Is Your Car On This List? 10 Of The Most Unreliable Cars From Reliable Makers

There are some cars you buy, expecting a certain degree of mechanical fallibility. In some cars, it’s part of the character of owning one.  In others, it’s an inherent design issue that’s well known and you learn to work around it.  No one really buys an old Alfa Romeo expecting it’ll never have wiring issues.  People with a Citroen SM-Maserati didn’t purchase it for it’s Swiss Watch durability.  Only the truly misinformed expect an old RX-7 to spend more time on the road than making the lawn look pretty.

But some vehicles have an absolutely baffling reputation for reliability in the face of considerable evidence.  These are cars that people buy because their reputation leads them to believe they’ll enjoy a few years of trouble-free motoring, and it’s an unpleasant surprise when their wallet bleeds itself dry keeping them on the road.  Here are a few to keep an eye out for that you might not have been aware of.


 

SEMA Auto Show Preview Photo Gallery

2011 Chevrolet Volt Photo Gallery

2012 Saab 9-4X Photo Gallery

2011 Shelby GT500 Photo Gallery

2011 BMW X3 Photo Gallery

mpwr - 11/1/2010 3:21:08 PM

+4 Boost

Good article, thanks. Interesting that on more than one occasion big problems happen when you make large changes in engine design, ie the first water cooled Porsche and the first BMW turbo in many years were both rubbish.

mpwr - 11/1/2010 3:26:49 PM

+1 Boost

Yes i know its stating the obvious but my point is that even companies that like to taught there design and engineering still have a learning curve when implementing changes

thstone - 11/1/2010 7:17:43 PM

+1 Boost

And now that we know from history that large changes in design often result in significant problems, especially when it comes to powertrains, who wants an brand spanking new Leaf or Volt?

truckman - 11/1/2010 7:31:39 PM

+2 Boost

An unusually accurate/truthful article, we need more material like this to keep the companies producing quality, I believe there has been a lot of cover ups from all companies.

tango - 11/1/2010 10:02:55 PM

-2 Boost

My comments:

N54: The press hyped this engine into oblivion. When since is 300hp a "ton of power" for any engine, let alone a 3.0L that is twin turbocharged? Every turbocharged engine over 2.0L should have 300hp, period.

Honda V6 automatics: Not exactly true. This affects ALL Honda automatics, 4 and 6 cylinders. I have 6 coworkers with Honda Accords and 4 of them have had transmission failures. None are V6 models.

But question. Why is it that the author is so "surprised" that any of these cars are on the list? Am I the only one that realises that German cars dominated the list? I was more surprised that the SVX made it to the list because its transmission issues are a well-known fact.