Why Are Some Cars Reliable? And Some Are Not. Some Fun and Some Are Not?
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- Do you ever wonder why some cars are reliable and some are not? Some cars are fun and some are not? Some cars have a lot of technology and some don't?
In this video we break down car manufacturer visions into 4 categories for you to know why things are the way they are with cars.
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0:00 Intro
1:04 Longer Term Cars at a Cost
5:12 Exciting and Innovative at a Cost
8:19 Mid-Grade at a Cost
11:03 Cost Over Everything Except Function
13:21 Conclusion - Auta a dopravní prostředky
25 years working for a domestic manufacturer. A big difference is company culture. At my company everyone was in training to become CEO. If you stayed in the same job for more than 2 years you were a loser. In contrast, at Toyota an engineer might do the same job for their entire career, but they were damn good at it. They knew every past issue with their part and every model has the same part or a slightly modified version of that same design. At my company every model had a fresh part design even for a mundane part, with the associated learning curve (warranty costs).
At Toyota the program manager is the same from one generation to the next. At my company a program manager might do pick up trucks one cycle and move to a sports car the next. So, consistency of vision was constantly shifting. In short, company culture plays a big part.
Spot on
Well said
Proficiency is more important than self promotion.
What was your company?
Did you even watch the video?
As the GM chairman once said, we are not in the business of making cars, we are in the business of making money. That works in the short term…
Nailed it.
Japan's secret to quality is the fact that the government forces them to make good cars so they remain competitive in exports. A makret not entirely free, but nowhere near socialism either.
Works in the long term too when the government keeps bailing you out.
@@undisputedn00b yeah, they have a life support hotline 😂
Apparently toyota is heading that way, just a humble opinion
My favorite are the people that buy a Toyota or Lexus, put less than 80,000 miles on it, then decide they want the latest and greatest, or are worried about the reliability of their "high mileage" car that is out of warrenty, and sell it to me cheap. To them I say, thank you for breaking in the engine and taking the 2/3rds depreciation hit for me. 😆
I'm in the wrong business. LOL!
You mean warranty
Same i love them. 2014 Tundra 1794 trim. Like brand new. 54k miles when I bought it. Just 74k miles now. I work close to home. 😅😅😅
Those cars aren’t “cheap” anymore since Covid lmao
the type of person who thinks 80k is high mileage for a toyota or lexus is also probably the type of person who takes such shit care of their car that 80k actually IS high mileage on THEIR toyota or lexus
79 y/o female here. Bought a friends 2004 Toyota Camry in 2019 when she passed. It had 75,000 miles and cost me $2500.00. Put on new tires, had oil and transmission fluid changed and only major done was water pump which is weak part of car. I absolutely love it. I also have a young local mechanic who had no problem when I brought dealer part for replacement. Dealer parts said new water pump had been completely redesigned and will probably outlive me. I drive short stop and go and have my oil changed every 6 months. Dealer emails me about every 4 months to get me to sell my car to them so they can resell for 2 to 3 times what they paid. I pray that when I go that someone will total my car when I'm in it so I don't have to go out and pay what they want for used cars now and which I can't afford! lol
When my mother passed away last year we sold her 2006 Camry. All it needed was front tires. They were 10 years old and dry rotting.
Ford owners, GM owners, Kia owners, BMW owners, Mercedes owners Hyundai owners also have similar experiences. Don’t understand where the myth of Toyota being so reliable come from.
@@tomdurkins My mother had 3 Camrys. My sister had two Camrys. My other sister had 1 Camry. None of those cars gave any of them any problems! My nephew has a Camry he doesn't take care of. It looks like crap but still keeps going. The youngest of those cars is a 2017 so maybe things have changed with Toyota since then.
@@tomdurkinsDon't understand where?
Consumer Reports
RepairPal
CarMD
J.D. Power
TrueDelta
Statista
Edmunds
For years, these sources (among others) have compiled studies and statistics which consistently rate Lexus and Toyota the most reliable cars.
Hope this clears things up for you.
@@peteroleary9447 Look up the consumer reports parking lot. They all drive Toyotas and Hondas. You think they give honest reviews? You’re naive if you do. Toyotas are some of the cheapest most unreliable cars made today.
When we first immigrate here, my brother and his friends bought American’s made cars like pontiac 6000, pontiac bonnervillre, Sunbird , Eagle primere , ford tempo, Tempest etc. They realy love their cars because it’s their fitst time ownig a car. They always maintain and took care their car like a baby to them. But they had a lot of machanical problems and keep going back to the shop so they bought Japanies made cars and never looked back.
My brand new Honda with 1600 miles on it just left me stranded on the road… even the Japanese now aren’t making good cars. Sad
@@stachowi - Cars are getting too complex and even Honda, Toyota, Subaru, etc. are having some reliability issues
@@stachowi nonsense
@@stachowithere's proper break in period but I do believe you that you did everything right and you just got a lemon. Hopefully they honor the power train warranty
A lot of native born Americans had a similar experience. My parents switched to Hondas in the 1980s and that was the end of that
I worked for a large US company. We were designing a product with a Japanese supplier. When the drawings were mostly done the Japanese company wanted to change some of the drawings to make the parts easier to produce and inspect. Basically they wanted to optimize the drawings for manufacturing. They were going to do the changes on their dime so we said to go ahead. Later after the drawings were optimized our US company managers and bean counters were upset because the extra drawing changes looked bad on their charts and metrics. It was more important for the bosses to look good than to be good.
You are right there, brother!
Isn't that last line the American way?
yep...all about the metric.
How would optimized manufacturing hurt metrics?
@@dosmastrify because the metric may state that "less than 1% re-work for each project". so, since you have to re-do all the drawings, that is 100% re-work and you are done for the upper management, even though your customer is happy about your work.
Cars are such an emotional thing and an extension of one's personality. It always amazes me how some folks who are barely getting by will drive an expensive flashy car and some wealthy folks will drive a boring conservative car.
