I only am reporting what Consumer Reports showed on their annual readers/subscribers survey.
Which if you are not aware they send a yearly questionaire to their subscribers which is a huge amount. When I was a subscriber twenty years ago it was over 600K.
People fill out the the questions and then mail it back.
So, they get a pretty big sample of people across all income levels. They also do not take advertising so they do not have bias like Car & Driver, Road & Track, JD Power, etc.
I have found their annual auto review of used cars to be very accurate when it comes to problems areas for all automobiles. For example, Toyota Tacomas generally are very reliable. However, in 2016-2018 they had issues when they changed the automatic transmission. This specific problem shows up in their survey.
Nissan used to be better. They are in financial trouble right now. I believe there was a merger being discussed recently.
At one point the Nissan V6 engine was the best in the world.
The engine you could put 250K miles on easily.
At this point most of the European cars are very problematic except Porsche and BMW. However, they are still very expensive to repair/maintain. Generally, most of the European cars are way too complicated. Which makes them very expensive when you have a problem.
Even Lexus are not as good as they once were.
They are still generally better than anything else. But the Lexus cars from twenty years ago are bullet proof.
FYI, I have been trying to find a low mileage Lexus IS350C. Which is a hard top convertible with a naturally aspirated V6. They made them from 2010-2015 to compete with the BMW 335I and Infinity G35 hard top convertibles.
Lexus did not make a lot of these cars. Many were bought as a second car. A summer car. So, they are around with less than 50K miles. Except, they are mostly down south. Not up here in New England. Even today they are still in the $24-28K range with lower mileage. They were a $50K car when they came out.
Yes, I have heard of the Consumer Report, though I have not read it in a long time.
But what astounded me most is that quality problems seem to have struck the majority of manufacturers over the years. Maybe they have to spend too much on electronics nowadays, at the expense of good and well-handicrafted materials?
I have no clue 🙁 Lamborghini, however, seems to be the one to buck the trend, as their cars are supposed to be of very good quality nowadays. But not many can afford one, unfortunately…
Oh yes, and I forgot to wish you all the best for finding your dream car - a really fine IS 350 C, with an appealing color scheme and, not to forget, in very good mechanical condition 🙂👍🏻
Older cars which have been neglected mechanically can turn into horrible moneypits, after all, and my wish is that you shall find one in really fine fettle, even if its buying price may be somewhat higher than that of a less cared-for example.
What you invest more while buying, often saves you twice the amount later.