Most Unreliable American Cars

[ChemEngrMBA]

Worst according to Consumer Reports:

300,000 cars evaluated

​

Rivian worst of all then

Cadillac, especially Lyriq

GMC and Jeep tied

​VW

Tesla

Chevrolet

Volvo

Genesis

[Canuck Conservative]

Those Jeep CVT (automatic) transmissions are crap

Old one started slipping, so I replaced it ($4500), then a year later the new one starts slipping too

[the OlLine Rebel]

What do they mean, “American”?

Not a very American list.

These days the best you get is GM and Ford products.  The only you get.  Oh wait, maybe Tesla.

[ChemEngrMBA]

What do they mean, “American”?

Not a very American list.

Sold in America, driven in America, hello!

[Smokin Joe]

I have had reasonably good luck with my pre-bailout (20th century) Chevrolets, and must note all vehicles seem to have their weak points. Also, an '87 dodge pickup has served me well since I bought it.

[Kamaji]

Sold in America, driven in America, hello!

That doesn't make them "American cars".

[mountaineer]

I have seen the Consumer Reports. Looks like the most reliable cars are Japanese - mostly Subaru, Honda and Toyota.

[ChemEngrMBA]

I have seen the Consumer Reports. Looks like the most reliable cars are Japanese - mostly Subaru, Honda and Toyota.

Subaru, Honda and Toyota cars are made in the United States.

[mountaineer]

Subaru, Honda and Toyota cars are made in the United States.

Some of them.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Subaru, Honda and Toyota cars are made in the United States.

Don't know about Subaru or Honda, but all Toyotas are currently made in the US save the Prius, 4Runner and I think the new Crown.

Japanese quality is superb, which is one reason I researched which are made in Japan and bought a 4Runner

[Gefn]

Pinto. Worst car ever.

[banddag]

All Chryslers are total garbage. At 108,000 miles my Chryslers head gasket went south. $4200 repair. I bought the car new and change the oil every 4000 miles. Oh the intake gasket started leaking at 55k miles but it was covered under warranty.

I have friends with Toyotas and Hondas with 225-250k  miles and only had to replace brakes, batteries and tires. A neighbor has a 20 year old Toyota Corolla with 320k miles and it is still running. It is handfe me down to each kid as they get their license.

I will never again buy an American car.i.e Big 3  I only bought American Big 3 the last 20 years because I had a client that owns 10 car dealerships. I am retiring this year so  no more

[MeganC]

Pinto. Worst car ever.

In 100 years there will still be a Pinto in working condition somewhere. Can't say the same for most anything built these days.

[Bigun]

Pinto. Worst car ever.

I think a Chevy Chevette would run it a close race.

[bigheadfred]

I think a Chevy Chevette would run it a close race.

I helped my sister move from upstate New York to Salt Lake City with a Chevette and a small Uhaul trailer. When we hit the headwinds of Nebraska I had to get out and push.

[ChemEngrMBA]

All Chryslers are total garbage. At 108,000 miles my Chryslers head gasket went south. $4200 repair. I bought the car new and change the oil every 4000 miles. Oh the intake gasket started leaking at 55k miles but it was covered under warranty.

Individual stories are meaningless.  You have to look at some large numbers of reports.
I bought my Wife a brand new Mazda 3 which ran fine until it blew a head gasket at only 85,000 miles.  Since the repair would cost more than it was worth, I sold it for $800 to a used car dealer exactly where the engine steamed to a dead end.

[MeganC]

Individual stories are meaningless.  You have to look at some large numbers of reports.
I bought my Wife a brand new Mazda 3 which ran fine until it blew a head gasket at only 85,000 miles.  Since the repair would cost more than it was worth, I sold it for $800 to a used car dealer exactly where the engine steamed to a dead end.

I learned to do cost benefit analysis on such things.

If a $6000 car needs $5000 worth of work and the replacement costs $140,000 then you do the work.