All about money management. And emotional control..
I could pay cash for a brand new Tundra trd if i wanted to i just refuse to spend 90k for a pickup truck on general principle. I would rather drop that cash into another rental property. I drive a 93 landcruiser
I drive a 2006 Highlander and we can afford to drop $20k on a European vacation that we'll remember for the rest of our lives.
It's not about what you earn, it's about what you save
@@colechapman6976that’s just such a pointless oversimplification/cliche that’s doesn’t really mean anything useful. “It” literally starts with what you earn, followed by what you save, what you spend, and what/how you invest. All are relevant and just saying one is the only one that matters is just pointless. If someone makes $100 a month and saves all of it, they have $1200 a year, vs $100,000 a month and spends $50,000 of it, they still have $50,000. I even feel stupider having to type this out.
In the 90s I worked for a circuit board manufacturer. We made parts for all the major auto makers. Same factory. Same manufacturing lines. Same raw materials. The difference? Tolerances were tighter on the brands we all know for reliability. So circuits were less prone to shorts or stack up tolerance defects. Also the tooling used for stamping had to be maintained in shorter intervals. Say a tool for a Japanese brand had to be sharpened every 10000 hits where the American brand went to 100000 hits.
Laugh of the day. I did business with a distiller. Marketed 3 different flavored vodkas. The ingredients cost the same. Put the vodkas under different brand names and had price differentials. People bought the higher priced versions because they were out to impress people. People see fancy ads for bourbons with greenery, old timey people. The reality is that the distillers on the Ohio River take in the water, process it, and dump the garbage back in the river. Compacted and purportedly processed human waste the size of barges from municipal sewerage system float down that river. Image counts with most buyers of cars with people thinking of retirement savings usually don't want to pay for the flash image.
Very interesting and ypu make sense.
@bdcochran0😅1
This is true. I spoke to a quality engineer who works at a company in Taiwan that supplies bolts to various automotive brands. He shared with me that Toyota has the lowest tolerance level for errors in the products they supply to Toyota. That's why he told me that if he were to buy a car, it would be a Toyota.
@@bdcochran01People used to drink booze precisely because of all the shit in the drinking water.
Cars are like humans, some are honest and some are greedy crooks.
Some are high maintenance a girl that is pretty to look at
@@Yggdrasill8 Best analogy really. And some are just very good friends that won't leave your side and will be honest, useful, practical. etc
Agreed..But 4got Evil...
@@hariranormal5584but are boring😂
Back to the binary. Oh well, human nature prevails.
*The Toyota Way*
"Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals."
*Kaizen* - The principle of continuous improvement.
*Hansei* - Continuous reflection.
*Jidoka* - Quality takes precedence.
The Toyota Production System originated from Dr. W Edward's Deming teachings. Hense the term Kaizen originated from his 14th point philosophy. He was from my home state Iowa that travel to Japan in the 1950s to train the Japanese on quality control. Toyota was the first Japanese manufacturer awarded the Deming Prize.
@@upforanadventure3039 Yep. The Tacoma is a good example. All automakers are facing serious business challenges currently, Toyota/Lexus is not immune. Specifically, they're struggling to remain profitable and competitive within the regulatory framework of respective governments. Toyota has had to make changes faster than they would want. They're at a point where the US and EU are effectively running (ruining lol) their business.
@@upforanadventure3039 I liked the V6 too, but what is "junk" about the new motor? It's more powerful and (slightly) more fuel efficient. As much as you don't want it to be, it will likely be reliable too. It is possible to engineer a 4 cyl. turbo properly. So it has a turbo, get over it!
@@upforanadventure3039Toyota is not what it used to be. My 2017 Highlander has had issues since new, including steering issues that have not been corrected to day. The car drifts from side to side on the highway; while the dealer tells me it is within the manufacturer’s spec. It is also rated for a 5000 lb towing capacity but struggles with my 2000 lb boat. Can’t imagine its performance with a 5000 lb load. Navigation issue to months to correct. The Toyota of 2024 is not the Toyota of years past that resulted their excellent reputation that appears to be no longer credible. Gave up on dealer after they told me I needed new front brake rotors with only 30k miles on the odometer.
@@ytj22people who hate on the new Tacoma powertrain are either prior Tacoma owners unable to cope with a newer Tacoma on the road or old school loyalists that hate all modern technology. Give it 5 years before any of the noise around Toyota’s 4cyl turbos holds weight.
I know about cars, but always go for category 1. This is because I want reliability, I don't want to be repairing it all the time, and as I choose carefully at purchase, it's right for my needs, and I expect to keep it for a long time. My bike is 2003 (and has been trouble free- any work done on it since 2006 has been done by me- main dealer service costs were high), my wife's car is 1991 (all work has been done by me since she bought it 12 yrs ago- again service costs at a dealer are high), my car is a 2020 corolla hybrid and has done 130000 trouble free and Toyota servicing has been cheap as its had no problems (trying to find a way to justify buying a good diagnostic tool so I can work on it myself- but it has been too cheap and reliable so far to justify that expense).
Lol 130k is nothing for a toyota
I appreciate your ability to have a nuanced discussion on this issue. Most people say there is one way that is “the best” and everything else is junk. Highlighting the pros and cons of each approach is appreciated.
He did a good job in highlighting the +/- for each category.
Still, the best cars (as a weighted average of the most important characteristics of a car: reliability, TCO, longevity, performance, design, features) are Japanese.
They are the cars with which you get the best bang for your buck (the best quality/price ratio), because they dominate the rankings in reliability, low TCO, longevity, resale value etc.
The truth is unique, even though there are many opinions on it.
Pros and cons to literally everything in life. Same as for buying vs. leasing, owning vs. renting, etc.
