Unofficial, AAA Top Ten Most Unreliable Cars

[Delta Force79]

Well I've been working for AAA in New Jersey for some time now and have finally been able to determine a rough top ten list of the most common makes and models that break down the most...this is just my experience, and be advised results may vary :AH-HA_wink:

I will start at 10 and work my way down to 1...so here goes, and thoughts on these findings are welcomed...

10: BMW 5-series, Previous Gen, Most common problem "will not start"

9: Mercedes' all models 1990 and up, Most common problem, "will not start"

8: Chevy Cavalier, most common problem, "will not start"

7:Chevy Tahoe/GMC Yukon/Denali, GMT 800's and earlier, most common problem, "will not start"

6:Ford Taurus, mainly 1996 and up, most common problem, "will not start" or "will not go into gear"

5: Acura Integra, benefit of the doubt given that these cars are old now, most common problem "will not start" or "blown tranny/clutch"

4 Jeep Grand Cheerokee previous gens, most common problem "tranmission won't shift" "will not start"

3 DCX minivans, 1990's and up, most common problem "will not start" "will not shift"

2 Toyota's, Camry's, Corolla's Sienas etc..all of them, Most common problem, "will not start"

1 Honda's, all of them from 1990 and up, Accord's are the biggest headache it seems, followed by the Pilot, most common problem "will not start"

Of course these do not include, flat tires, accidents, locked keys in ignition, etc.

Results compiled after after 5 months of being on the job taking service calls.

Edited January 30, 2007 by Delta Force79

[Flybrian]

locked keys in ignition, etc.

Ford Focus?

[trinacriabob]

6 - 4 - 3 - these would bother me: "does not shift" or "does not go into gear." My brother had a DCX minivan and it had this problem - 2 times - and VERY expensive.

You didn't physically go out there, right? So, I am wondering if any of the V-TEC Hondas presented these problems because of that system.

[Delta Force79]

As a matter of fact I think I've had one or two focus' with the key stuck in the ignition, but what I meant was people locked out of their cars with the keys in the ignition or on the seats, in the trunk...etc.

Aside from the actual vehicles that break down, the funniest thing is when someone dosen't know what year, make and model there car is, or even they're home address...as has been the case in my experience. Usually I have to sit there and run through a list of names, here is an example:

Me:"may I have the year,make and model of your vehicle?"

AAA member: "uh, $h! what is it, its uh, a Ford"

Me: "ok, wha year is it, and what model?

AAA member: " I think its 2000"

Me: "ok, so is it a Taurus, a Focus, a Crown Vic, an Explorer, Expedition."..etc

AAA member; "no wait, its a Chevy Impala"

Edited January 30, 2007 by Delta Force79

[Delta Force79]

6 - 4 - 3 - these would bother me: "does not shift" or "does not go into gear." My brother had a DCX minivan and it had this problem - 2 times - and VERY expensive.

You didn't physically go out there, right? So, I am wondering if any of the V-TEC Hondas presented these problems because of that system.

Actually my Mom owns a '94 Town & Country with under 100K on it and just had the tranny rebuilt two months ago.

No I work for the call center, and take the breakdown info and locations etc....which is then sent to dispatch for ETA's

[Dsuupr]

The last time we made a family road trip to Los Angeles, I had my daughters count the number of each brand line on the side of the road (not from flats or our of gas, but from dead engines, or ??). If I remember right, they counted 10 toyotas, 8 hondas and 1 GM product.

[Sixty8panther]

Yes. Hon-duh sux!

[Cory Wolfe]

My personal opinion....

...has Blazers on top of that list. Nothing compares to the one my parents owned. Everything about it was unreliable... Biggest POS ever. Same with the one my uncle had, my grandpa's S10, and other ones that were in the family. Engine and engine component problems, transmission problems, 4wd problems, electrical problems, problems with random things, and problems with being shoddy. The best thing that happened to ours was my mom flipping it and sending it to a junk yard where it deserves to be.

