OT: Declining quality of new cars & trucks?

[Red Tornado]

In 1997 the wife & I bought a brand new Ford Escort wagon, the first new vehicle either of us had purchased ever. That thing was phenomenal. A little over 100K miles later, we traded it on a truck for me. We literally NEVER had it in the shop for anything besides routine maintenance. We are very diligent with getting our vehicles serviced at the intervals spec'd in the owner's manuals, I'm sure that helped. I hated to get rid of that car, but needed the truck and couldn't afford to buy it outright. I'm sure that Escort was an outlier, but the other vehicles that we've owned through the years have not been too far off, or at least not an unrealistic amount of repairs in IMO.

Fast forward to the present, I bought a 2020 Ford Ranger in Jan 2021, and my wife bought a 2023 VW Taos in Feb 2023. Both were bought new and each literally had less than 20 miles on the odometer. Bought new this time around for two main reasons: 1) factory warranty, and 2) less time in the shop and the hassle/inconvenience that accompanies it. Truck has 36K and VW just hit 15K. However... in addition to routine maintenance, both vehicles have had their share of excessive shop time for warranty issues. Multiple A/C system leaks, slip yoke slop (that the dealer refuses to work on), leaking head gasket, seat belt issues, occasional rough shifting, misc electrical issues, just to name a few for these vehicles. I was ready to Lemon-Law the Ranger, but I think the Ford dealer figured out we were headed that way and made an effort on one of the issues.

Two vehicles are a very small sample size, and our issues maybe are not representative of the average new vehicle. The stuff happening is exactly what we hoped to avoid buying new. Anyone here had any similar experiences with recently purchased new vehicles?

[nickl]

FWIW your experience with an Escort mirrors one I owned for about 12 years. I bought mine used, about two years old with about 15K on the odometer. No issues and only routine maintenance after 150K of mixed driving. More than half were city miles.

[eddief]

with 140K miles on it. Service records suggest nothing has ever been done to it except replacing normal wear items. It did have meticulous service from its original owner...always at the dealer. It now has 160K on it and still no issues. I guess I might be looking into a world of hurt but so far so good.

Maybe proves your point.

[Ralph]

My wife's 2022 Lincoln Nautilus has been terrific. Nothing except a couple maintenance visits to dealership. And it has a lot of electronic stuff. Same story re the 2012 Ford Edge Limited before it.

Family 2012 Honda CRV EXL has been about perfect also.

I do believe as vehicles have got more complicated with electronic stuff, more can go wrong. Direct injection and turbo chargers add complexity.

If our next vehicle has direct Injection, will make sure it has dual injectors to keep valves clean from carbon buildup. A drivability issue that shows up on some GDI engines.

[peanutgallery]

Current VW and Ford products do leave a bit to be desired . Not quite into cybertruck territory, but trending there

I bit the bullet and bought a low mileage 2018 highlander a while back and its been solid. In all honesty I don't feel like doing R and D for shareholders, no more new cars for me. I'd recommend sitting back and buying a used car. Get a model that fits your needs and isn't a meme for tow truck companies

[p nut]

We’ve had the following in the last 10 years:
2013 Outback 2.5 CVT
2017 Sienna AWD
2019 F150 Ecoboost(current)
2022 Telluride (current)

Outback and Sienna had ~80k when we sold. So not too many miles. Both were solid. No trips to the dealer.

Current car/truck have also been solid. The F150 has some weird front sensor issue (for front collision) but the dealer can’t replicate it. Overall, I don’t see any worse quality from the 90’s Honda’s I used to own.

I can’t speak for VW (never owned one since my friend is a diehard VW head but have had numerous problems with every one he’s owned since I’ve known him in our 25 year relationship). I don’t think Ford puts as much R&D into midsize trucks as fullsize. I’d look at the manufacturer’s high selling vehicles and get that model.

[buddybikes]

2013 Lexus 200h - starts and goes always

[AngryScientist]

The German brands have lost the script on what used to make them special, for the most part

These new VW cute little SUV things are awful in every way, in my experience.