When I think of companies like GM, Ford and Chrysler/Ram/Jeep, my general opinion is that they are only concerned with this sales quarter, doing whatever they can to maximize profit now. They mostly only put their vehicles together in factories, they don’t actually make most of the parts. So they squeeze their parts suppliers to make the parts less expensive (again to maximize their profit) and that’s one reason why they break, fall apart, wear out sooner etc. It doesn’t matter if they can’t make a vehicle as reliable as a Toyota, or if they just choose not to. They don’t, and that’s why their vehicles are often nailed to the showroom floor.
I bought a Chevy ONCE and never again, I’m embarrassed to tell you what a POS this “car” was.
Who are you all the big car makers working together Toyota, works GM ,and Nissan works Ford another SUVs makers
And I told the service rep at the dealership, "What do you mean, I need new lug nuts?! Lug nuts don't wear out!"
I was at a Ford dealership. If you know, you know.
Are you sure about that? I have a 2015 F150 2.7l ecoboost I drive it hard on and off road. It's has 153,000 miles. Nothing is breaking or falling apart a side from normal maintenance items due to the beating it gets off road. The interior still looks brand new. It has zero rattle or squeaks. The same with my wife's focus ( a side from the dps6 transmission). It had issues with the TCM, but luckily, we got it replaced under the extended warranty and hasn't given issues since.
@@aceburns8673That was exactly what happened to me with Ford. I watched my partner get a new Ford (Escape) in 2010 or 2011, and within a few years it was falling apart. Then in 2014 I gave them a chance and leased a Fiesta for 3 years, and it fell apart too pretty soon. And I literally mean falling apart: the exhaust FELL off , only like 2.5 years in! And that was gentle, light, daily driving, nothing even hard or heavy or crazy.
I gave Ford a chance, and they were shit, just like everybody always said.
And yet I’ve never had an issue with a Honda nor Toyota
Category 1 is for economically conservative people who tend to pay cars off and then keep them. Categories 2,3,and 4 are for those who always have car payments and accept them as a fact of life.
Lol accurate. I am currently in category 1, but I struggle with the desire to own a category 2 car. I just figure I’ll have the money if I spend enough time in category 1. Currently drive a 17 year old Corolla with 180,000 miles that I paid cash for almost 4 years ago. Pretty deep into category 1 right now.
What is a car payment? In 49 years of buying vehicles Ive never had even one.
Bu then, Ive been in the automotive repair business since I was in high school and can rebuild any vehicle that I deem worthwhile from the ground up.
Im NOT enamored by failure prone electronic gadgetry, the purpose of a vehicle is TRANSPORTATION, not having a bunch of foo foo car toys.
My daily driver is a 47 year old Ford. I see NO Toyotas or Hondas from that era still running or even in existence.
There is someone driving an early 70s Volvo 164 around my neighborhood though.
As far as fun to drive, I have another 45 year old Ford in which resides a 429 ci engine of 500 hp, which i built myself.
@@donreinke5863 Well… BULLY FOR YOU!! 🥳
Agreed. I keep my corolla 2005. It still has the original belt. Can you believe it? Everything original from day one expect the starter that broke few days ago
Category 1 owner here too. '18 Honda CRV with 32k. Rather pamper this sled that buy new junk.
You are so good at explaining things in plain English for dummies like me!
He should write a "Cars for Dummies" book!
Economist here. Another unintended consequence of the high-end fun advance category, is accelerated depreciation from leasing. Consumers prefer to lease and buy only the best and first part of the car. This floods the used car market with those models.
"Economist here" - stopped reading after that.
@@anonnon2278What was wrong about that statement?
As a tech, I think a huge factor for reliability is user friendliness re: repairs. Whether at a shop or the customer wants to do their own repairs, the harder it is to do basic maintenance on a vehicle the longer it may go undone, resulting in failure to the point where all repairs outweigh the value. Looking at you, Nissan...
Many “owners” don’t care about the vehicle. They’re not making payments on it, just waiting for the repo man to show up and haul it away. Just look at the number of cars on the road with front or side impact damage. These people drive like clowns, blowing through stop signs.
That's why I love my Hyundai Accent, most jobs take 30 minutes to do and it doesn't make me want to throw my tools.
Lol...but I thought nissan was just cheap... I didnt think they were complicated... Except maybe that new variable compression. I thought the complicated stuff was usually the european brands
Agree with Nissan (since owned by the French Renault), but things are not as simple as you wrote.
There is not a coincidence that Lexus, Toyota, Mazda, Subaru, Honda, Acura are the champions of reliability and low TCO (the most important indicators for the financial freedom seekers).
On the contrary, some people pay less attention to maintenance (betting on the famous reliability of the Japanese brands), still the rankings have at the top the Japanese cars.
Do I smell a burning CVT?
While deployed overseas, we had a fleet of Toyotas, Mitsubishi and Nissan SUVs. We drove them from 4-5,000 miles a month on some of the worst roads in that region. I returned to the US with a much greater respect and my view on these "rice burners" After my long research on reliability, maintenance and resale value, I chose Toyota and Hondas. I can only hope Toyota and Honda do not forget their roots and their fan base. I'm reading too many negative comments on these newer Toyotas and Honda (i.e. turbocharged engines) Excellent post as always AMD.
I live in Canada & was talking to a guy that works at a local oil change place. I was telling him about you & he said he has seen you on CZcams. You are becoming really popular. Thanks for all the videos.
What’s interesting is that corporate ideologies can change over time. MB used to make extremely reliable vehicles. Their diesel engines were legendary. The buttons , knobs, and switches were all very robust.
I always say that there is a difference between quality/fit and finish and reliability. You can have an extremely well-made car that is not reliable, and you can also have a cheap feeling car that is very reliable - and everything in between. So we must know the difference, and as you say, different car companies focus on different areas and "mixes" of quality/fit and finish and reliability. It's all about priorities. If we need to have the latest technology, then reliability will be sacrificed because it has not been tested for years in real scenarios. If our customer's do not need the latest technology but want reliability, then we can de-prioritize tech and use older, tried and true methods. There is no perfect car, and as you say at the end there, it's all about finding a vehicle that fits your needs, budget and requirements.