J-bodies... Don't get me started on these. My one uncle has owned enough of them (5 or 6) and he was always coming over and using our garage to repair them. Just about each time, it was a different one. Then there's our Sunfire. The first week we owned it, it had to be taken back to the dealership twice. The one my grandma had was equally as unreliable. Not to mention the Cavalier that used to be my aunt's, was then my other grandma's, then passed through our ownership, and eventually was donated to my uncle to add to his "collection" of them. A few friends of mine have had Sunfires that left them stranded as well. Come to think of it, no one I know has owned one that wasn't unreliable. Doesn't matter if it was a Pontiac or a Chevy, coupe or sedan, 2.2L or 2.4L, auto or manual... All craptastic.

A vehicle that never gets mentioned as being unreliable (atleast here, anyways) are Silverados. 4wd problems, brake problems, random things not working... All common problems with my dad's, my grandpa's, three that my one uncle has owned, and another uncle of mine's. All 2000s and newer.

On the other hand, I think Grand Ams have a worse reputation than they deserve. The two my parents were more reliable than anything else they've owned. Both with the not so great 2.4L Twin Cam at that. However, mine, with the Quad4 is pretty $h!ty, but mostly due to the engine. Other than that, it just had little things that went wrong due to abuse.

[siegen]

Yes. Hon-duh sux!

What's Hon-duh? Another Chinese make? :AH-HA_wink:

[Satty]

What's Hon-duh? Another Chinese make? :AH-HA_wink:

He's hated Honda since the day a Civic with a fart can and a big wing ran an 11 second quarter and embarassed his 68 Camaro, hence the selling of the Panther. Or I just made that up but am pretty sure its true on some level.

[Delta Force79]

My personal opinion....

...has Blazers on top of that list. Nothing compares to the one my parents owned. Everything about it was unreliable... Biggest POS ever. Same with the one my uncle had, my grandpa's S10, and other ones that were in the family. Engine and engine component problems, transmission problems, 4wd problems, electrical problems, problems with random things, and problems with being shoddy. The best thing that happened to ours was my mom flipping it and sending it to a junk yard where it deserves to be.

J-bodies... Don't get me started on these. My one uncle has owned enough of them (5 or 6) and he was always coming over and using our garage to repair them. Just about each time, it was a different one. Then there's our Sunfire. The first week we owned it, it had to be taken back to the dealership twice. The one my grandma had was equally as unreliable. Not to mention the Cavalier that used to be my aunt's, was then my other grandma's, then passed through our ownership, and eventually was donated to my uncle to add to his "collection" of them. A few friends of mine have had Sunfires that left them stranded as well. Come to think of it, no one I know has owned one that wasn't unreliable. Doesn't matter if it was a Pontiac or a Chevy, coupe or sedan, 2.2L or 2.4L, auto or manual... All craptastic.

A vehicle that never gets mentioned as being unreliable (atleast here, anyways) are Silverados. 4wd problems, brake problems, random things not working... All common problems with my dad's, my grandpa's, three that my one uncle has owned, and another uncle of mine's. All 2000s and newer.

On the other hand, I think Grand Ams have a worse reputation than they deserve. The two my parents were more reliable than anything else they've owned. Both with the not so great 2.4L Twin Cam at that. However, mine, with the Quad4 is pretty $h!ty, but mostly due to the engine. Other than that, it just had little things that went wrong due to abuse.

I have sen my share of S10 Blazers and S-15 Jimmy's, but would need to make my list longer to include everything. I should really amend that GMT 800's and earlier # 7 on the list, to include all of them, but I get more F-series trucks brekaing down than Silverados it seems....And to be honest, not many Suburbans etc...it seems the Tahoes and Yukons are the most popular...I don't recall any Escalades having to be towed.

Ok here are some more notable mentions...in no particular order...

Ford F series

Chevy Blazer/ GMC Jimmy....again I never really get the pick up versions

Honda Odyssey, actually come to think about this, I get more of these than Pilots...I may have to amend the original list. (sorry)

DCX Cloud cars....

