What Matters More, Warranty OR Reputation?

A stronger warranty shows that a company believes in their product and is willing to back it up.

In my mind, there is no ambiguity on this subject. While reputation may even be deserved, it may not necessarily be indicative of the specific car you buy; you are going from the general to the specific. Of the two of those parameters, the single one that is more likely to keep you in possession of an operable vehicle is the warranty.

Reputation has no real ability in and of itself to affect changes once failure has happened and is really a historical indicator that may not necessarily be indicative of reality at the time. Problems will happen. Look at the 2009 JD Power VDS for problems per 100 cars- they are all above 100. Reputation is essentially an assumption about the quality of the vehicle, a warrantee is a guarantee for a certain period of time.

What do you do for a living?

Petroleum Engineer. I do several other things, but that is my "real job".

What was your desire to be a petro engineer? Maybe you should write books or something. I say this becuase unlike myself it looks like yoour comments on autospies to you hours to generate and are very well written. lol

"Look at the 2009 JD Power VDS for problems per 100 cars- they are all above 100."

JPD's VDS surveys are crap. they have never specified what is to be considered "a problem." it could be a check engine lite prone to false alarms, or it could be an engine needing MAJOR work.

LEGITIMATE studies like CR conducts, shows there are 100 problems per 100 cars only after 4 - 7 years for most brands. while the cars with stellar and well deserved reps, honda and toyota, do not get there until 17 years!

so take a 10 year old car. unless it's a toyota or honda, it WILL have had a problem SIGNIFICANT ENUFF to have caused downtime or cost some money to fix. (the CR standard for real problems.) with the big T and big H, only a little more than 1/2 will have had a problem.

Uaw_lax,

I did not really choose petroleum engineering so much as arrived at it piecemeal. Basically, in the end, I became an engineer to make my parents happy. I became a petroleum engineer in specific because, unlike what one might imagine, it is actually a very broad field. Petroleum engineering requires a very good working knowledge of chemistry, physics, mathematics, fluid dynamics, economics and quite a few other fields.

The interesting thing though, is that I really think going to college ringed my intelligence. I’ve become sort of hebetudinous.

I have actually thought about writing a book before; a novel actually.

"What Matters More, Warranty OR Reputation?"

How fun is it to drive.

Warranty. Dont care if it crap. If im covered and the car performs and looks well, Im good. I never keep cars long enough to go off warranty

The inconvenience of losing a vehicle to shop time, plus shlepping to and from, is a RPITA. And this RPITA exists, even if someone else is doling out the shekels to pay for the fixes. My preference is for a vehicle that breaks down infrequently.

Reputation because even with a warranty you still have to consider the inconveniences of breakdowns, being stranded, ETC. Last thing I would want is my wife and kid stranded somewhere in the desert with a dead pos car with a 100,000 mile warranty. Why do you thing Honda and Toyota don't offer this? They have that much confidence in their cars, and despite the 100,000 mile warranty, GM is still suffering. I am certainly not a big Toyota fan other than their old Hilux (Tacomas in the U.S) was indestructible, and MY celica I had in the Air Force gave me 176,000 trouble free miles. I wouldn't buy one because I like nicer vehicles but they are super reliable, and as a mechanic i can say this with years of experience. The most troublesome unreliable cars are easily GM vehicles, especially electrical sstems and the V8 engines, which seem to enjoy throwing rods and having bearing and rod knock. Chrysler products are bad about their transmissions unless they are Mitsubishi based cars like the previous generation sebring/stratus, or the Mercedes Benz 5spd automatic in the 300c/charger/challenger with the v8 engine(all others make due with a dated 4 spd auto).

"Why do you thing Honda and Toyota don't offer this? They have that much confidence in their cars, and despite the 100,000 mile warranty, GM is still suffering. I am certainly not a big Toyota fan other than their old Hilux (Tacomas in the U.S) was indestructible, and MY celica I had in the Air Force gave me 176,000 trouble free miles."


this proves that with a rep like toyota's, you DON'T NEED to offer no stinkin' extra long warranty. i've bought 2 new and 3 used toyotas. i have not had to make ANY warranty claims except on the very first. and they were for just small parts that cost less than $5 and $20 each-- 38 years ago!

as far as i'm concerned, toyota could offer just a 6 month warranty, and i'd STILL prefer to buy one over another brand that offers a 10 yr/100k warranty. i currently own 2 toys, both bought used. the warranties ran out 4 and 12 years ago. to date neither has required even a DIME for repairs.

the flip side, last new car i bot was a 2000 focus. i had to make MULTIPLE warranty claims. even when it didn't cost $$$, there was STILL costs to me in time and inconvenience.

good reputations do not JUST drop out of the sky. they are EARNED. over many years, and even DECADES.

I think you should read the recent news and see who is realy suffering.

Let me give you a clue..... they have put out thier largest incentives to buy a car ever this year!

that's only in response to all the overblown HYSTERIA.

and their incentives are still LESS than nearly all other companies in absolute terms.

For me reputation.
For example:
Mercedes 120 years history vs Lexus 30 years
Ford 110 years history and almost 350 000 000 sold cars vs Hyundai with 5 and KIA with 7 years warranty

GM has been around a long time but you see how their quality went to the crapper in the 90's. Thats not a good guide to go by there buddy

yep. you ALWAYS gotta ask, "what have you done for me LATELY?"

gm is the perfect example of shoddy quality DESPITE a century's worth of history. even Benz, at one point had ZERO recommended models by CR due to high rate of problems.

Rep.

Who wants a POS even if it comes with a decent warranty?

Reputation won't get my car fixed if it broke down.

Reputation killed 50 Americans thiss year.

Proof

1. The obiituary

2. Toyotas internal documents that where hidden in a descion to go after profits before Americans saftey.

4. And this link about a Toyota exec telling his handlers in Japan they need to come clean and stop selling blood cars.


http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/toyota-exec-clean-stop-hiding-gas-pedal-problem/story?id=10326118

A good reputation is helping Toyota weather this mess. Warranties pushed Hyundai and Kia to the mainstream. GM and Chrysler could use a little of both.

Reputation. All my cars are modded to some degree which voids the warranty.

I will say Reputation for me.

Rep

009 - this is a great topic and the response is very interesting. I catch myself agreeing with the various positions above. Unfortunately for me, I don't have a definitive position yet. Look forward to seeing more responses.

The choice often depends on from which perspective one comes:

Practicality = Warranty

Passion = Reputation

The key is to find a vehicle that feeds both needs...

modifications matter more

What we need the most is warrant.
Reputation is a deferent story.

Okay So Toyota has a big problem, with its reputation It was bound to happen sooner or later. No-one is perfect, and Toyotas problem pales in comparison to the countless issues just as severe from Domestic makes, I would get carpal tunnel typing half of them. Ford, hmmm Ignition switches for millions and millions of cars from the 80's up to early 2000's, GM.... Where do I start with them, exploding air bags because some of them had double the explosive, while others had no explosive, making them not deploy at all, gas tanks in earlier GM pickups, The list goes on. As a mechanic I see more GM vehicles for the same things over and over, electrical problems, rod bearing knock, thrown rods, cracking plastic intakes, bad coolant temp sensors, bad knock sensors on pickups and a pain in the a$$ to replace at that. Have you also noticed this plagues only the Toyotas made in America. Proof that even the best designs are nothing if you have incopmpetent workers who don't care and have no sense of pride in their job, product or reputation. Japaese have a much stronger sense of pride and work ethic, and their dedication to their cars is stronger than ours. We are too busy going on strike because $25/hr is not enough money to sit there and watch a plastic panel go by on a conveyor and make sure it isn't defective.

OKMvGm has had far less problems than toyotas rusty trucks and bad motors all the way up to the killer cars they are making today. Also the fact they hid the problems to keep the profits rolling in while leting people die really puts Toyota rep in the same class as Suzuki.

Do your research, GM is far more troublesome than Toyota. I am no Toyota fan but If you look at the trouble history of domestic cars and then compare them to toyotas history Toyota will not look near as bad, even with the issue it is facing today.

there are specific REASONS why gm and chrysler (and ford until recent vast improvements) have had so many more problems than toyota and honda.

the old D3 culture, was to solicit bids for suppliers of all the components that were not built in house. and INVARIABLY, the low bidder would get the contract.

while japanese companies also solicited bids, they considered FAR MORE than just price. there were specific performance and durability standards, and LONG-TERM relationships were established with quality suppliers.

end result: the D3 cars, aside from inhouse parts, were BUILT WITH THE CHEAPEST PARTS obtainable! hence, the INEVITABLE failures within 4 to 5 years, part by part. until repairs made it more economical to just get a new car and start afresh. this also explains why toyotas and hondas CAN GET TO 17 years before there's 100 problems/100 cars.

then there is the quality of assembly, another whole story.

second and lower tier japanese cars btw, have lower standards than toyota and honda, which are the worldwide BENCHMARKS for quality and durability.

often, one will find that "a toyota household" will have more than one toyota. because one can expect toyotas to FAR OUTLAST the car payment books, people who intend to "own a car until the wheels fall off" soon find their toyotas MORE THAN PAY FOR THEMSELVES.

by the time they get around to THINKING of a new car (anywhere from 7 to 20 years after purchase), the trade-in values are so low, they just KEEP the old bus. or pass it on to a relative or friend, if they have no need for two cars.

among two and three car families, if they have ONE toyota, there's often a second as well. you will see PROOF of this in many neighborhoods. the same applies in Honda households.

oh yeah, and among these people, IT IS REPUTATION that drives decisions. along with personal EXPERIENCES.

i myself own two toyotas, despite being the only driver in the house.

so does my neighbor across the street.

i put most of my miles on the newer one, which is more fuel efficient. he does the reverse, preserving the newer truck. for perpetuity, i presume.