That is why BMW/Mercedes/Audi drivers are so gullible, making a judgment on the quality of the cars built base on the interior, while the drive train is made of flimsy/thin materials.
@@Yggdrasill8 You are generalizing here, there are plenty of BMW/Mercedes/Audi drivers who are very well aware of potential reliability concerns, but they have made their peace with it and are fine paying more for service and repairs. Again, it's all about priorities, at the end of the day, there are people who simply do not want to drive a boring Toyota Camry. And vice versa, there are people who would rather have peace of mind and drive a very reliable vehicle.
Poor fit, finish and features but supreme reliability, repairability and hackability - this is a category of (usually but not always commercial) vehicles found in Russia and successors of former warsaw pact, former yugoslavia and to some extent rural China (not usually exported). this is an unglamorous but very important category of vehicles.
Porsche is one of those unique brands which produced very high quality, very high performing, and very reliable cars. But of course you're going to pay a small fortune for one.
@@tobias_dahlbergand then you can do both and drive a Toyota GR86
Great video. It is not only the brand, it is also the factory where they are built.
I think that how meticulous you are in preventative maintenance is a primary factory in how reliable your car is. I have always bought cars below what I can afford and kept the $$ difference as a rainy day fund for unforseen repairs & then try to be fanatical about routine maintenance, including wrenching on then myself for simple things that are within my capability, and informing myself on service intervals and such. So far, I've been lucky and this approach has worked for me - domestic, foreign & exotic cars.
Best video ever! You have summed up the whole car industry in a 15 minute video
Once again, hits the nail right in the head. Everything I choose to prioritize in my vehicle ownership is exactly as described. (10yr used vehicle mechanic)
What kind of car do you drive? Both myself and my mechanic drive a 1st gen Toyota Highlander. Which means I only see him every 5k miles for an oil change haha!
When every brand is making the same changes (smaller turbo motors) it’s obvious the changes are being driven by regulations rather than what’s in our best interest in reliability. We need the brands to push back for the consumer, cars are by FAR more efficient than ever and we’re being forced to pick up another penny while passing up dollars so to speak.
Agreed. I don't know a single sole ASKING for a turbo. Especially in this global depression, people want reliable, affordable, repairable. Turbos are...none of these.
@@OutsideTheTargetDemographic You said it right!
The brands won't push back because they align their vision with government regulation. Change government and by nature, the manufactures will change to suit the people.
Its not just cars. My heating engineer was saying the exact thing. All the parts in modern systems are dainty and fragile because they need to meet efficiency targets at the expense of durability.
Computers too. NASA deliberately use a 55nm process node for space probe and satellite CPU’s that was cutting edge in 2007, because they think that is the sweet spot for reliability and efficiency. TSMC is on a 3nm process node now, the transistors in that are so tiny, will be much more susceptible to being falsely triggered by radiation and high energy particles in space.
What a great video! I've never heard the differences between companies discussed so clearly. This info would have saved me some money over the years. I hope everyone who buys a car watches this explanation.
This is why I love your channel. You are very informative and I usually learn something every video. Good job.
Totally spot on. I didn't set out to be a Mazda guy but now I have 4 of them.
How's Mazda reliability? All I ever own was a 86 Nissan Sentra, 95 Toyota Tacoma, 12 Honda Fit, 20 Honda CRV. In 10 years, I'm thinking of Mazda or Subaru.
I'm currently waiting for my order to arrive, mazda 3 gt...I often think I should just stick with my old car that still runs great and forget about getting a new one just for the sake of having a new car with a excellent sound system....what do you think I should do mr mazda?...will the new 3 be good to me or cause many unwanted headaches
Why 4 you need 5, 4 is unlucky number
@@randylahey1232 The closest I have to a new 3 would be my wife's 2018 Mazda 6 we bought new that year. Just over 120K miles without any issues. Just basic maintenance. It has developed some oil seepage at the front cover and we did suffer a coil pack failure around 110K miles last Oct. Since that incident there's been more vibration when it goes into cylinder deactivation than I remember. Changed all the motor and transmission mounts to no avail. I did a chemical decarbon but I think it's going to need a mechanical one. It's a DI engine.
@ScottJ175 thank you for taking the time to answer I appreciate it...the two things I don't like about the 3 are the fact it's DI only id rather have just port injection and that cylinder deactivation nonsense
I am a retired Engineer and I grew up in a family that worked in the automotive repair industry. My father and I worked together in our small autobody repair shop which is how I paid for my university education. I also worked in a few dealerships. My father, and many of the people of that time, were brand loyalists. My father virtually always drove GM cars, and if he got a bad one he considered it just to be bad luck, and bought another one. We lived in the country, and over the years he also owned a total of 13 VW beetles which he used mainly for his daily commutes. I initially bought a few GM and Ford cars, which were OK, then in 1978 I purchased a Honda Civic. I really enjoyed driving that little car, and my sister bought one as well. In 1979, I purchased a Datsun 280 ZX . It was nice and a lot of fun to drive. In 1981, I bought a new Buick which was absolute garbage. It had a long list of issues, none of which were covered under GM warranty. It was he worst car that I had ever owned. I used to have to tow it several times per month and finally after seven months of ownership, I took my financial beating like a man (whimpering a little bit ) and traded it in for another Datsun. In 1991 I purchased a Nissan Hardbody pickup which I drove for 20 years. I have driven mostly Japanese vehicles ever since. I recently sold my 2009 Honda CR-V which only had 60,000 miles on it and its new owner arrived two hours after I put it up for sale. A few months ago I purchased a new 2024 Honda Pilot. I hope that it lasts as long as the CR-V which was an excellent vehicle.
Your father sure went through those VW Beetles. I owned a 1960 for 6 years. 13 should last a lifetime.
The Pilot is a very wise buy, you did well, when you look around at similar SUV's its hard to beat the common sense Pilot / Passport.
