Cars you owned that never Broke

[SigSense]

Quite a few vehicles I've had fall into this category, with a common theme: Japanese manufacture:

-1972 Datsun 240Z. Fast and no issues. Manual.
-1974 Toyota Corona. Reliable and no issues. Automatic.
-1979 Nissan truck. Totally bulletproof. Manual.
-1980 Toyota Celica. Great car, fun to drive. No problems. Manual.
-1984 Honda Civic. Put about 50K on it, no problems. Manual
-1986 Honda Accord. Put over 100K on this without a single problem. Manual.
-1993 Suzuki Samurai. Many miles on this little SUV. No problems. Manual.
-2002 Toyota Tacoma. Still own it, have about 150K on her right now, No issues. Automatic.

 

[ben550]

1999 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4.0L 4x4 bought with 101k miles drove it 4 years to 158k miles. Never had it fail on me.

2001 4runner SR5 3.4L 4x4 bought with 109k miles drove till 178k miles. Never had it fail on me.

Both needed some love but never anything major. More fine tuning stuff... I'd buy both again.

 

[flyinhawaiian01]

82 Honduh Accord LX, 5 speed loaded, no wait, yeah, that one fell apart on us.
Okay, I got it! 93 Eagle Summit wagon! Damn, nope, blew the motor up after owning it 3 weeks.

Hmmm, I know! 2000 Durango, brand new slt+. Well shit, that blew two transmissions.

Alright, 98 Isuzu rodeo----ARRRGGGHHHH! That one came with a blown head gasket!

How about the 85 supra? Well, it WAS a good vehicle--until I stuffed a turbo in it! Guess that one's my fault.

Oooh! My 87 xtra cab! Well, I've gone through one engine, rebuilt the trans once, but it runs great now! Well, except that it won't pass emissions. Crap!

Yeah, I got nothin'...

 

[RainCityShecks]

92 Honda Civic DX - Parents took it to 80K. I took it to 130K. Ignition issues and transmission replacement at 130K.

 

[Socco]

That is funny. I never thought I would find anyone on this site that even knows what a Thunderbird super coupe is. I bought a new one in 1990 with the manual transmission. I put on a nice dual exhaust and some various super charger parts. Turned out to be one of the best cars I owned. Only problem was a bad cid sensor, water pump and several warped front brake rotors. I had it 11 years and the only reason I sold it was that I was moving to Arizona.

Nice. Mine was a 35th Anniversary in Auto. I loved driving it, but it was 10 years old when I bought it. The previous owner drove the snot out of it, as did I. Still to this day, whenever I hear that supercharger whine, my pants shrink.

 

[03_4x4Runner]

Nice. Mine was a 35th Anniversary in Auto. I loved driving it, but it was 10 years old when I bought it. The previous owner drove the snot out of it, as did I. Still to this day, whenever I hear that supercharger whine, my pants shrink.

Those 35th anniversarys looked nice. I still see a Super Coupe now and then and they still look nice, just the right stance and lower body panels. Mine even had auto dimming headlights. I do not understand why no one uses them today. I can imagine owning one after it is ten years old could be a problem. They used a lot of unique low volume expensive parts. Did you ever hear of the super coupe club of America? I do not know if still exist but they made hi performance parts for them.

 

[Atlanta_man]

1966 Pontiac LeMans SOHC I6 Sprint four-barrel 207 horsepower

1979 Toyota Supra

1984 Toyota Supra 5-speed 160 hp 240K miles

1981 Pontiac GrandAM V6

1999 Pontiac Bonneville 240 hp supercharged SSEi

(I could list 5 times as many cars that did break, the '71 Corvette broke all the time)
Could have retired 10 years earlier had I not bought so many new cars.

 

[Socco]

Those 35th anniversarys looked nice. I still see a Super Coupe now and then and they still look nice, just the right stance and lower body panels. Mine even had auto dimming headlights. I do not understand why no one uses them today. I can imagine owning one after it is ten years old could be a problem. They used a lot of unique low volume expensive parts. Did you ever hear of the super coupe club of America? I do not know if still exist but they made hi performance parts for them.

I agree with you on the look and stance. If I found another one with no miles in some old ladies garage, I'd be bringing it home. Classy and bad-ass at the same time. The SCCOA is still around, but they're just a club. I was part of the SCCOWC (Super Coupe Club of Western Canada) but sadly, I see that the chapter has folded up. Rarely do I ever see one around here anymore. My neighbour across the street had one at the same time too.

 

[RUN-4-LIFE]

My dads Sequoia up until 310k miles, that's when his passenger ball joint finally failed and collapsed luckily he was right by a shop and wasn't out of commission long or that he was driving (THANK GOD). At 300k we did water pump, radiator and timing belt. When we took the car in the belt looked great for having that many miles on it. Now at 350k it's gonna go in to replace the original shocks and have the necessary parts be lubricated. I left out the 3 batteries he has been through though, they don't count. Hope I have the same luck he has with my toyota

 

[8086bruce]

My wife's last two odyssey's have been flawless.

 

[gm350reratliff]

So far the only vehicle that hasn't broke on me is my 2014 TE but it only has 20k on the clock. Even my 4th gen kind of broke last winter, both rear wheel bearings were toast.

The two most reliable vehicles have been my 4th gen and a 2004 Z71 (I know, crazy right). The only thing to "break" in 140k on the Z71 was the water pump (just leaking though).

The worst vehicle was a 1996 Mercury Mystique (mistake). Couldn't go 100 miles without breaking down. That car was the very reason for my first cell phone.

 

[Jeff614]

In the 6 vehicles I've owned myself, my 4Runner is by far the only problem free one.

Other than that my parents were Toyota faithfuls and drove a van (not the egg-van Previa, the boxy older one) and a Tercel for years. Rarely serviced them. Never broke down.

The van was my first vehicle at 16. Literally a cab over engine design with a manual tranny. Thing was oddly designed but ran forever. Thought i got lucky once when it got stolen (key had less bumps than a butter knife) but we got it back a week later lol. Sold it to our mailman with 350,000 miles on it. Since then we moved out of the area, but a neighbor I keep in touch with told me he still owns and drives it!

- Jeff

 

[flyrv9]

1995 Nissan 2WD pickup. 190K miles. 5 speed and still on the original clutch. I still drive it a time or two per week. My only repair (other than things that wear out) is a water pump last month.

2000 Tundra TRD SR5 4.7 4WD. 110K miles Replaced 1 coil pack and 2 O2 sensors due to failures. Replaced headlamp bulbs for brighter ones. Replaced timing belt at recommended 90K along with water pump. No other issues.

2013 T4R SR5 4WD 8K miles no issues.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Sorry to rain on your parade guys, but I owned one of Detroit's finest for my first car.

If they made cars half as well today as they did then, the skies would be blue and rivers would flow fine French wine.

The car????

A 1971 Chevy Vega station wagon. Yessir, you heard that right.

At the tender age of just 16 years old, I became the proud 6th-12th owner (unknown how many people actually owned it but I did hear at one time a guy that knew a guy that I knew used it to deliver pizza's) but that just means that the prior owners wanted to share the love that this car exuded.

It had the standard factory rust option, was some sort of green but had been expertly upgraded with a shake and shoot R5 primer coating.

It had the upgraded El-Cheapo nylon seat covers and a standard 4-speed high performance transmission to back up all the HP that the standard 140 CI aluminum sleeved (also lovingly called "oil burner") engine delivered.

Gentlemen, I kid you not when I tell you that on a good day, if the wind was right and humidity low that baby would easily do 30 seconds in the quarter mile and reach 0-60 in a mere 19 seconds.

Unfortunately it was not meant to be.

One day as yours truly was driving down Alameda to my job as a dish cleansing consultant the battery fell through it's holding apparatus on the fender well (no doubt weakened by the factory applied rust treatment), somehow got in front of the front wheel (which I subsequently rolled over and shattered into an acid infused road orgy) and there, she died.

I cried for a bit (not really but makes for a good story), thought about pulling the plates off and just leaving it there but I couldn't. Our bond was strong my friends.

I managed to get her home and through many hours of bondo, fiberglass work and baling wire she was as good as new. Really, she was better than the day she was in the showroom.

I sold her for, brace yourselves - $450. Yep. I actually found somebody that, as I did, could see the beauty that was the 1971 Chevy Vega station wagon.

So, the next time you want to post up about the vehicle that has given you the LEAST amount of problems - understand that there are those of out there - the outcasts - that laugh and mock you.

Oh yeah, it blew a head gasket AFTER I had just gotten done doing my first clutch replacement in the drive-thru of Burger King and was spewing a sweet, stinky white smoke out of the exhaust just in time for the hottest girl in my high school to come out the front door of said Burger King and look directly at me.

I rest my case.

 

[T4R2014]

My 4Runner. 1996 Volvo 850 Turbo. 1999 BMW 528i. 1995 BMW 530i. Two 1996 Lincoln Town Cars. Everyone will think I am totally bullsh!tting you guys, but 2007 Land Rover Discovery 3. The 2014 X5 diesel that replaced it cannot touch it. Follow your maintenance schedules on any vehicle.

 

[Eagle62]

1991 From Mustang 5.0 LX
2003 Ford Ranger 4.0 FX Off-Road

 

[diverscale]

the 4runner is the only problem-free vehicle I've owned.

Even my 2 tacomas that I had gotten brand new got minor annoying problems.

 

[4FL]

1996 f-350 psd, 180k miles, bought new, just the trans at 130k, and a few cam sensors, and a wheel bearing. Yes, I took it off-road frequently, deep mud, towed, etc. Those models in my opinion are one of the best cars ever made.

 

[Hondarider]

This is embarassing, but I had a 1995 Geo Tracker 4x4 soft top that I bought brand new when I was 21. It towed snowmobiles, dirt bikes, Sea Doos, ATVs, and on more than 1 occassion, all of my worldly posessions all over the country. Of course, I was angry that all I could afford was a Tracker when all I really wanted was a Wrangler or a Tacoma, so I beat it relentlessly on the trails, in the snow, and in the mud. I rung its neck and wound it out to redline on every up shift because I was a dink in my 20s and I thought I had scary driving talent.

However, I changed the oil and filter religously every 3,000 miles and it never broke down once in the 110,000 miles that I owned it. The only mechanical expense ever was a set of front brake pads at around 70K miles. Aside from the stigma of being a Geo Tracker, it really was an outstanding little piece of machinery. After I was done with it, my cousin drove it for 4 years of college and never had an issue. He then tried to trade it in on a new Mercedes and the dealer told him to keep it. They didn't even want it on their lot. I think his sister got it after that. It might have been the best vehicle I've ever owned from a reliability standpoint. It was a good lesson in humility as well.

 

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