff...

[crazspence]

from your last post, i would probably recommend a subaru legacy/outback if you dont mind the 17/23 fuel economy. others you might wanna take a look at is a Ford FusionV6 AWD. im thinking, better to pay a bit more for a car thats suited for the snow rather than spending less and totaling them later.

i took initiative to do a KBB quote for a 2007 Fusion V6 AWD around my area (socal, so a bit more pricy) and it came out to be ~15k for what KBB deems an "excellent" condition car at 20k miles. as much as i bash fords, this fusion might be whats best suited for that cold weather up there.

A 07 subaru legacy GT spec.B with the same search specifications for the fusion came out to be ~25k. on the other hand, the 2.5i legacy sedan is only about ~15k, rivaling the fusion. but the thing with a subaru is that you get true AWD.

[krimsonviper]

Jeez, sounds like you need to restart your wife's driving career and give her a set of Big Wheels. Give her a sack full of energizer batteries so she can keep going, and going, and going, and going, and...

[vikesfankevin1986]

Jeez, sounds like you need to restart your wife's driving career and give her a set of Big Wheels. Give her a sack full of energizer batteries so she can keep going, and going, and going, and going, and...

You know I always give her crap and tell her it's true that men are better drivers than women but honestly she is just really unlucky.
In her first accident she hit black ice and hit the guard rail...I don't know, kind of her fault.
Second accident-an elderly man turned infront of her at a stoplight. She said her light was green and he said his arrow was green. A few seconds after the accident a fire truck went through the intersection. I know emergency vehicles turn the light green, so its possible there was a malfunction and they both had a green light...
Third accident-It was one of the first snows of the year and she was doing about 5 under (50mph) going through a stoplight but there was a women on the other side in the turning lane and the b**** didn't know how to stop in the snow or something and slid out infront of my wifes car. This was a pretty bad accident. She called me and could barely talk. When I got there, they were taking her out on a stretcher. Come to find out a month or so later she had a broken back and bludging disc. The air bag didn't even go off...go figure, I mean it was a Mitsubishi Eclipse...

It seems more like bad luck but how much bad luck can you have before you are the problem? I drive a sports car and have never been in an accident...never even been pulled over.
But yea, she freaks out every time I get on my car.

[Bubba1]

Well, if you're looking for impartial comparisons, I have two words.... Consumer Reports. NICO has a few vocal CR haters, but CR is a non-profit testing organization, that accepts no advertising. I don't always agree with their recommendations but I find their information helpful. They also have a very good annual owner reliability survey on every make/model/model year going back several years. The data comes from detailed questionnaires sent out to their millions of subscribers.