Ford Focus

Ford Explorer

Dodge Neon

Lexus, mainly RX and ES cars

Nissan's, all of them, ages range from 90's and up

among others...

Here are some makes that very rarely are called in for service...

Buicks

Oldsmobiles

Cadillacs

Audi's

Jaguars

Lincoln's

Volvo's

among others...

[siegen]

He's hated Honda since the day a Civic with a fart can and a big wing ran an 11 second quarter and embarassed his 68 Camaro, hence the selling of the Panther. Or I just made that up but am pretty sure its true on some level.

ah the truth comes to light!

[Sixty8panther]

Satty:

I've seen planty of Hondas run 11 second 1/4 mile times......

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.......ONCE!

Then it's back to the junkyard for another motor & trans

back to garrett for another 500psi turbo

and back to J.C. whitney for anohter $800 NOS kit.

I challenge anyone wiht a Honda that has $5000 (TOTAL) invested in it,

w/ 183,000 miles & running junkyard tires to run a 13.9 @ 102mph with

Natrual aspiration..... fair is fair. 16 valves versus 16 valves.

BRING IT!

Now as far as you B.V. your experience with one beat up Blazer makes

you hate them all.... no offense but your family seems to beat the piss

out of their vehicles and not do so well in the routine maintenance dept.

$h! I'd imagine you or one of your family members would probably be

able to manage separating a B-body's nose from it's frame in 30 sec.

flat, you have bad luck and you're hard on your vehicles.

Everything you do behind the wheel has its consequences. You may think

that it doesn't but there's always a link between even the most seemingly

unrelated breakage/failed component & the abuse the car/truck endured

prior to it, a day before or maybe a decade before.

I'm hard on some of my vehicles at times... but then I'm not bitching

about a squeaky ball joint on a Blazer or a worn out set of brake pads

after only 30K miles.

No disrespect, just calling it like I see it.

[Drew Dowdell]

Here are some makes that very rarely are called in for service...

Buicks

Oldsmobiles

Cadillacs

Most likely to have a subscription to OnStar? I have AAA, but if I were to need road side assistance in the CTS, I'd be pressing that little blue button I pay $34 a month for.

[Flybrian]

Now as far as you B.V. your experience with one beat up Blazer makes

you hate them all.... no offense but your family seems to beat the piss

out of their vehicles and not do so well in the routine maintenance dept.

No, the second-generation S-10 Blazer was pretty ratty. The preceeding model seem more reliable and at least far more stable as a vehicle. The only redeeming aspects of them were the 4.3l V6.

[Delta Force79]

Most likely to have a subscription to OnStar? I have AAA, but if I were to need road side assistance in the CTS, I'd be pressing that little blue button I pay $34 a month for.

You have a point....though not entirely valid, the GMT 800's have Onstar as well, and I get those...also bare in mind I am refering to the makes as a whole, not just vehicles built in the last 5-6 years...I also mean vehicles from GM before Onstar

Edited January 30, 2007 by Delta Force79

[siegen]

Then it's back to the junkyard for another motor & trans

It's the people who don't build up their engines before putting large turbos on that end up with junk. A modest build up with 15-20psi turbo and supporting mods can make a Civic do 11 second 1/4 ET's all day, and still get good mileage on the drive home. You might be hard pressed to do it under $5,000 though.... try $15,000.

If I had a $5,000 limit to build a sub 14s N/A Civic. I could buy a $1,000 or less '93-95 Civic hatch rolling chassis, put a B20B CR-V engine into it ($600-700), with Integra LS manual transmission ($200-300), strip it out (free), and there ya go. Assuming the suspension and tires are intact, a good driver could do a high 13s 1/4 with that. Taking it one step further, swap out the suspension, intake/exhaust systems, wheel/tire combo, plus tuning, and now I have a track monster, that's still reliable and will get well over 30mpg.