I highly doubt any Hondas that are now being built in the USA (like your Pilot) are going to last anywhere near as long as the super simple 100%-made-in-Japan stuff from back in the day. Same goes for Toyota and any other Japanese automaker.
@@MikeKayK You SURE said it correctly, just as I have told others!
Dear Mr TCCN,
I love your content and delivery. This episode tops the charts. Thank you for being honest and forthright in your analysis. It is greatly appreciated.
I always appreciate how clear and to the point you are I your videos! At the start of this video I could tell you where talking about toyota and honda!
I have an 05 Toyota Matrix. It hit 300,000 kms in February of 2016. Due to some glitch with these, they stop counting. I'm still commuting with this car, 100 kms per day, and have been SINCE Feb 2016 (less during the pandemic). I don't know how many kms it actually has but I assume well over 500,000 by now. Just keeps on going.
Drove a couple of Matrixes many miles and with care those 2003+ era VVTI 16-valve 1.8 engines in them really hold together, rev well & run beautifully for their purpose with really decent mpg for a simple non-hybrid choice of the era. Basic steady maintenance keeps them setting longevity records
@@Orbi.Lee23 Yep. keep looking out for a good used one, but they're so expensive used. For good reason I suppose.
Sister has an 04 bought new now at 350K km. Runs great doesn’t burn oil with 1.8 motor and manual. Odometer locked at 300 so she writes down at every gas fill. Quite happy with my cx5 but a young one at 82K
@@marcpikas2859 Nice. I should have been writing down the kms using the trip, but honestly it might have been at 300k for 50k lol. I hadn't looked at it. Or it was 300k the day I saw. Regardless, I didnt even know it was a problem until months later when I noticed it hadn't changed haha. Oh well. Yeah, that 1.8 is an AMAZING motor.
@@larryroyovitz7829this is fact.. in Canada the matrix odometer stops at 400,000kms I wonder how many other toyotas do that and their logic? They figured ppl would be tired of them by then
Quality and reliability are my own requirements.
Too much tech is a recipe for larger repair bills once the warranty expires.
I have owned expensive cars with the latest tech, and they spent far too long at the dealers.
Today i stick with Toyota as i know the car will get me there and back home.
I’m with you on the assessment of the various makes, but not so much the buyers. People have so many individual motivations that I don’t think your generalizations about the buyers ring true. Speaking for myself I’ve owned 17 cars over 4+ decades, am a car fanatic, but every new and used vehicle purchase I’ve made has been motivated by different factors with every decision to purchase. Sometimes the vehicles have compelled me, sometimes my needs at the time were the driving force. When domestic manufacturers started producing most of a car overseas (and vice versa) brand loyalty vanished and I began looking at every vehicle solely on its own merits. Love your content - keep up the great work!
Outstanding analysis and spot on. I can speak as a 75 year old with experience. Always owned domestic products with exception of 1 Toyota 20 years ago. It was the best car I have ever owned. Long story short, went back to domestic and it was a mistake. In 2022 bought 2 new Toyotas, one for my wife and myself. All I can say we no longer have any long road trip anxiety.
That facelift LS430 in the background has so much class and presence compared to the Camry next to it. Such a timeless design.
I have a 2005. Owned a lot of great cars but nothing compares. People thought I was crazy when I sold my newer car and bought it. Found one meticulously maintained. Better than most new cars on the road. I do a lot of road trips and it’s the ultimate cruiser…
Camry looks better to me. Lexus looks very 1990s luxury.
@@forester057 it’s understated elegance
@@joer1678 Yup, the LS430 was the last of the understated, 'practical' luxury cars. Everything after became more ostentatious and complicated.
This was a good commentary, from someone who has obviously been working "at the coal face" for many years. Thank you.
Wow. Just found this channel. Love the perspective and also the different comments from the viewer. Great insight and summary….
Yet another great video many thx for that to whole team 👍
I was a red seal mechanic for 10 years. I bought a new Toyota because I didn’t wanna spend my days off fixing an inferior vehicle. If I’m making a car payment… I want it to be reliable and that’s it
Well, the Tundra 3.4L V-6 has been recalled for catastrophic engine failure, and the 2,0L Toyota engine for turbo failure. Gee, as a mechanic I wpuld think you would have known that, as well as Carolla and Camry recalls.
Ooh, what a feeling!
@@crankychris2ya true Toyota isn’t perfect either but a lot less compare to other car manufacturers like Hyundai/kia Americans/german brands and etc.
Challenging to buy made in America ... My 2002 Chevrolet Impala was assembled in Canada, my 2008 Toyota Avalon was assembled in Kentucky. The Chevy was purchased new and a mechanical mess after 36k, the Toyota was purchased used and one of the nicest cars we ever owned. I downsized cars in 2017 and purchased a new VW Jetta SEL 1.8 L with trepidation (and all that nice safety tech) because I usually regret it when I deviate from buying Japanese, but to date its been trouble free. My wife's 2012 Kia Sportage purchased new continues to be a very good car too. We spend a little extra and always have our cars serviced by their Dealership. Really enjoy your videos. Keep up the good work.
You call that safety tech "nice?" LOL. I call it a "curse." Too bad I can't go back in time and get one of those super reliable yet nice and fun to drive cars...with NONE of this tech crap to cost a mint to repair later when it fails. Rear seat reminders (seriously?), steering wheels that turn by themselves, etc. Lord knows, if I cannot turn the wheel or look in the back seat to see if anything is there, I do NOT need to be driving .
Canada is practically the United States.
A lot of domestic cars, especially GM is partially owned by China and they have Chinese parts in them. That’s why they’re more unreliable.
Great video. I am a mechanic at a city fleet and we use all these for different tasks. The parking enforcement have toyota hybrids. Great for stop and go traffic, super reliable and efficient. Our parks and construction staff use old CK pickups. They get used as an ATV with a box and a license plate. Theyre cheap to fix, so when there are inevitable issues from off roading and driving over curbs and manholes, we can fix them for cheap.
