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We are never going back to the days of carbs, mech fuel pumps run off the cam, and standing in the engine bay while working on the car's engine. But what can I buy new or slightly used that isn't a death trap, and can most likely be repaired at home with a decent set of hand tools and a jack if something goes wrong? No removing the front end bodywork to get to a windshield washer pump (Subaru), no jacking the engine off its mounts to get to an alternator (Mazda), no disassembling the engine bay to replace a sensor (VW). And for f**k's sake, no turbo or hybrid anything (Ford).

We are never going back to the days of carbs, mech fuel pumps run off the cam, and standing in the engine bay while working on the car's engine. But what can I buy new or slightly used that isn't a death trap, and can most likely be repaired at home with a decent set of hand tools and a jack if something goes wrong? No removing the front end bodywork to get to a windshield washer pump (Subaru), no jacking the engine off its mounts to get to an alternator (Mazda), no disassembling the engine bay to replace a sensor (VW). And for f**k's sake, no turbo or hybrid anything (Ford).

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[–] • 0 pt (edited )

A better question IMHO is "what car or truck doesn't need repairs in the first place?"

I'm amazed at what people consider normal for repairs as I've never had one of my cars have a mechanical problem in over 20 years. I have friends with all kinds of cars who act like it's normal to need to fix something on their older car every few months.

Over my lifetime I have had to deal with Hondas, Volswagens, Fords, Dodges, Chevys, and Toyotas - either my own car or a family member in my household. The only brand that has consistently never had a single problem in the first 120,000 miles is Toyota. The only problem I've ever had with a Toyota is that after ~130,000 miles I needed to replace the belts and hoses. I've never had one break down on me ever - not the engine, transmission, or any other mechanical system. Not even stupid stuff like door locks or door handles. Nothing. I did have a headlight burn out at about 130,000 miles on one of them. That's the worst thing that's ever happened to one of my Toyotas.

[–] • 0 pt

I can add my own experience to this. Bought a brand new Toyota a few years ago, and I have it well over 100k, and it has never had any issues whatsoever. I have done regular oil changes, replaced wipers and tires, and filled the wiper fluid. That's the extent of the "repairs".

I think I got one of the last Corollas with a 6-speed manual transmission. I'm not certain, but I doubt they even offer them anymore.

I also put over 700k on an early 90s Acura Integra (well I bought it at 350k). Did the clutch around 500k and replaced the master and slave cylinders. Exhaust started rotting off around 550k and I replaced it from the manifold back. When I finally got rid of it, it still ran just fine, but the back end was getting unsafe from rust (in Ontario we salt the roads so heavily it just eats your car).