Reliability problems .

Meh, I lease for this exact reason. I consider it a 3 year test drive. The only reason I have m '17 TRD Off Road is because my Subaru Forester came up needing an engine block replacement at $36k lease-end. I had planned on buying out the balance of the loan, but had the 1/50 or so with issues. If there are no issues at 36k, giddyup, I buy the truck. If so, I'll either trade it in for a 2020 or fix, sell, and still probably come up. A win-win if I can resist the urge to add mods that can't be easily undone or undetected.

 

I subscribe to CR. I laugh at many reviews because their complaints are so ludicrous. For instance when the Jeep JK came out they said it had a harsh ride. It is a frickin Jeep. If you wanted it to ride better buy a Liberty, Grand, Cherokee and not a JK.

You really have to step back and figure out what they are looking for before taking any review seriously. Of coarse a Ridgeline is smoother than a Tacoma on road. But then again the Ridgeline is not designed for serious off anything but maybe gravel driveways. I can get all wet because it said what I wanted to hear or cry because it didn't. Read between the lines and figure out the point of view or bias of the testers and move on. I bet if they tested a 1 ton truck they would complaint the ride was stiff.

 

I've never understood the bad ride thing on JKs. I got rid of a JKUR that was by far the most comfortable off road vehicle I've ever owned out of at least a dozen. Just needed the bed on a truck and didn't want three vehicles or I'd still own the damned thing.

 

I had read they lowered Fords reliability because people were too damn dumb to operate the Infotainment System and then they realized that obviously had no impact in reliability and starting to change the way they rate things like that.

 

Tacoma has been to the dealer for 3 things in 8000 miles. Tahoe has been in once at 23000 miles. So far, GM is winning! Still like the Taco though.

 

I honestly believe, if you follow regular maintenance, no major MVA's/damage, no major romping off-road all cars & trucks (non-lemons) will easily go over 200K.

 

Really?

How about @GIANTSteps whose Subaru needed new engine block at 36k?

 

i agree. sometimes its just the luck of the draw. doesnt matter how you drive them. my truck has never seen offroad, never is driven hard, its washed and cleaned up often and i still have issues and troubles.

parts do fail and sometimes its just the way it goes.

now i will agree that if you beat the crap out of it in the woods then you are more prone to worn or broken parts.

but some people who baby their vehicles and maintain them can have transmissions, engines, rear ends or other parts fail.

 

10k miles on mine and no issues other than the TSB for the tranny and it is fine now.

 

Consumer reports gave my Jeep Cherokee the lowest reviews possible especially in mechanical area. 23 years later and 300k miles later I traded it in running for $4K under cash for clunkers. No major problems ever. That magazine is worthless and meant for housewives I M O.

 

aka ridgeline owners

 

Its all propaganda who they are getting the big kickbacks from mostly the GM bullshit. If you look at used carlots you see more GM used Canyons and Colorado s

 

Used car lots signify what?

Around here used lots are full with Accords/Civics/Camry/Rav4. I imagine stores have what the local demographic buys

 

I would agree with that except they rated every single Toyota and Lexus Model Above Average except for the Tacoma, so are you saying that Toyota bought them off for all models other than the Tacoma?

 

Sometimes, you get one that has an issue, but the majority of new cars really can make 200K with regular maintenance.


I would like to know about @GIANTSteps car though. I have a Forrester that I'm very happy with so far.

 

Makes sense.

 

Yeah, my exact experience. In fairness, the engine block would have been covered under warranty and there was a recall affecting my model year of Forester for oil consumption (reason for the engine block replacement). The car was still perfectly functional, but consuming a liter of oil every 1000 miles or so. I was glad to be leasing and have the opportunity to just walk away.

 

I was VERY happy with my Forester that issue aside, and would still be driving it if mine wasn't affected by the oil consumption issue (see above post). I could have just kept feeding the car oil and it probably would have been fine for quite a while longer but just didn't want to buy out the car with a known issue like that. Oil consumption is expected in virtually all Subarus, just not as bad as what I was encountering. I'd buy another Subaru with no reservations, as I know I was in a minority.

 

Thanks. We have a 2016 Forrester with 24K on the clock..... Happy so far.

 

And it was worth $500 and the rest was subsidized under the federal program......

And I think Toyota was the biggest winner in that deal as well......