Excellent! Very well thought out! And, you are correct.
I drive two old bimmers. Maintenance is key to reliability.
After owing 3 Audi's over 7 years and never ending problems I just bought a Lexus and I'm delighted with it. Audi have turned to absolute garbage in the last 10-15 years. They are still trading on a 1990's reputation for reliability. People are slowly waking up.
My 2018 Audi S5 Sportback has been trouble free since I bought it new. Has 54k miles on it now. I'm glad I was not fearful because it's been such a joy to drive 😊
Audi has made one good car in 40 years, they called it a quattro.
Hear! A very wise decision!
My Porsche (mostly Audi crap) is far more reliable than my 2016 Honda ever was
@@sunnohh My 944 is in pieces ageing with grace in its stall in my shop. been there since 2006, not a spec of rust on it anywhere. I wanted to swap it but cant make myself commit such automotive barbarisms.
Excellent video. You rarely hear this info even in car circles and people need to. Great channel. Keep it up!
Thank you, Sir...categorizing these types of automobile sections is valuable and chock full of useful and pragmatic common sense.
As a car guy who's also got the environment on my conscience, I feel like the Toyota way is what's best for the earth from a sustainability perspective. I.e. you buy a car that will last for many years (vs. getting a new car every few years that took alot of resources and emissions to build). Although my LS430 doesn't get the best MPG, there's something great about daily driving a 19 year old car that still functions perfectly and continuing to use it long past the time that other cars would end up in a junkyard. Ultimately, car companies are for-profit though, not for for sustainability and reducing consumer waste.
good take, and also part of why I prefer Toyotas. The true environmental cost is not factored into car purchases. Everyone is lying. But the only true metric of how wasteful something is, is how long it lasts.
Tire wear is actually proven to be a large part of any old or brand new vehicle's emissions but nobody believes me.
I see things exactly like you, reliability longevity and resources.
@@VictorMaxol Yeah, that is a bit hard to believe. I once had a set of Michelin tires last 85,000 miles. We're the emissions from producing that one set of tires comparable to burning 2900 gallons of gas?
I haven’t bought an American auto in 30 years. I understand the American CEO mentality : make them as cheap as possible, maximize profits. We don’t care what happens after the warranty period.
As usual, an excellent discussion. Thank you AMD!
Great content! As well as an impressive video production setup..thanks man!
My wife has a 97 Toyota Corolla that she paid $500 for has done really minor maintenance it has 570,000 km and no engine light and is not on its last leg drives just fine starts in the crazy cold Canadian winters Yes it's a rust bucket but it's a tool to get to and from work That's it thank you Toyota. ❤️
got a 1999 gmc seirra, probably the perfect year for the ls engine and not everything being electronic. its got 423k miles on it right now, and still runs like a champ
That’s cool. My 2007 Silverado only has 150,000 and drives great. No oil consumption or leaks. It’s on its second set of tires. I’m picky picky about maintenance. I tell my (trustworthy) mechanic to “find something wrong” and fix it. No major issues. It will probably blow up tomorrow just because I bragged on her.
@@otis4349🤞
@@otis4349 think my down fall will be just be the frame rusting out. 150k you are just breaking in the engine lol
gm use to make very good and long lasting trucks I had a 99 S-10 for over 20 years and it was very reliable. It did have body hardware like door handles and glove box handles that broke but the drivetrain was solid. I now have a 22 Ford Maverick which has been good but you can see the cost cutting on the interior and some body components. Toyota has gone down in quality on its trucks with the new redesigned Tundra and Tacoma having more issues especially the turbo V-6s and turbo I-4s they are also not selling as well.
Thank you, this is a great informative video. you are one of the few that gives detail and inter-workings in a way us lay people can understand!
Love your insight,passion and knowledge about cars, keep it up!
Grtz from The Netherlands
Honda is not what it used to be. Their cars in 90s are solid. Now they have many issues too. just google Honda auto transmission problem, Engine problem.
More complexity, more issues. All cars are becoming more complex.
What nowadays IS ‘what it used to be?’
Toyota
Yeah, their 1.5L "earth dreams" is killing their reputation for reliability. Look at the number of class action lawsuits over that engine alone. I've had two 7th gen Accords, the K24 engine was bulletproof. Now, the oil dilution issues are going to end up blowing up in their faces.
@@disarchitected Hope so! Getting new Taco Hybrid next month. 🤞🏻
I was surprised that the constantly increased US CAFE standards did not get mentioned. This one single piece of paper has done more to reduce the dependability of all automobiles. CVT transmissions are a case in point.
More regulations regarding these almost unreachable levels that the CAFE dictates, actually drives innovation and creativity and pushes for a more diverse array of alternative options. That is the American ingenuity and yearning to be better. Don't fall for the big oil opposition to change. They're trying to convince you that change is bad. We must change. We have to not only keep up, but exceed expectations. Our vehicles, especially the dodge brand, is disgustingly bad and unreliable. Japanese and German cars have outgunned us for years. We are playing catch up and we don't like it.
Not all CVTs. The one in my Prius made it 275,000 miles before we got rid of it.
This was well put. I gravitate toward 1 and 2 for different reasons. Used to only buy category 2, but it’s so nice daily driving a tacoma and having a fun car as well.
Great video. Hit the nail on the head!!!
Stellantis is notably more conservative than GM Ford. They still use v6 and v8 naturally aspirated engines in many large cars. This is even more conservative than Toyota. Unfortunately, Stellantis's saved budget didn't go to quality.
Addressing your comment about the design engineers-
I'm an engineer, and the first thing you do (when I'm the design phase) is look at the requirements. Those 4 different types of companies... Have different requirements. When a good engineer switches companies, they'll look at the new set of requirements, and design accordingly. It's not just that a design won't get approved... It's that it'll be designed from the start with different measures for quality.
Brilliant video, a thoughtful and logical presentation from an experienced and passionate mechanic. Well done!