Why don't I do that? Well because I don't want a crappy loud-ass Civic.

[Cory Wolfe]

Now as far as you B.V. your experience with one beat up Blazer makes

you hate them all.... no offense but your family seems to beat the piss

out of their vehicles and not do so well in the routine maintenance dept.

$h! I'd imagine you or one of your family members would probably be

able to manage separating a B-body's nose from it's frame in 30 sec.

flat, you have bad luck and you're hard on your vehicles.

Everything you do behind the wheel has its consequences. You may think

that it doesn't but there's always a link between even the most seemingly

unrelated breakage/failed component & the abuse the car/truck endured

prior to it, a day before or maybe a decade before.

I'm hard on some of my vehicles at times... but then I'm not bitching

about a squeaky ball joint on a Blazer or a worn out set of brake pads

after only 30K miles.

No disrespect, just calling it like I see it.

Calling like you see it, eh? Are you f@#king blind, by any chance?

First off, I've clearly said this is going by more than just one Blazer, not just the one my parents had. My uncle had one, my grandpa had two, my aunt had one, my great aunt had one, my cousing had an S10, and my grandpa has an S10. Let's count... that's eight total. My motto is: one POS, could be a lemon; two POS's, could be a coincidence; but three or more POS's, they're POS's, end of story. Each and every one of those S10/Blazers were POS's. I'm sorry, but that says alot. And none of them were beat up. They were all bought in excellent condition with low mileage, half of them were bought new. My parent's looked great and only had 40k miles when we bought it. Beat up? I don't think so. As far as how we "don't do so well in the routine maintenance dept." and "beat the piss out of vehicles," well... I have no idea where you came up with what you said about maintenace. My dad does all the maintenance on time and right in our driveway. But... out of all my family who have owned one, only my mom and my aunt drive like maniacs. However, she went through two Grand Ams and they were actually reliable. That's a vehicle with one of the worse reputations for quality. If you're telling me two different Grand Ams could hold up to her "beating the piss" out of them and a Blazer couldn't, something isn't right and again says something about the reliability of Blazers. As far as myself, the only vehicle I've been hard on is my Millenia. Even then, that's only 20% of the time I drive it and I probably maintained it better than anything you have ever laid your hands on.

Call me when you open eyes, alright?

[Robert Hall]

I wonder what the most common cause of those "will not start" calls...dead battery? I called the auto club with one of those on my Grand Cherokee about a year ago. The original battery (6 years old) had expired, with no prior warning..

Edited January 30, 2007 by moltar

[Delta Force79]

Dead batteries are an obvious given...but this also refers to tranny issues on vehicle listed, and even not listed...also starters, electrical problems, fuel pumps, alternators, water pumps, general stuff...but the regularity of the cars listed was the point of this thread

[Cory Wolfe]

I wonder what the most common cause of those "will not start" calls...dead battery? I called the auto club with one of those on my Grand Cherokee about a year ago. The original battery (6 years old) had expired, with no prior warning..

That's what I was wondering. One must wonder how often one of those is actually something serious...

[Sixty8panther]

As far as myself, the only vehicle I've been hard on is my Millenia. Even then, that's only 20% of the time I drive it and I probably maintained it better than anything you have ever laid your hands on.

Funny stuff.

So speeding on admitedly bald tires, in the snow is what you call smart maintenance?

http://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/index...15074&st=20

I'll just say that its been snowing like crazy the past few days. Even with nearly bald tires, I haven't yet got stuck. I love RWD and all, but that would be impossible with it. But I think we can all agree that those whose vehicles you most often see stuck or wrecked are the overconfident ones with 4WD/AWD. I've seen my dad get stuck in our own driveway trying to back a trailer into it... without any snow.

Not to mention that you've owned a Grand Am for like 2 years and driven it a total of

like 6 weeks all in all. C'mon now, no need to get personal, otherwise we can delve

into your two dozen "I f*** up my car again" threads. :wink:

Now as far as your response Siegen:

If you're spending $15,000 to build up a motor in an econobox commuter car that

will be worth somewhere between a fraction of that in the end cause it's a hacked

up FWD drag car then you either have too much expendable income or you need

a math & economics lesson.