[deb]

I think a Chevy Chevette would run it a close race.

Twenty years ago I watched in awe
As my Dad drove up the driveway.
More than proud to have a brand new family car.
Thirty miles to the gallon
0 to 60, sometimes.
I remember putting down the back seat
And lying in the hatchback.
Looking at the sky watching trees go by.
I was the son of a preacher
And he was a rich poor man
No a.c.
And no FM
And no regrets
In my Chevette
Yeah
In my Chevette
The winter cracked the highway
And we tried to dodge the pot holes.
He never promised us it would be a gentle ride.
He never had a problem though,
Keeping it on the narrow road.
No a.c.
And no FM
And no regrets
In my Chevette



https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4ht3pgS2L7M

[mountaineer]

I learned to drive (stick shift) in my parents' 1971 Pinto. We all loved that little car.

[banddag]

I think a Chevy Chevette would run it a close race.

I remember Chevettes back in my HS and college days as  being pretty tough little cars. They were super easy and cheap to fix.  A low mileage Chevette just sold for $37,000 at a Mecum auction.

[cato potatoe]

I drove a Jaguar XJ for 15 years, bought new when Ford owned them.  The drivetrain was reliable, but the suspension maintenance was enough to pay for another car altogether.  One winter all four air struts went out - $1500 per corner for original equipment.  The air pump had to be replaced too.  Ball joints, control arms, tie rods, bushings were consumable parts and I must have cycled through five sets. 

[Smokin Joe]

I learned to do cost benefit analysis on such things.

If a $6000 car needs $5000 worth of work and the replacement costs $140,000 then you do the work.

Yep. Additionally: How many miles should I get out of this repair (and the rest of thee vehicle) and how much will that cost per mile.

All my vehicles are 20th century...

[ChemEngrMBA]

I read that 47% of electric vehicle owners return to gasoline engine cars.  Also that Hertz Rental couldn't rent Teslas, so they sold them all at heavy discounts.  Recharging a Tesla takes as much electricity as 100 to 150 houses use.  This nonsense cannot continue.

Electric cars do make nice fires though.

[Free Vulcan]

A Buick withe a 3.8L is the only car I will own.

The only bad part is they don't make trucks as far as I know.

[Kamaji]

Subaru, Honda and Toyota cars are made in the United States.

They’re designed by Japanese engineers and are built on assembly lines run by Japanese. 

[BobfromWB]

Those Jeep CVT (automatic) transmissions are crap

Old one started slipping, so I replaced it ($4500), then a year later the new one starts slipping too

So that's why we see jeeps continuing to drive to Harbor Freight on TV.

[PeteS in CA]

What do they mean, “American”?

Not a very American list.

These days the best you get is GM and Ford products.  The only you get.  Oh wait, maybe Tesla.

VW has been manufacturing cars in Pennsylvania since the 1970s. My 1979 VW Rabbit was built there, not in Germany. Hyundai manufactures several models in Alabama. Volvo manufactures a couple of models in South Carolina. Rivian is an American EV company.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Subaru, Honda and Toyota cars are made in the United States.

Mostly, but not all

[Wingnut]

MY 2019 Outback was a POS.  Infotainment system delaminated.  No warranty. 1k to replace it.  Battery drain. Some problem with a faulty modual.  They Paid 75% of the repair but wouldn't pay for the replacement battery.  Let th lesbians and their golden retrievers have the brand. 
I'll buy a 71 Vega before I'll buy a Subie again.

[Kamaji]

MY 2019 Outback was a POS.  Infotainment system delaminated.  No warranty. 1k to replace it.  Battery drain. Some problem with a faulty modual.  They Paid 75% of the repair but wouldn't pay for the replacement battery.  Let th lesbians and their golden retrievers have the brand. 
I'll buy a 71 Vega before I'll buy a Subie again.

It's a shame that the effed those things up so badly in the early models.  I have a 2025 model and, so far, no problems with the infotainment system, and no strange battery drains (fingers crossed).  Like it better than the 2017 VW Passat I had before.

[mountaineer]

Many of my friends around here have Subarus and I've owned two. (None of us is a lesbian,  incidentally).  With our hills, winding roads, and sometimes brutal winters, they're very practical.  I haven't heard any complaints about reliability.

[roamer_1]

I'll buy a 71 Vega before I'll buy a Subie again.

Vegas are GREAT. You just have to outfit em with a tree-fitty, a rockcrusher, and a shortened up corporate posi..

[Smokin Joe]

Vegas are GREAT. You just have to outfit em with a tree-fitty, a rockcrusher, and a shortened up corporate posi..

If you got the time lag down on the throttle and hit the gears right, you could do amazing things with the stock 4 banger and a manual tranny. It wasn't a drag racer, but through the twisties in the Blue Ridge I drove drivers of 'greater' cars nuts, because their rides were set up for going straight.

[roamer_1]

If you got the time lag down on the throttle and hit the gears right, you could do amazing things with the stock 4 banger and a manual tranny. It wasn't a drag racer, but through the twisties in the Blue Ridge I drove drivers of 'greater' cars nuts, because their rides were set up for going straight.

Yeah... not much turning going on with a 350 and tubbed out for 50's... But man! what a ride! I built 4 of those, ground up, in my life, though one was a 283 - If I had it to do again, I would build off that 283 again... Quick. Short in the stroke. But yeah. I am a Vega fan.

My butt belongs in a Chevelle or a Camino, but don't cuss theVega for2nd place.

[DCPatriot]

It's a shame that the effed those things up so badly in the early models.  I have a 2025 model and, so far, no problems with the infotainment system, and no strange battery drains (fingers crossed).  Like it better than the 2017 VW Passat I had before.

I'm a fan of German tech.

Still driving a 2016 VW Passat, with 240K on the odometer.  Prior to that, a  2012 VW Jetta Sport Wagon turbo diesel. put 214K...VW bought it back out of that lawsuit regarding diesel engines.

Tires, oil changes, brakes, rotors.  That's it!!  Knock wood...

[Bigun]

I'm a fan of German tech.

Still driving a 2016 VW Passat, with 240K on the odometer.  Prior to that, a  2012 VW Jetta Sport Wagon turbo diesel. put 214K...VW bought it back out of that lawsuit regarding diesel engines.

Tires, oil changes, brakes, rotors.  That's it!!  Knock wood...

Many moons ago the wife and I were doing yard work when a fellow pulled off the road and walked over to me asking if I was the guy he had been told about who knew a little about Volkswagens. I said yes, and he invited me to take a look at the 79 Rabbit he had on his trailer. It was perfectly straight, good paint, brand new Michelin tires, about 15K on the clock but the engine head was laying in the back. He said he was looking to get rid of it and asked if I might be interested. I was not really looking for a project at the time so I thought if I insulted him, he would go away and offered him $300.00 for it. He responded, "where do you want me to unload it".

I spent another $300 or so on it and drove it for the next 6 years putting about 250K on it before selling it to a guy down the road for $800. Bought a used, 30K on the clock, 86 Saab 900S, put 339K on it before selling it to my BIL. Wish I could find another car like that, but I don't think they make them anymore. @DCPatriot

 

[andy58-in-nh]

Well, if my father were still around, I know what he'd say: the 1977 Chrysler Cordoba.

He bought one because he needed another car after I had gone off to college and my mom had to get a job.

He just liked the look of it, and might have been influenced by Ricardo Montalban's commercials touting its "fine Corinthian leather" seats and its other purported virtues.

Well... the seats may have been nice, but the mechanical parts of the vehicle rapidly began to deteriorate. First, it was a water pump. And then a leaky head gasket. An oil pump. The alternator. Another water pump. Then, something with the suspension.

