Hopefully, you’ve had a few cars that have never let you down, and today’s Ask would be better put as “Which car never let you down the most.” That’s grammatically incorrect, of course, but you get it.
As a longtime Toyota and Honda buyer, my car experiences have been overwhelmingly positive if unexciting, but if the excitement I’m being spared is the thrill of seeing how cars get loaded onto flatbeds up close and enjoying a few stories of repo shenanigans from the driver, I’m happy to keep things dull.
All my Corollas, Camrys, Civics, and RAV4s have been rock-solid, but the rock-solidest was my 1992 E-90 Corolla. It was two years old when I got it, and in very nice shape despite high miles. It was a very good new-car facsimile as far as I was concerned, and quite luxurious, what with its functional air conditioning and all. Heck, it even put my shoulder belt on for me via the motorized door-track setup mandated for non-airbag cars at the time.
That motorized seatbelt never faltered over the nearly 200,000 miles I piled onto the car, nor did anything else mechanical or electronic – and I assure you, I was not easy on the Corolla in the least. And yet, this wonderful car did not merely serve steadfastly by simply not breaking down and being metaphorically unstoppable. When it came to conquering New England snow, it proved quite literally unstoppable. My half-hour commute once took a full four hours with visibility that barely exceeded the distance from the windshield to the grille, but by golly, I got there. And then I just turned around and went home, because the office was closed. Really wish someone coulda called me, but it was pre-internet and pre-cellphones, so waddaya gonna do.
Anyway, my Corolla DX looked exactly like the Bring A Trailer example shown here. And I gotta say, it’s way more handsome than I realized when I owned it. Maybe no one realized it, as it was just basically-styled basic transpo back then, but in this designed-to-the-hilt era we live in, it looks downright classic.
Your turn:
What Car Never Let You Down?
Top graphic image: Bring a Trailer
Ok this makes me sad.
2002 Subaru WRX. Had that car as my daily driver for 13 years. First manual car. In fact basically learned to drive manual by taking it off that dealer lot and immediately taking it on a few hundred mile road trip the very first day – kind of a trial by fire. Most fun car I’ve ever owned. It was loud and raw. It was straight piped with that distinctive brrrrat boxer sound. It was lowered. Had a super long commute with it and yet through all that handled it all like a champ. I put 240,000 glorious miles on that car and except for a few performance mods done to it, it was essentially 100% stock. Original clutch. Original everything. It’s been 10+ years since I had to get rid of it, and I still regret it.
My 1997 Rover 220 SDi. A couple of bulbs failed, it failed its first MOT on emissions but the garage fixed that with “a couple of high-rev runs up and down the A24 to blow out the cobwebs”, the tube for the rear screen washer cracked in the coldest day the south of England had seen for a couple of decades, and a week before I traded it I suffered a puncture, but that was it. 5½ years, 70,000+ miles and it never let me down, failed to start, or needed anything other than routine servicing and tyres. It might have had new front brake pads, but didn’t need new discs.
All cars will eventually let you down.
This one car that has never let you down, it will if you let it. And if you are piling up big miles on your one car and it has not let you down yet, then it has an easy life.
The counterpoint would be the eighties Toyota Starlet I worked on for a friend. It developped a leak in the heater core and the dealer did not want to touch it anymore.
The owner was appalled that I called it an oldtimer. ‘It is not! My mom bought it new and I got it from her. It has never let us down.’
(It had never let them down as in, you could singlehandedly bump start the thing.)
We owned a 1980 Starlet.
An unbreakable car and a great value.
Never let us down.
My bought-new 2007 non-turbo manual Subaru Outback. 12 years later, just put oil and windshield washer in it.
Can back up Peters experience. After years of drama with GM and VW products my 1988 AE9 Corolla 4wd Wagon that I bought 15 years ago for $1,500 dollarydoos just keeps going – 320,000kms on the original drivetrain including original clutch and radiator. OK the 2nd gear syncro is a bit worn. I’ve had to get the steering rack rebuilt but other than that I drove it 1,600kms interstate recently without an issue. Other cars come and go but this is the workhorse that gets lent out to friends in need. Even gets rented out by the film and TV industry so at 38years old it finally pays it’s rent!
The red paint still shines up OK when needed.
2 cars I could mention:
Well I drive cars until they die, or have some catastrophic ending, and I have literally acquired cars from junkyards, so almost all of them eventually let me down. A 1969 Mercedes diesel had no problems until a tree crushed it. My first car, a $2000 trashed 1960 Maserati 3500 GT convertible that someone had stolen the windows from was pretty reliable. All the others have had wheels fall off, tie rods fall off, caught fire, that sort of thing. And don’t get me started about mice.
Our family 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ with the 4.0. Dad bought it new in 99, and daily drove it to about 150k. My sister and I added the next 75k driving it through high school and college. Many adventures, countless stories. We finally sold it with 225k miles, and it still drove like to could have made it 200k more. The next owner “built” it and gave it the offroad life it deserved.
My two Mazdas:
– My 1995 Miata, currently 130k miles. I’ve autocrosses, HPDE’d, canyoned, freewayed, commuted, and flogged it in various ways for 26 years (bought used in 200), and it always starts, always turns, and always stops.
