Originally Posted by Troopa-R
I'm gonna disagree. True, fewer things go wrong with newer cars, but I think that's why JD Power's got that 3 years on survey. The further down the road you go, the more you have to question whether problems are because of manufacturing, owner negligence, or amount of wear and tear.
I personally know more than a few people with relatively nice cars who despise having to fill up the gas, let alone wash the car, check the engine, and take it in for regular service. And people who own Super Dutys are probably more likely to drive their vehicles rough than say a Camry owner.
Ultimately, I think if there's something wrong with the car that was manufacturing/engineering related, it would likely appear sooner rather than later. And while a 100,000+ mile survey might be nice to have, too many things would put the results into question.
I have 132,000 miles on my 2000 Prelude I've owned since it was brand new. The car is still on the factory clutch, brake rotors, and everything else but the belts, tires, and brake pads. I do the routine maint., but I can honestly say I don't "baby" the car..... that is, I enjoy it. It's nothing for me to take it up to redline (7500) when I'm accelerating on the on ramp to the free way in each gear, top out at 80 in no time, and set the cruise. I've taken it through twisting hills where you are constantly shifting to keep the car in the sweet spot. And through all this, it still does not leak a drop of oil, the A/C is still ice cold, the heater will make you sweat in the middle of a blizzard, there is not a spec of rust anywhere, and I still get surprised reactions from people when I take them for a drive and show them how many miles are on it and how old it is......
What's my point? It's a Honda. 'Nuff said.
While there are no absolute guarantees that every Honda and every Toyota will be built rock sold and reliable for years and miles, they're about as close as it comes to assurance that your car will in fact last 6-10 years and 200,000 + miles, whether you baby it or not.