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Ever hear anybody say “[insert car here] sucks?” I’ve always wondered if things like this were really true. Here is a list of things I hear a lot… I am hoping ya’ll will chime in with some actual fact to prove or disprove the following statements:
NUMBER 1: Northstar engines suck and are difficult to work on. They are always breaking down.
2: GM products suck. They are designed by committee so virtually every part or system is compromised.
3: European cars suck and are difficult to work on, specifically german cars. (no reasons given)
4: Asian cars are far superior than american cars.
This is all i can think of for now, i’ll post more as i come across them throughout the day.
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I can only offer experience. In reliability, I believe the Japanese cars are the best out there. I owned a 1999 civic for over 10 years and had the only problem I had to fix was a clogged up radiator (which was my fault because I didn’t change the fluid at all during that time) and one electric fan go out. In my 2001 Chevy S-10, I’ve replaced the fuel pump, intake manifold gaskets due to leaks, blower motor resistor, ambient light sensor, door hinges, vacuum lines due to rot, fixed a wiring issue, and the a/c has failed. Also the dash is badly cracked/faded in several places and the vent guards are cracked as well. In my civic, I don’t have a crack anywhere in the dash or vents and there is no fade. And both cars have never been garaged. On the plus side, the truck looks cool on the outside and the engine bay is very spacious and easy to work on.
Most have at least a basis in truth, as to how reliable many cars turn out to be seems to be more dependent upon luck of the draw. Domestics(as in U.S.) at least being the more acute example of this. There could be two identical trucks sold next to each other, the first goes 300,000 miles over a 10yr period without so much as a sensor replaced, the other had half the cars parts replaced under warranty, and nearly all the remaining aside from frame out of warranty, and still has problems.
3. I think they’re more costly overall to maintain due to various reasons (parts, tools, etc).
4. “superior”, you’d have to define that further. They’re longevity still has yet to be matched, even as good as some domestic’s lines have become once again. Matching car for car a toyota X versus a chevy X, or ford X, really, it still just isn’t a contest IMO. Nearly every time the toyota will go for 200k virtually without issue. Where as, either domestic at least every so many out of 100 will be a thorn in the backside with various problems over time.Here’s my experience.
1: My moms northstar cadillac was horrific to work on. I must have replaced the coil packs 3 or 4 times in 150K miles and they are really hard to get to.
2: My uncle owns a fleet of chevy trucks and vans for his company. They all seem to have the same electrical issues which range from daytime running lights always shorting out on the drivers side, to instrument clusters and a/c freaking out.
3: The german cars Ive worked on required me to buy a bunch of different tools. Hex heads were a really common fastener type that I wasn’t equipped to deal with. However the easiest car I’ve worked with is my sister’s c230. Everything is placed very logically and there aren’t very many situations where a bunch of wires or hoses have covered a bolt that I’ve needed to get to so everything seems like it was made to be serviced very easily. Parts are very expensive though and take a long time to special order since none of the auto parts suppliers in my area seem to stock the parts that I need.
4. I think Japanese cars are superior to american cars. Not sure how the koreans stack up in car quality. Every japanese car I have owned has been a blast to own and drive. Theyve been relatively problem free. On the reverse side, my parents love domestic cars for some reason. My mom has had 3 caddilacs, all of them were plagued with engine or transmission problems. My dad has had 3 dodge trucks. His first one caught fire because of a faulty fuel line leaking onto the turbo. This current one is a hemi and he’s currently on his 3rd engine in 150K miles because the last 2 engines both decided to drop their valve seats. The mechanic that did the work this last time had another dodge ram in for the same problem and says its really common with the Hemis. Needless to say, I’ll never buy a Chrysler product.
It’s hard to roll it up all into summary, each car, even each year sometimes is it’s own design and has to be examined as such. Example, a 95 chevy 1/2 4×4 5.7 engine wise is a totally different breed than a 96 chevy 1/2 4×4 5.7. If you want to know what is a good vehicle you have to look at the specific year and model and ask some one who knows. Either they have owned one, or worked on several of them and knows just what to expect to see from them.
The more specific you are, the more you can find out about them. The caddy northstar engine, has some flaws, but the major flaw to it is just the size of the thing. It is jammed into a very tight space, making what could be simple repairs into nightmares simply because everything is in acccesable. I am also not a fan of the starter being in the middle of the engine underneath the intake. Again, it doesn’t have to be there. If that engine was given proper space, the starter could be located in more normal location.
Can only comment mainly on European cars coming from the UK and having worked on them alone. I agree German cars are particularly difficult to work on, some of the Audi and Mercedes engines are jammed so tight into the bay. They also require really expensive tools and diagnostic equipment.
There are some european brands that are still fun to work on though..Alfa Romeo’s 3.2 V6, Jaguar’s older model v8 engine, Opel 2.0 turbo engines…
I recently did an engine swap and rebuild on my own Vauxhall corsa which was great fun.
Tricky one this 😉
european cars in the main easy to work on .parts you can get anywhere.
cars from asia..etc cheap to buy and run i personnely woudn,t buy one :ohmy:
american cars from say 50s 60s 70 home brand models GM/DODGE.. etc of these years very easy to work on ..
but the newer cars frankly are just as bad as ..say from the UK more elecy stuff than you can wave a stick at and no room to swing a hamster by the legs 😆 😆 not sure if anyone agrees with this about older amerian cars are still far cooler then the new lot ! by far 🙂
but i guess thats the thing with the new cars bland boring and no paper bag with 2 holes cut in for yours eye,s :woohoo:1. I really don’t mind working on Northstars. Yeah they’re a pain at times, but all cars have their issues. It’s a challenge, HOWEVER!!!! i’ve never worked on a cadillac while on flat rate, so if i stripped a bolt or two i’d probably lose it.
2. I hate working on GM products, however i’d probably make a great living at a GM dealership seeing as how they appear to break down a lot. I’m being completely biased though.
3. I love working on german cars more than any other type. Not difficult at all, parts can be expensive, but I feel good when working on euro cars.
4. Asian cars are superior in terms of reliability for sure, and even the Koreans are making good cars today, also I think they’re much much easier to work on than american cars.
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