Then again, VW has never been known for stellar reliability. VW dudes are infamous for having this sticker on their window. It's like of a love/hate thing.

[vertr]

We've got a Subaru fleet right now and they have been all reliable. I think Toyota would be the same.

[rice rocket]

Originally Posted by vertr

We've got a Subaru fleet right now and they have been all reliable. I think Toyota would be the same.

Depends.

Subaru has had issues with assembly lately where they overuse enough RTV to clog the oiling system. Google "Subaru RTV", it's apparently very widespread and Subaru is failing to acknowledge it as a problem.

Toyota has had similar quality issues lately, where there's a stop sale on all their turbo motors because they didn't check the blocks after machining for chips. They have acknowledged the problem though, and are replacing blocks.

Ford is replacing all their 1.0L Ecoboost motors for oiling systems that shatter.


Bottom line, all brands have their issues, some more than others, gotta know a little bit about the history of the motors going into cars if you want to make a good decision.

[jadedaid]

I had a 2018 VW Golf R which I thought was excellent, had zero issues with it apart from some trim melting in the sun (!!) and sold it at ca. 50k miles. That car was in for regular maintenance, oil and filter changes every 5k though so it was about as maintained as a car can be. I thought it a good representation as the last of the previous generation VWs.

I drove some of the more recent VW offerings (those cute little SUVs as AngryScientist put it) and they were rather miserable. The interior trim quality felt about on par with a Hyundai i10, they were terrible to drive and the manual gear lever came off in one of our rental cars. When we reported this to the front desk, they said it's fine, that it happens to all of them. You can tell they are cutting corners everywhere on the interior and I would much rather buy a Kia than one of the new VWs, and I say this as someone who's had a soft spot for VW.

The worst experience I had recently was a BMW 840i. It was a Miami rental so more abused than most rentals but apart from the digital dash I thought the interior was a step down from our Honda Accord. It just felt cheap and not at all becoming of a 100k car. The germans really have lost the plot. I used to travel a fair bit for work so had plenty of rental car experience and althouh most of the new cars have been underwhelming, the germans have been disappointing because I expect more.

I think these days you need to carefully pick out specific models with a manufacturer that you know is solid, and probably go for their older gen cars. I hate to say that I look at Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys with a newfound respect in the last couple years.

[93KgBike]

I have had luck with Turo, renting high-end cars. I just finished a 1250 mile road trip in a late 10s Porsche Cayenne and it was really excellent for seat comfort and drive-quality. It was a fun easy drive.

Would recommend to a friend

[merlinmurph]

How timely.....

I just spent almost $4K on my '15 Ford F-250 for maintenance, with just over 100K miles on it. We use it to tow our travel trailer. Trucks are expensive.

About 6 months ago, check engine light came on and I needed to replace 2 coils (there are 8 coils and 16 spark plugs). Recently got another check engine and replaced the remaining 6. Coils are $187/apiece.

Also had to replace the exhaust manifolds. Really?

100K miles is just getting warmed up, as far as I'm concerned.

Next truck is a Tundra. Toyota all the way.

[p nut]

Originally Posted by merlinmurph

Next truck is a Tundra. Toyota all the way.

Well, just last week, I was riding in my friend’s 2022 Tundra. 30k miles. Driven easy by a 55 year old. The truck starts beeping and he looks down and reads “engine stopped. Pull over” message on the dash. Pulled over, turned it off. Sat for a moment and started it up again. Five seconds later, it turns off again with the same message. This happens 3-4 more times. Finally, starts and stays running. Luckily, not too far from his home. He’ll see what the dealer says.

So buy the last gen tundra with the 5.7, if you’re going to buy one. But one big problem with Tundra’s is payload. Especially if you’re using it for towing.

[biker72]

My family and I have had good luck with Hondas.
2008 CRV
2013 Fit
2015 Accord
Both my son and I are now running 2019 CRV's.

Both the Fit and Accord had windshield problems.
I had a couple of software update recalls that the dealer took care of.
No other problems other than routine oil, tire, battery maintenance.