If I had $15,000 to spend on a drag car I'd buy a 1969 Camaro with a decent

SBC or if I was a pu$$y about it like most kids today and classic cars scared me

I'd just buy a used 4.6 Mustang 5-speed.

[Cory Wolfe]

So speeding on admitedly bald tires, in the snow is what you call smart maintenance?

Not to mention that you've owned a Grand Am for like 2 years and driven it a total of

like 6 weeks all in all. C'mon now, no need to get personal, otherwise we can delve

into your two dozen "I f*** up my car again" threads. :wink:

Check your PMs.

Anyways, they're not bald... nearly bald. And speeding in the snow? I don't think so and how you even assume that's even possible is nuts. The fastest I drive on snow covered roads is about 25 mph. I again refer you to your inbox. This had nothing to do with how well a vehicle holds up and is more evident of how I don't have $400+ to buy new ones than anything else. My Grand Am has two new tires on it. Surprising. Speaking of it, I drove from early August to late November. Do the math. As far "f@#king up my car threads" ...Name one. The only time I actually f@#ked up my car was never posted about on C&G. Again, check your inbox.

Edited January 30, 2007 by blackviper8891

[Sixty8panther]

Like you said in your PM, not the place to have a pissing contest.

Sorry if I attacked you.

[siegen]

If you're spending $15,000 to build up a motor in an econobox commuter car that

will be worth somewhere between a fraction of that in the end cause it's a hacked

up FWD drag car then you either have too much expendable income or you need

a math & economics lesson.

That's not what I was getting at. I didn't say it was a good idea. But you can build a reliable 11s turbocharged Civic, which is my point. If you ask me, building a car (any car) just for drag is pointless.

[Turbojett]

Ford Focus?

I knew a guy who was driving his ZX3 down the freeway when his lights started to flicker on and off, and then suddenly, the car just spontaneously shut off on him.

[daves87rs]

As far as BV's list...

Blazers-pretty much all S-series Blazers are crap..though I still see a few 87-92 Blazers still going....they may keep running, bu that is pretty much all they do..Good luck on getting into the car, or getting the A/C to work...

And they rust..really bad. I just saw a 00+ with decent rust on it...

J-bodys- I guess it depends. I've owned 4 of them, and none have ever given any major problems...my wagon needs a few new

things, but it still trucks on well after 140k....

My first Cavalier ran perfect even after it was rear ended...make it well past 100k....

Most of the people I know with J-bodies run quite well, and a long time too, with no or few Problems....

I worked with a guy who had 210k on his 01 Sunfire..with no issues....

They may not be great cars, but I'd say 75-80 percent of all the Js are doing fine...

Grand Ams- Just those darn quads. Just about it...

[daves87rs]

It's the people who don't build up their engines before putting large turbos on that end up with junk. A modest build up with 15-20psi turbo and supporting mods can make a Civic do 11 second 1/4 ET's all day, and still get good mileage on the drive home. You might be hard pressed to do it under $5,000 though.... try $15,000.

If I had a $5,000 limit to build a sub 14s N/A Civic. I could buy a $1,000 or less '93-95 Civic hatch rolling chassis, put a B20B CR-V engine into it ($600-700), with Integra LS manual transmission ($200-300), strip it out (free), and there ya go. Assuming the suspension and tires are intact, a good driver could do a high 13s 1/4 with that. Taking it one step further, swap out the suspension, intake/exhaust systems, wheel/tire combo, plus tuning, and now I have a track monster, that's still reliable and will get well over 30mpg.

Why don't I do that? Well because I don't want a crappy loud-ass Civic.

Last Person I saw do that Blew theie Civic up pretty bad...

Plus it's more fun to walk the Crank.... :AH-HA_wink: