Buyer Beware: Which Automakers Do You Trust And Who Will You Never Trust Again?

Honestly I will give my money to the company that makes the product that is within my budget and best fits my needs. I won't exclude any brands based upon preconceived notions or bias.

On the basis of my previous experience with certain brands, I'd pick BMW, Lexus, Audi, Porsche (never owned one), Toyota, VW, Honda, KIA (never owned one but based on their brand image and public perception), and Subaru (never owned one but love to take one to join WRC).

These are my trust list.

GM and especially chysler are products i probably wont ever buy in my whole life.

Merc is the only item that's on my Buyer Be Very Aware list.

none! I still trust all the companies I have always trusted.

Audi was on my "buyers beware" list but not anymore. Not because I purchased another Audi that was more reliable than my last Audi (my A4 was a disaster), but because I'd be a fool to base future purchasing decisions on a bad experience that I had 10 years ago. No current new car from any brand should be on a "buyers beware" list.

I once had the same belief of not basing a future purchasing decision on one negative experience. Look what it got me, after 3 purchase decisions and 2 leasing ones. merc is definitely inauspicious to me.

Land Rover, VW and Audi were always on my list...

I never plan on owning a VW, I would like to own an S5, and I currently own a Land Rover.

Who knows what I'll believe 5 years from now? I am keeping an open mind.

I have a MB and in my expirience is the best, Beside that I have an STS, which is a pain in the &*(), but still I love it and one Accord, I had one 5 Series but it was a lemon, but time to time thats will happen to all the brands. My perception is that BMW is good As Audi and Lexus. Relaibility, well my percetion is that the best is Lexus. Honda is soft but also very reliable. BMW in the other side is good for driving but NTSHA tests pinpoint it, almost always, as marginal in crash test were Volvo or MB will have Accetable or the best. Brand is not all but to say that there is no favorites is a lie. Audi is an supreme amchine right now to the point that everybody compare it with the best of the industry, BMW and MB or even Lexus. Priorities will decide what you get. In my case I always think Security, Power, Comfort, Driving. In the case of BMW it will be Driving, Power, Security, Comfort. There was a BMW that I remeber as a Perfect Car at its time: BMW 850CSI. the current BMW trend in designs is one of the main things that I hate from the Brand and the weak happy reving engines. Thanks God the new engines have a lot of torque and HP at very low RPMs, it is a new path for BMW and I think they will success. Lexus won't have too many problems to retain their customers, but they need to build Sport cars from scratch as BMW did with the M3 or MB with C63, and not just to modify current designs.

I will not buy a kia/Hyundia, any car from China, Chrysler, Suzuki, or Mitsubishi.

Hmmm, I thought this would be an Agent00R-type of posting, with an inflammatory subject that just begs a flame war to begin.

I dOn'T Have A PersoNatl1Ty Dis0Rd3r!

I have to say that my trust in Toyota is shaken. It will not be forever, but for now it is certainly a thought that was never there before. They continue to get big press (i.e. runaway Prius) that would've never been news prior to these recent events. There is a long road to hoe here, but that is OK, big companies can rebound over time -- which apparently heals all wounds.

Wow, de-boosted for perspective? Nice. I did not say that I believed the bad press it just keeps rolling. For those who have any idea check out CNN.com and note that Toyota is on the homepage almost daily with more 'grey' area coverage. This is not rocket science and sales prove it -- Toyota quality impression is shaken. How can you de-boost that? Man, fanboys really take this stuff hard -- the biggest will always fall, it is a matter of course.

Steve: This type of war make my day.....ja ...ja is nice to learn from people defending their preferences, thats the way I learned about cool things in every brand.
BMWRU: Sorry for your bad luck. In my case I am willing to buy any BMW if it is nice to me, i.e. any v8tt 5 series or X5M. In my expirience engines with a lot of torque will endure forever thats why I am sure the new BMW engines will last longer, may be they wont be as realible as Lexus, but definitely those engines will last till you change your car.

Chrysler.

Yonder7: Thank you. My 98 M3 and 07 335 (took delivery on Nov 06, the first batch) had been extremely nice to me (oil changes and regular wear and tear items). I am hoping they will last as long as my 93 Camry did (sold in 98, with a total of 255168 miles). Fortunately, I did not have the dreaded accelerator pedal on the Camry, so Toyota and Lexus are still on the top of my list as the most reliable automaker.

I would never trust toyota! My experiences with them have never been excellent. I regard them as a highly overrated car. My experiences with toyota is that they are unreliable (sludge-o-matic V6, transmission failure, premature rust, not starting, oil pressure switch etc.) and with all the recent press on unintended acceleration they are clearly not a safe car. So toyota is definitely off my list!


toyota is highly overrated!

Kpaxx's brain, "highly underdeveloped."

I've owned a two Chevys, a Pontiac, an Audi, two BMW's, a Mercedes, a Honda, an Acura,three Lexuses and just bought a new Toyota Highlander yesterday. Based on my experiences, I'd trust all of them, other than GM.

I trust none of them!!!

Jeep - have owned 4 and love them all
MB - was awesome
BMW - never had an issue (3 of them)
Ford - my first car (1990 Mustang 5.0 convertible) never had a issue
Chrysler - 06 300 C no problems there except a water pump
Mitsubishi - decent car (bought just for kicks and giggles)
HONDA - Hell to the NO.. Had a horrible experience with an '03 Accord and Honda's wonderful dealership network and their "help" line. HELL would have to freeze over before I drop a $ on another Honda, which means HELL no to any Acura in the future as well.
Never owned:
GM product
Nissan
AUDI - (I am closely considering my next vehicle)
Volvo
all the rest
AH yes and Toyota - are you kidding I have never liked a thing they made and that includes you Lexus as well.

In my tropical country, it is "almost" foolish not to buy a japanese car. Mainly because they are more suited to our climate. We've been hounded by multiple issues from melting radio and a/c knobs/switches to cracking rubber strips and mouldings to suspension failure at less than 10,000 kilometers for european cars. I'm not saying european cars are bad. Its an issue of suitability and practicality. We don't have all the time in the world to keep bringing our cars to the dealers for warranty claims, etc. In recent events involving Toyota, I always presumed they were bulletproof in terms of quality. I'll try to avoid buying a Toyota car of the current and next generation. IMO, choices now for a japanese car would be Subaru then Mazda. As for european cars, Volvo gives me the least headaches. Its a good practice to establish a good relationship with your dealer. Cars are never gonna be perfect.

Cars I had problems with BMW too many problems to list on my 330Ci Convertible
I am afraid of Audi's and VW's
I do not like Mercedes accept the AMG models becasue hey are at least hand made.

Cars Family members owned that never had issues
1996 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 with full factory aerokit midnight blue was awesome
2003 Lexus Lx 470 had nothing break but the thing that drops out the spare tire and a peace of plastic on the vent after 170,000 miles.

My Jeep never had any problems or my WRX/beater accept the sun-visor plastic cracked and I had a gass leak when a weld failed on my SPT exhaust.

My Ferrari 365 GTB/4 is a driver and only had minor issues because the motor is run a few times a week...the clutches only last about 10-15,000 miles. A/C always has issues but that is expected on italian cars, belts hoses go awry with age. The engine is easy to work on for a classic italian car though. I also had the frame repainted and sand blasted to get rid of a little rust.