1999 127,000 miles and still going strong.
Posted on 11/09/2006 1:20:48 PM PST by eraser2005
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Ford Fusion midsized car and its Mercury Milan sibling scored big in Consumer Reports' annual new car reliability survey, just beating out the industry's quality standard-bearers, the Honda Accord V6 and Toyota Camry V6.
But, overall, Japanese brands are still the ones to beat. Of the 47 vehicles with the highest predicted reliability, 39 are Japanese. Of those, all but seven are made by Toyota or Honda.
American cars are continuing to improve in reliability, however, according to Consumer Reports' surveys.
The "predicted reliability" rankings appear in the 2007 New Car Preview issue of Consumer Reports magazine.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
That's common on all cars these days - there's only a few companies that make those window regulator assemblies now, and most of them are crappy plastic unless the customer specifies otherwise.
I had an '85 toyota 4wd pickup. I really beat the frigging snot out of it, bad, but changed the oil religiously. I put close to 200,000 on it, blew the engine and still managed to sell it for over $1000 8 years after I bought it.
The only repairs were a head gasket and bodywork, all of which I did myself. (of course brakes, shocks, and tires, etc got replaced)
mine had the slant 6 and 80 pounds of Bondo.
With the 225ci 6 cylinder engine, it was pretty fuel efficient, too.
Surprisingly . . . he gave the Toyota Camry high marks for its reliability but abysmal marks for its "maintainability."
I was also surprised to hear how highly he thought of Hyundai cars for the latter.
Oh, by the way, the Fusion is NOT made in the USA by the UAW, which explains why it's actually got decent build quality.
The Fusion (and its corporate twins, the Milan and MKZ) are made in Ford's Hermosillo Stamping & Assembly plant in Hermosillo, Mexico.
It's also not on a domestically-designed Ford platform, but on a modified version of the *Mazda* CD3 platform. The four cylinder base engine is a *Mazda* engine.
So much for it being an "American" car.
1999 127,000 miles and still going strong.
When Lexus and Acura are at the top of the list and MB, Cadillac, BMW, etc are at the bottom, your argument doesn't hold water. Their relative rankings are meaningful- Lexus and Acura owners are no less demanding than the other luxury brands. That Lexus and Acura can turn out such excellent reliability while including the latest luxury gizmos is an excellent testimony to those brands and their parent companies (Toyota and Honda).
Near the top for me.
Blue Oval ping!
The Camry's engine bay is an exercise in minimalist packaging - until the new ones, which now have more room as mandated by EU regs (they have to have a higher hoodline now). The engine bay is tightly wrapped around the engine.
Hyundai tends to optimize their body a lot less in the engine bay; you can usually get to everything with room to spare.
I'd have to agree about the maintainability of the Camry. Its a royal P.I.T.A. to reach some of the parts and get them out. :)
It really sucks...having to open the door at drivethroughs, tollbooths, etc.
Best-selling vehicle in America . . . 28 straight years!
:-)
Of course, the Mercury Mariner was on the most reliable list last year, and it is made in the US by UAW workers.
But you make good points about the base design - however, keep in mind that much of the Mazda tech was actually Ford-developed. That 2.3L carries quite a bit of Ford technology on it....
Yawn. 1987, 230K, still going strong. Your point?
Dart GTs were found with 360s in them.
That's because the F-150 is the cheapest fullsize truck you can buy and has been for 28 years. :-P
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