Thanks for talking this topic on manufacturer vision and motive. It’s a complicated subject. The worst car I owned was the flashiest one. So what you say rings true.
I have never cared about "exciting" or "high tech". Reliability and price are the NUMBER 1 factors for me. What good is an exciting, flashy car that starts giving me problems before I've finished paying it off?
I agree, and I could NOT have said it any better!
Well some people enjoy driving, others only do it to move around. Different use cases.
I used to own a Ford 1 Ton Diesel because I hauled my rock crawler all over the southwest USA, and then later when I retired I hauled a 5th-wheel RV. Now that I am settled down and gave up all of my expensive toy's I own a Toyota Tacoma. I plan to drive the wheels off of the Tacoma.
One of the best video I have seen very informative.. Thank you!!!
Another great video with wise advice. It is so practical and good that I am sharing it with my adult children!
My 2012 Toyota RAV4 with the V6 engine is the most reliable car I have ever owned in the 59 years I've been driving. My experiences owning Ford, Chevy, Subaru, Dodge, and Honda have not exactly been great. I just hope Toyota maintains their quality if I ever need to buy another car.
They are banking on hybrids, thankfully, it's very reliable. The rest concerns me more, my Corolla is loaded with electronics, sensors, ect ... And sometimes, these systems like to get in the way, which can be disconcerting. Modern cars, hey.
AMD, You are being very generous in your remarks about 'other' brands. Although I would never buy one, I am glad these second rate brands are around to provide price competition for high quality cars. 😉
Something I've been thinking about lately is that they may not be totally wrong in not making super reliable vehicles. Many Americans don't want to keep the same car for more than a few years. So for them it actually makes sense in a way. I don't feel this way but some do🤷♀️.
@@blissfuljoy6049 Building 3rd rate cars has often proven to be a very poor, long term business strategy.
@@rightlanehog3151 I wouldn't think it's a good idea but they keep doing it. Actually, Chevy seems to have gone up in reliability lately. Their new styling is much better as well. So I guess we'll see where that goes. I'm really concerned about all companies lately, really, because cars have become so complex. Toyota has had some bad press lately.
@@blissfuljoy6049 I am old enough to remember when the phrase 'made In Japan' was the punchline to a joke. I evaluate cars and car companies over decades. Having their cars built by Daewoo doe snot sound like a sound GM strategy to me. Having said all that, I do own a GM car. It is a Pontiac Vibe which came off a Corolla assembly line. I would be very surprised if 10% of the GM built cars on the dealer's lot the day I picked my car were still on the road.
@@rightlanehog3151 I wouldn't doubt there aren't many left but it would be good if the new ones are getting better. And hopefully Toyota isn't slipping.
That’s a real good video never seen anyone else on CZcams explain it. Nice job.
I work in tooling and QC for automotive companies. I support this message ❤
Excellent description of the difference between car companies. Thanks for sharing.
I keep em till the wheels fall off.Gave up on a 27 year old gmc Sonoma,2 years ago.Bought a 2012 Rav 4,V6,by far,the best vehicle I"ve ever owned.My only new car was a 1981,5 spd Civic.Lasted 12 years,240,000 miles.I think vehicles are a waste of money,so longevity is my focus.Loved your comments,the last 3 or 4 minutes of this vid!
Truly one of the best videos you've done here AMD I agree a million percent .
Outstanding video and presentation
Imagine, paying $30-$50k or more for a product that doesn’t last very long. Imagine if houses only lasted 10-20 years before degrading into garbage? How does it make sense?
It might make sense if you factor in the elephant on the car floor - sex. Judging by my experiences I'm middle of the road on attractiveness. I'm not one of those guys who women drool over, probably more in the "acceptable" category. But when I drove an Audi was when I was most successful with women. I happened to buy the car cheap from a friend because I basically have the same attitude as you about cars. But there was no denying that the car boosted my social profile. And for that people will pay big.
Houses stay in one place and are able to be fixed in pieces, even if you let the roof leak and it collapses someone can still fix it.
Cars are much different, and with ever tightening emissions regulations the car companies are incentivised to not make indestructible vehicles.
If 1950's cars were still all over the road it would not be a good thing. Especially when it comes to occupant safety.
I do agree on the price though, I'm not paying 50k for a car, or 65k for a decent truck.
A lot of houses will degrade into garbage in 20 years of use. Change your oil and maintain your building.
@@Will_Moffett Absolutely. Men are motivated by sex and women are motivated by money.
@@Will_MoffettKind of like the girl getting a boob job to get more attention from men. Losers meet losers.
As one who has 4 Toyota/Lexus vehicles, one as old as 35 years and one as new as 2003 and two inbetween, I will not buy another brand (except Subaru). I use these vehicles in all types of terrain, hard off-roading, long distance off-roading, local city daily, and one for long comfortable trips, I'm in one of the hottest parts of the nation. Toyota/Lexus continues to out perform my expectations!
I love my 2018 GX!
I’ve has so many problems with Toyotas. And have a major issue with how cheaply made the interiors are. Never will I buy a Toyota or Lexus again. Toyota is taking advantage of people that are fooled into the quality myth.
I agree. I have 1 08 Toyota and 1 2012 Lexus. Both are EXCELLENT
2006 Highlander Limited here, it's a tank.
@@coalknob What's your average MPG? That's really one of the only downsides to the GX and LX/LC.
Excellent. Thought provoking car phycology - I didn't even realise - but you've fortunately changed my future buying choices!
Great Information! Thanks. Ahmed My Best To You And Your Family.
So, in simple:
Category 1 Japanese Cars
Category 2 German Cars
Category 3 Korean Cars
Category 4 American Cars
You stole my comment lol 😅
German is better than Korean?