– My 2002 Protege5, bought new in 2002. Daily driven (mostly) since then, for over 189k miles. A side of me wants to keep it running for another 24, by which time I’ll be over 80, and then use it as my casket and be buried in it.
The pharaohs had pyramids; I’ll have my Protege5.
The only car I ever bought new was a silver Protegé5 – I didn’t even own it for two years but I got my money back when I sold it, enough to cover the remaining payments and putting $2K in my pocket. I’ve been looking for another one just like it, but all the ones I find are crusty or have been “tuned” with a hot glue gun. Or both.
I have owned Toyotas as my daily drivers since 1979.
In 1985 I bought a 1970 Corolla with 120K on it. And beat the living crap out of it putting 200 miles per day on it for years.
All were well worn used cars until 1991 when bought a new basic Toyota truck new.
Most of them ended up with between 150K to well over 300K with very minimal repairs besides basic maintenance required.
And none rusted out either.
Ridiculous but true.
I have never once had a Toyota let me down, ever.
My next purchase will be another Toyota.
But honestly don’t expect to need another.
My 2009 Scion xB just hit 100K miles and runs like new.
Not a single repair needed in the 12 years of ownership.
I owned Hondas for about 15 years after I started driving. In 2005, I shocked myself (and everyone else) when I bought a ’06 Mazda3 5-door (5MT, of course). I owned that car until Feb 2025 (19yrs 4mos) and it NEVER let me down. I reluctantly sold it and bought a ’25 Civic Hybrid, but I still miss my Mazda3. 260k miles, faded paint and it was still going strong!
1994 Camry V6 XLE. Gave it to first son with 120k, he gave it to younger son son at 180k. He drove it through college and sold it in 2006 with 245k. No mechanical breakdowns. Solid maintenance. 1998 Acura RLX. Bought new. Kept in family sold for $1,500 in 2018. Have video of odometer turning 300k and being driven off by buyer. No major breakdown. Good maintenance.
Owned 2 Mazda Protoge5’s – a 2001 and a 2002 in my early 20’s when i was (even more) poor. The first was black and the second the Mazdaspeed blue. They were fun to drive, neither gave me ANY mechanical issues, and the first one kept me safe in a gnarly rollover. I bought the second one to replace the first. Between the two, i put about 180k issue free miles on em. I still see a few on the road today.
Aygo
’95 Cavalier. New, had it for 3 years. Zero repairs, not even a lightbulb.
I’ve been driving my own cars since 1995. I’ve run out of gas once, and one flat are the only times I haven’t been able to make it to my destination.
Listen to your cars, they generally warn you about things before you’re screwed.
I know y’all aren’t going to believe me, but a 1967 Triumph Spitfire. Daily commuter for ~10 years, now living a life of leisure awaiting cosmetic refreshing. But I still drive her frequently.
I never had to call for a tow. Not once.
I don’t believe you!
You never had to call for a tow because it was light enough to push home by yourself.
My 2012 Honda Fit Sport was the one that got away. Bought new while all my other military colleagues bought Chargers and trucks, I was frugal and wanted a small, manual, hatchback corner carver. It put up with being stuffed into a shipping crate to and from Hawaii, being on jack stands in a storage unit for a 9 month deployment, my poor college phase, my months of commuting through the Sierra Nevada’s snowiest winter in years, and even a little off roading outside Vegas.
Never skipped a beat, I miss that little blue cheese wedge.
2008 IS350. Drove it hard and the only thing it ever needed one 1 lightbulb.
’09 base Tacoma. Bought new, ten years, 105K+ miles, zero issues.
’70 and ’71 VW vans. Did break, but were cheap and easy to fix and get running again.
Miata Is Always The Answer.
Can even push-start them in a parking lot with the help of one or two new friends. They’re light enough and any proper Miata will have a 5 or 6 speed. Damn near bullet proof too, as long as you know their Achilles’ heels (plastic top radiator and cam sensors on NAs / Coil packs and radiators on NBs / plastic coolant tank on NCs) they’re super reliable. What other car gives you so much fun sitting down?
Eventually they all let you down, Peter.
My 16 Odyssey. 10 years, 89k miles, nothing but basic maintenance and still going strong. That is why I bought it over the Pacifica that was getting all the rave reviews at the time. History has proven it to be a very good choice.
My 01 S4 was the opposite. So many let downs.
My 1968 VW Beetle, 1971 VW Karmann Ghia, 1986 Honda Accord, 1991 Honda Accord, 2018 Golf R never left me stranded. My 1972 Datsun 240Z, 1975 Ford Gran Torino Elite, 1975 Fiat X/19, 1977 Pontiac Sunbird (Shitbird), and 1995 VW Passat GLX all left me stranded for various reasons. I still do wish I had that 240Z today, though.
I’ve had several really good cars over the years but my 2012 Camry XLE Hybrid is the standout. 200k miles and only tires, filters, and oil changes. Original 12v and hybrid batteries, original brakes. A close second was a ’91 Accord LX 5 speed and my ’93 Ranger 2wd 4.0 5 speed.
My 2012 Cruze Eco never left me stranded aside from the times I ran it out of gas. I put 250k miles on that car. It had the usual GM 1.4T issues of eating water pumps and eventually the turbo housing cracked at the wastegate at 220k miles. I sold it on running perfectly with pristine rocker panels, a rarity for an old daily driven GM car in the Northeast. Fluid Film rocks!