15 Beater Cars that Won't Disappoint

[rtabish]

well, and they kind of "went for the duck" with a few of the cars...sure, everyone knows about the general dependability of a lot of Japanese cars....we keep getting reminded about THAT when ever talk about what ever happened to the American Car Manufacturing industry comes up.

This is interesting. I just read somewhere that this is actually the stereotype that the foreign cars last longer so people don't bother to maintain their American car because they figure they don't need to because it's not as good as a foreign car.

What they were pretty much saying is a lot of American and foreign cars are equal and will last just as long but they both need to be maintained.

i couldn't agree more...any car will last if maintained. i don't think it is so much that people are influenced by marketing, though. to believe anything about maintaining or not maintaining their cars [though there are a lot of claims about service intervals going into much longer periods than they actually should be done]. it has been my experience that most people are just never taught anything about basic automotive maintenance.

when we used to have friends, shop classes, and parents or siblings who would teach us what we needed to know about basic routine maintenance, the likelihood that we could keep a car in decent enough shape....regardless of manufacturer, for extended periods of time, would go up as well...thus increasing the car's reputation for longevity and general value,

school budget cuts have led to program cuts...including industrial arts classes. our friends have more interest in video games than keeping their cars running, and the chances of Dad or big brother having the time to teach us what we need to know about working on our own cars has diminished with the demands of such details as work and responsibilities which have taken up most of everyone's time.

throw into that mix the fact that modern cars are more complicated and require skills and tools that go beyond the simple socket set and a few good wrenches, and you see the reason why most people don't maintain their own cars, especially when more and more parts on these cars are throw-away items that really can not be repaired or rebuilt on an economical level. it gets less practical to maintain your car and makes more sense to just drive it a few years without maintaining it and then trade it in for a new model. unfortunately, this kind of thinking leads to cars that are only 10 or 15 years old that have pretty much reached the end of their serviceable lives.

not because they are completely worn out due to build quality, but due to a general lack of proper maintenance.

[repinS]

Every Mazda 626 I have personally known (just 2 or 3) have basically been a pile of crap on wheels. I don't believe that they are all that reliable

I wouldn't let the 626 speak for Japanese cars. They were pretty terrible

[ChilinMichael]

Any car can be maintained if you throw the necessary parts at it...it's just what parts compared to the next car it needs. All cars are not created equal. Working in a shop I realized that while the majority of American cars ended up in our shop more often, the foreign cars hit the biggest bills bar none and that made up for it. I'm talking cheap Toyota Camrys too from mid-90's. The Bonneville IMO is one of the lesser in the shop cars and costs less when in...why? Ease of access to most parts vs other cars, H-bodies sharing a lot of the same parts with eachother and even other GM's, etc. Again, not all cars are created equal, and regular maintenance does not equal out all cars either.

[rtabish]

Any car can be maintained if you throw the necessary parts at it...

its all $$$...the price of replacement parts, availability, and ease of replacement...either by the owner or whom-ever is recruited to do the work. some stuff is pretty universal. plugs, wires, filters, etc. it is the stuff that goes after 15 or 100K miles that make what is a good new car a decent used car. the price of everything is going up. brake shoes that used to be $12 are now $24, alternators that were $24 are now $84. $15 shock absorbers have turned into $130 struts that require significantly more work to replace. tie rods that used to require a pickle fork and a hammer now require a special tool... a simple tune-up that one used to be able to do by ear now requires a doctorate in computer science...ha ha.

well, it's not that bad, but the truth is, you are right. not all cars are created equal. never have been...for that matter. that is why there are Chevy fans and Ford fans and on and on...because for some people, some cars have just worked out better than others.

[GonneVille]

I'm a firm believer that a cars dependability is based fully upon it's maintenance and care. I've known people who have had great luck out of Taurus's, and horrible luck out of 3800 powered cars. Sure, every car has it's quirks, but maintenance is key to a dependable car. You just never know how the previous owners of cars treated them... or the knowledge level of techs that have worked on the car...

My Great Aunt owned the car from day one, had it maintained at one dealer in Cleveland according to the Ford maintenance schedule, then transferred that schedule to a reputable dealer here in Columbus when she moved. When I got it, I switched to doing my own work, aside from the transmissions, and one brake job. All of my scheduled maintenance, I did myself.