The most reliable car you ever had?

[Accy cyclist]

Strangely, I like that Suzuki in a kind of bangernomics way.

It was a good reliable car but a bit heavy round town on fuel and quite expensive insurance,though the post code doesn't help. £200 a year tax as well. I think the garage is asking way too much for it, but it'll probably sell,even if it takes a while.

 

[Accy cyclist]

I've just been for a spin in the Mini I've bought. I must say it's certainly solidly built. The last car I had that had such heavy solid feeling doors and doesn't move when you try and rock it from side to side was a 1993 Audi 80 soft top. I can't remember the Minis I had in the 70's and 80's being built like this one. The interior is classy as well. Again,not like Minis I've had in the past. A glass covered speedometer and a leather covered steering wheel are luxury to me.

 

[pjd57]

Most reliable I had was a Mitsubishi Colt.
Excellent car. Barely had to spend a penny on it.

Last car I owned was a VW beetle.
Good solid reliable car , but expensive to run and maintain.
Sold it just over two years ago when I decided I wasn't going to be a car owner any more

 

[skudupnorth]

All of my Skoda’s ! From my 1977 modified Estelle right up to my “ modern 1994 Favorit Estate, I truly cannot fault every one I have owned in the 29 years of driving the brand.
I must give a cheeky shout to our family bus, a 2005 VW Touran Tdi which although has had some quite expensive bills in our 11 years of ownership ( clutch & flywheel, camshaft and complete set of shocks and springs) is still far cheaper to own than being tied to a financial millstone of a new car. That bus has 179,000 miles on the clock ( we bought it with only 45,000) and is still going strong and doing us proud

 

[contadino]

1974 VW beetle 1500. Drove it from Sevenoaks to Srinagar and back and it didn't miss a beat. It got nicked in 1999 with nearly 300k on the clock. Original engine. Replaced by a Karman Ghia which was a disappointment.

 

[voyager]

We have had our 54 plate 2.0 tdci Mondeo estate for 10 years now with 122k on the clock the poor old workhorse is showing signs of age .
The odd tyre , pads and discs and a tailpipe in the past couple of years but is still used for towing our caravan and has been used for house moving as well .

Still in use as a tow car
as it's replacement will only tow 1500kgs

 

[gbb]

Believe it, or not, my 1988 Austin Maestro 1300. Bought in 1993 for £1100.
Owned it for 3 years and did about 50000 miles. Absolutely nothing went wrong on it and - try as I might - I couldn't kill it. Got £1100 for it in part ex for a Rover 820.
Now that was a different story entirely............

I too had a 1988 1.3 Maestro, brought it at around 18 months old, had it for around 4 years, never had anything mechanically fail on it. Mind, I saw it a couple years after I sold it.... the rust !!!!!

 

[gbb]

1996 Ford escort 1.8 diesel. No Turbo, high pressure fuel pump, particulate filter or dual mass fly wheel to go wrong.

Not meaning to rubbish your experience...
I used to occasionally drive an Orion 1.8 non turbo diesel, early to mid 1990s....it was a godawful thing to drive, like driving on an elastic band, press the accelerator and nothing happened for a second or two. Same when letting off the accelerator...it didnt seem to have any effect for a few seconds.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

2000 1.25L Ford Fiesta I bought in 2011 for £500. Drove it 5 1/2 years barely spending £500 on it or washing it.

The replacement literally broke my heart with a £3k rebuild months into ownership, now I don't own a car at all but have access to 2

 

[Salad Dodger]

Probably my most reliable car, although by no means the nicest to drive, was a Suzuki Wagon R. I put 90,000 miles on it over about 8 years, and the only problem, apart from tyres and brake pads, was both rear wheel bearings, courtesy of driving through a flooded road where I should have detoured half a mile around it. It towed a camping trailer and a full load of camping gear pretty gamely, too.

 

[sleuthey]

Not meaning to rubbish your experience...
I used to occasionally drive an Orion 1.8 non turbo diesel, early to mid 1990s....it was a godawful thing to drive, like driving on an elastic band, press the accelerator and nothing happened for a second or two. Same when letting off the accelerator...it didnt seem to have any effect for a few seconds.

Mine was the same! But it was reliable as per the thread title. If we had a worst performance car thread then this engine would definitely win

 

[MrGrumpy]

Most reliable , Honda CRV 56 plate Diesel VTEC engine, never missed a beat, sold it to my neighbour and still going strong, 140k miles on it maybe more. Got rid of that and bought a Discovery 4 needed the room and towing capability however its cost me £2500 this year alone in servicing and a faulty handbrake

 

[Salad Dodger]

For me it would be a toss up between a Peugeot 309 diesel, and a Suzuki Wagon R.
The Peugeot gave us 80,000+ miles with only a driveshaft boot fail. These miles included quite a few hauling a caravan.
The Wagon R gave us just shy of 100,000 miles of good service, with only 2 rear wheel bearings needing replacement. (My fault as I shouldn't have driven through some deep flood water).
Both vehicles had regular servicing, once a year.

 

[DCLane]

My 2006 Saab 9-3 Aero convertible; the only thing that went wrong in 8 years of ownership was the air conditioning pump. That's despite putting 80000 miles on and me driving like a nutter. Brilliant car.

 

[kingrollo]

I have been driving citroens and Peugeot for 20 years now - don't bother with main deal servicing - in that 20 years I have had 1 breakdown !
I think all cars are reliable these days - I would never pay more for a car that is 'really reliable'