On and on it went... five or so years of misery and repair bills and hollered curses coming from the garage of our little house, until the old man would take no more of having been made a fool.

At that point, the brake pads and rotors were shot and the damned thing would only stop with loud screeching from the undercarriage. He sold it to a dealer for a song and got another (better, not-a-Chrysler) automobile.

But before he left the dealership, he popped open the hood of the miserable old wreck, reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a large wire cutter.

Yanking on the still classy, brass Cordoba hood ornament, he proceeded to snap the wire cable and quickly pocketed the proud little ornament.

When we got back home, he went down to his workshop and pulled out a small marble stand that he had purchased for the occasion.

My dad then proceeded to place some epoxy on the ornament's base and affixed it - for all time - to the marble display stand.

He then purposefully pulled out his Dymo label maker and typed out several letters to create a tag for the new display he had created, and pulling the plastic tape off of the adhesive side of the label, put the label on it and stood it up on the shelf in front of him.

The label bore but a single word: SCHMUCK. 

A reminder, made in his characteristically unsubtle manner, to never, ever buy a Chrysler product again. 

And he never did.

To this day, in my own garage, I keep his little ornament sitting on a shelf near me, as a tribute to both my Dad's memory, and to his hard-earned wisdom.

[roamer_1]

Many moons ago the wife and I were doing yard work when a fellow pulled off the road and walked over to me asking if I was the guy he had been told about who knew a little about Volkswagens. I said yes, and he invited me to take a look at the 79 Rabbit he had on his trailer. It was perfectly straight, good paint, brand new Michelin tires, about 15K on the clock but the engine head was laying in the back. He said he was looking to get rid of it and asked if I might be interested. I was not really looking for a project at the time so I thought if I insulted him, he would go away and offered him $300.00 for it. He responded, "where do you want me to unload it".

I spent another $300 or so on it and drove it for the next 6 years putting about 250K on it before selling it to a guy down the road for $800.

I really like those Rabbits... The VWs from that era are what I know. Pretty good little cars. zippy. The only thing that sucks is adjusting the valves.

[Kamaji]

I'm a fan of German tech.

Still driving a 2016 VW Passat, with 240K on the odometer.  Prior to that, a  2012 VW Jetta Sport Wagon turbo diesel. put 214K...VW bought it back out of that lawsuit regarding diesel engines.

Tires, oil changes, brakes, rotors.  That's it!!  Knock wood...

I was, until my 2017 Passat R-line.  Part of it was my fault for choosing a vehicle with "sport" tires to drive in an area with a lot of potholes and broken roads - I must have broken the sidewall on three different tires, which each time required an expensive replacement of both tires on the affected end.  Other parts were failures in the engineering - the right taillight constantly burned itself out, the door screws were not properly threadlocked, and I ended up having to purchase a whole new set of door screws and threadlock them properly myself - nothing like having a door come loose on a new car - and the information center touchscreen slowly stopped responding, with nonresponsiveness starting on the left side, and moving slowly to the right side; finally, on the day that I went to trade it in, half a mile from the Subaru dealership, the entire dashboard lit up with the "christmas tree" effect - thankfully, only orange and yellow lights, no red lights.

I still like the way they look, but I won't get another VW for a while.

[libertybele]

Vegas are GREAT. You just have to outfit em with a tree-fitty, a rockcrusher, and a shortened up corporate posi..

Are we talking about the  same  Vegas that had a tendency to catch fire?  I was driving home from work one evening and a Vega was in the middle of the highway on fire -- the car burnt along with the highway underneath it.

I owned a Vega for a couple of months (it was my first car).  My father bough it on the cheap and the darn thing had rear end problems so I sold it,  I had saved up some money and bought a Pontiac Sunbird.   I  loved that car.  Midnight blue with gold metal flake with gold pinstriping.  I put over 100,000 miles on the car and sold it for about $500 to a friend and he put another 35,000+ on the car.  The darn thing was great in the snow -- put snow tires on it and there she'd go -- never got stuck while other cars were off the road stuck in the snow.  I put new brakes on a couple of times, new tires and did oil changes.  That was it.

Over the years, I/we have owned other cars, but that Pontiac Sunbird is still my favorite.

[roamer_1]

Are we talking about the  same  Vegas that had a tendency to catch fire?  I was driving home from work one evening and a Vega was in the middle of the highway on fire -- the car burnt along with the highway underneath it.

Yeah... but that's largely untrue. And besides, I would so modify the thing that all that would be different anyway. All that would be 'Vega' is the body. The whole chassis and running gear would be changed in hot rod fashion. To include putting a real frame under it, because if you mount a decent small block chevy in it, and tub it out for 50 series wheels/tires, I guarantee it will yank the front end right off the ground if you stand on it. So that crappy unibody frame would fold in half the first time you turned it loose... *Nothing* like the Vega you had. 

[...] I had saved up some money and bought a Pontiac Sunbird.   I  loved that car.  Midnight blue with gold metal flake with gold pinstriping.  I put over 100,000 miles on the car and sold it for about $500 to a friend and he put another 35,000+ on the car.  The darn thing was great in the snow -- put snow tires on it and there she'd go -- never got stuck while other cars were off the road stuck in the snow. 

Over the years, I/we have owned other cars, but that Pontiac Sunbird is still my favorite.

I am a Pontiac freak. That was always my bucket list car - always loved the 69 Firebirds and any T/A... But I only owned one, ever in my life... That was an early 70's firebird with a factory 428 police interceptor motor... VERY rare car. I made it a bit rarer by wrapping that one around a phone pole one night. I still have that motor, packed in diesel, sitting at my buddy's shop.

But thus ended my entire career as far as Pontiacs go... Always loved em. Never could afford em. 

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Many of my friends around here have Subarus and I've owned two. (None of us is a lesbian,  incidentally).  With our hills, winding roads, and sometimes brutal winters, they're very practical.  I haven't heard any complaints about reliability.

You won't hear complaints on their safety, either.

Hit a concrete wall after a flying-metal induced front tire blowout doing +60mph in my Forester on IH 45, totalling the car.

Walked away without a scratch.

Am now looking for one for my 16 yo granddaughter to help keep her safe

[roamer_1]

Many of my friends around here have Subarus and I've owned two. (None of us is a lesbian,  incidentally).  With our hills, winding roads, and sometimes brutal winters, they're very practical.  I haven't heard any complaints about reliability.

Around here ALL hillbilly cabins have a big, lifted 4wd pickup and a Subie sitting in front of em. Usually a Forester.

Where the rubber hits the road, if you want the most durable, best traction, best all around mountain car, hands down, the Rockies would say 'Subaru'.

[Kamaji]

Many of my friends around here have Subarus and I've owned two. (None of us is a lesbian,  incidentally).  With our hills, winding roads, and sometimes brutal winters, they're very practical.  I haven't heard any complaints about reliability.

We have a 2025 Outback.  So far I’m happy with it, although I am still a little skeptical of the constant velocity transmission.

[roamer_1]

We have a 2025 Outback.  So far I’m happy with it, although I am still a little skeptical of the constant velocity transmission.

Every 15000 miles or so, pay attention to the heads... Whatever else you might hear about a Subie, that one is a bare fact. They NEED a head gasket and the heads torqued back down... very common in Subaru. So if your mechanic says it's time, BELIEVE it... And spend the money.

[Kamaji]

Every 15000 miles or so, pay attention to the heads... Whatever else you might hear about a Subie, that one is a bare fact. They NEED a head gasket and the heads torqued back down... very common in Subaru. So if your mechanic says it's time, BELIEVE it... And spend the money.

I follow the subaru outback forum, so I'm aware of the head gasket issues.  That being said, Subaru has made a number of changes to the engine that have fixed many of the prior problems with head gaskets.