@@Moses_VII Not so much better, but more focused on different ways of making the product. VW focus on tech over anything. while there engines and drive trains are much better than they were in the past, they still have their quirks. I remember when the atlas launched , one of the selling points was it had full led lights front and rear. Now to me that means more expense down the road when they go out, but they looks nice and bright. As he mentioned the koreans focus on being "down the middle" of tech, engineering and styling. Now they are also pushing ev's out the door like theres no tomorrow so they are slowing falling into that 2nd category and it shows due to the issues they have had recently. So i feel they have about the same amount of reliability in most ways, but have different issues and problems in others
@@Moses_VII no. german cars are rubbish
German cars are just above British cars in the reliabillity category. There is also some reliable American cars, like the corvette and mustang, those engines are built like tanks.
After market repairs and spare parts has huge revenue so some companies make their car less reliable
Like selling a 60 dollar printer with 40 dollar ink cartridges
@@Buasop exactly matter of facts i read that car company profit from every car is around 500-2000$ not that much considering the price tag of the average car cost but when they sell you spare parts for thousands of dollar now the money start rolling
My friend you are right to the point. Keep us informed.
Awesome breakdown. Absolutely correct.
Category 1 is for people who know how to make their money work for them and not for the manufacturer. I'm definitely category 1 because I'll drive my cars until the wheels fall off. Then I'll put the wheels back on and drive them another 20 years. At the end of the day, I'll have money for other nice things, not having to be a slave to a car or brand.
It's just a tool to get you where you need to be, and Toyota's does it very well, with more than enough fun and style.
Ps: I'm 60, and I have only had 3 cars since I was 17.
Thank you Toyota 😊😁🙏🏻🙏🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Brilliant. I cant see me driving anything but a Toyota for the rest of my life, 2nd choice older Honda's.
@@rbnhd1144 EXACTLY! Me, too.
I wasn't aware that replacement parts for Toyotas were considered to be expensive. I have not really needed to make any major repairs on my old Camry, but my opinion has been that Toyotas tend to have fairly affordable replacement parts because people keep their cars for a long time, so there is a robust market for OEM and third party parts for many years, as opposed to manufacturers where it is more difficult to find parts for their older vehicles
That has been my experience with my Hondas too, especially my 1997 Civic. As far as Honda parts availability is concerned, my 1990 Legend is the worst I've seen and even that is pretty good for a car that came out 39 years ago and was never that common to begin with.
Not expensive but very hard to find as shop dont stock them because of very poor sales unless the car accident.
Japanese car parts are 3X more expensive than American car parts, on average, but you're typically getting a much higher quality part that will last longer.
Very interesting and thought provoking video! Thanks for sharing.
Great summary. Thanks!
It's the same with motorbikes I have owned just about every make out there but you just cannot beat Japanese bikes for build quality and reliability. Currently I have 3 Yamaha's in my garage and have had 19 Yamaha's and they have been by far the most reliable make I have ever owned. BMW Range Rover are horrendous for reliability when they get older. I wouldn't own aBMW bike or car if it were given
I disagree. I bought a BMW R-100GS new in 1992 and other than maintenance items like oil change, spark plugs and lubrication, I have not needed to do any repairs. I'm a mechanic with my own shop and I like how simple my bike is... However it's old school design. The new ones with all the electronics, cats and fuel injection are not the same. Those are B.M.W. bikes= bring my wallet!! LOL not simple and reliable.
My 2 cents. My BMW bikes have stranded me too many times. I’ll take a jap bike over anything made by HD or BMW. Rotax is fine but everything else sucks.
I would take a free BMW. I would sell it the next day and buy a Lexus
Two Toyota's in the family. I went to the mechanic to get help with something I could not figure out. He said people only ever sell these Toyota's because they want a new car not because there is anything wrong with it. That's a vote of confidence, I am okay to drive an old car for now.
Excellent choice! Onw a 1984 oldtimer and daily 2012 Yaris. These cars are so well built!
All Toyotas here, I ran into my mechanic at the grocery store a couple of months ago. As we were talking I mentioned that I don't see him near as much since I dumped Dodge Chrysler ram stellantis, he said you got Toyotas, their the best
Great video, as usual. Thank you!
Great Overview! Love the channel....
Amd, I love your videos, you are the most amazing mechanic out there!
Some new Hyundai cars have 8 LED headlights is crazy nuts. Looks like the "Family Truckster" station wagon from "National Lampoon's Family Vacation" movie. 😅😅😅.
Except it will have it's flashers on while sitting on a tow truck
The first few minutes into your conversation, Tundra and 4Runner came to the mind 😊
Excellent explanation
In Europe category 4 are: Fiat, Dacia, Renault, Peugeot, Opel, Citroen. Category 1-3 are the same as in the US.
Lately Peugeot (and some Renault models) are trying too hard to get into category 2 hence why their prices are becoming outrageous for hyper weak reliability (looking at you, puretech scum)
Were do you place Nissan and all their junk?
@@lot931 Small cars from Nissan and Mitsubishi are almost the same as Renault, big ones as Pajero or Outlander - I don't know, probably more in category 1?
The answer is simple...some cars built by the Accountants and over engineered to fail.
Exactly...so you have to buy another one.
I do a lot of salvage yard crawling. Many cars use parts sourced from companies like Denso and Aisin - same as Honda and Toyota. I like Toyotas conservative agenda, but it's difficult to sell slow cars anymore so that Toyota pushes the tech more than a generation ago. I buy used cars so the reliability will be known, but many car owners skip oil changes
When you have engineers taking order from accountants, car will fail! When the accountants are told by the engineers, this is how its going to be done, you little office boys figure out how to pay for it, then we will have good cars. The engineers put man on the moon and the accountants were told ...you figure out how to pay for it!
@@timothykeith1367 Some of the recent reliability issues with Ford, resulting in large recalls, been exactly due suppliers with quality control issues. Having an over engineered powertrain, similar with some German Automakers do, will make it more prone to failure over time.
Hey why don’t you make a video then?
Really useful information, thank you. This reminds me of one of my favorite Thomas Sowell quotes: "There are no solutions; there are only trade-offs."
Thanks very informative you are one of the coolest car Guy with knowledge and good explanation.