Just found out that my current car will die any day now due to a known defect. It’s out of warranty and I have no money to replace it right now.

I’ve been cursed with car problems my whole life, no matter how well I take care of them, I keep getting screwed.

All of the cars have been Fords because I always heard they were generally dependable and cheap to repair/upkeep, but so far they have all failed me.

What cars do y’all recommend? What cars do you have that just won’t give up the ghost no matter how old/beat up they get? If your life depended on your car lasting as long as possible, what car would you drive?

I want whatever car I get next to last me 10-20 years. I want to be that person posting a picture of the odometer hitting 300k miles. I also don’t care much about features, reliability is key.

  • Pickle_Jr@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    65·
    1 year ago

    I’m kind of surprised nobody said Kia (and for that matter, Hyundai) yet?

    JD Power has ranked Kia in the top 3 in dependability for the past few years and gave them the #1 spot last year. They also have a 10yr/100k mile warranty so theoretically they’ll survive for a very long time.

    They do have a bad wrap with the car thefts going on, but that issue is addressed with their newer models. I do suppose though that to a dumb “thrill seeker” that doesn’t mean you’re immune to attempted thefts.

    • LastYearsPumpkin@feddit.chEnglish
      7·
      1 year ago

      Problem is that even if you have a newer kai or Hyundai, if you live in an area with a lot of car thefts, they’ll still break the window and try.

      So you might not lose your car, but you’ll still be more susceptible to damage. You’ll probably be fine, but it is worth noting.

    • Dog@lemmy.worldEnglish
      32·
      1 year ago

      To be honest, even though you brought up them and the car thefts, the car thefts are what ruined Hyundai Motor Group for me. Their lack of caring about the safety of others and their lack of spending a couple more dollars to put in immobilizers means more to me than them being “dependable.” Their vehicles looked cool, but they ruined their chance with me as a potential customer. The way Hyundai Motor Group has been handling the situation has been a complete pigsty and everything else after that means nothing to me as a consumer. They could have the best safety/longevity, but at what cost? Thousands Tens of innocent lives being taken because they were too cheap to put in immobilizers? Cars can be replaced. Humans cannot.

      Edit (September 6th, 2023): Made a correction. At the time of this correction, according to a user below this conversation, there have only been 8 deaths. That’s still 8 deaths too many in my honest opinion.

    • CmdrShepard@lemmy.oneEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Totally agree. I worked at a few lube shops over the years and was always impressed with Hyundai and Kia as they rarely ever had as many issues as a lot of other manufacturers. They totally screwed the pooch with the interlock decision, and have had some recent reliability issues with certain engines, but I think they build pretty good cars overall. Hyundai has also been doing some pretty good styling with their newest models

      • Dog@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Would you like to retract this statement by any chance? I mean a family member of mine’s kia caught on fire, so I’m wondering if you’re still firm on your decision or not.

        • CmdrShepard@lemmy.oneEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          If you can name a single manufacturer that hasn’t had a recall for an issue that lead to death/injury/property damage maybe I’d consider it, but I know there isn’t one so I stand by my statement.