Anyone work at a dealership or industry that keeps tabs on quality at Honda and Toyota? What's been happening over the last couple of years? My friends 2013 Honda minivan (135k miles) had an engine die on him and another one had a 2007 Pilot (115k miles) tranny go bad.

I have many family members and friends in the auto business (Honda, Toyota, FCA, Volvo, GM). Honda/Acura quality is not what it was 15 or 20 years ago, but it’s still better than almost everyone. Toyota/Lexus builds some of the highest quality vehicles you can buy.

I recommend Toyota/Lexus over Honda for the main reason that Toyota’s automatic transmissions are generally more durable/trouble-free than Honda.

Honda has had trouble with their V6 engines and “eco” mode cylinder deactivation system causing carbon/gunk buildup in the engines and ultimately causing piston ring failure in one or more cylinders. The problem usually doesn’t manifest until well after 100,000 miles.

If I were buying a new V6 equipped Honda with eco mode I would buy one of the 80 dollar vcm disabling devices (vcmtuner.com) as soon as I arrived home with the vehicle. It’s a simple plug and play device that can be removed in about 1 minute if the vehicle needs to be serviced at the dealer.

Wife drives a Honda. 2013 CR-v with 80k miles. Zero issues. Many family members have one. What exactly are you specifically wanting to know or looking to buy? So far you've described two random issues that a few Honda's had in your life - issues that could have been caused by user error, neglect, or who knows what. Everyone knows someone who had one brand car fail one way or another. What are you ultimately getting at here? Honda has horrible looking wheels and front bumper styling. That's what we should be focusing on. Otherwise they're still pretty darn reliable.

what about the V6 found in the passenger cars, the Accords. Same shorter life? Same VCM disable advice?

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Bean:
what about the V6 found in the passenger cars, the Accords. Same shorter life? Same VCM disable advice?

Same situation. Everyone I know that has the V6 in a Honda has a vcm tuner installed to disable it. You only lose about 1 mile per gallon.

I just find this humorous.

When I grew up, if a vehicle made it to a 100k, it was a miracle, seriously, a God given miracle.

My wife still gets rid of vehicles around 30k or less. At 50k she’s stressed.

If a vehicle makes it 100k, isn’t that life expectancy? What are we wanting? 200k?

I’m not trying to be an ass, but I don’t expect 100kout if anything.

I got 108k trouble-free out of my last Mazda. I expect at least that out of this one.

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
I just find this humorous.

When I grew up, if a vehicle made it to a 100k, it was a miracle, seriously, a God given miracle.

My wife still gets rid of vehicles around 30k or less. At 50k she’s stressed.

If a vehicle makes it 100k, isn’t that life expectancy? What are we wanting? 200k?

I’m not trying to be an ass, but I don’t expect 100kout if anything.

Times have changed.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
I just find this humorous.

When I grew up, if a vehicle made it to a 100k, it was a miracle, seriously, a God given miracle.

My wife still gets rid of vehicles around 30k or less. At 50k she’s stressed.

If a vehicle makes it 100k, isn’t that life expectancy? What are we wanting? 200k?

I’m not trying to be an ass, but I don’t expect 100kout if anything.

Times have changed.

So should I expect 150k out of my Toyota Tacoma?

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
I just find this humorous.

When I grew up, if a vehicle made it to a 100k, it was a miracle, seriously, a God given miracle.

My wife still gets rid of vehicles around 30k or less. At 50k she’s stressed.

If a vehicle makes it 100k, isn’t that life expectancy? What are we wanting? 200k?

I’m not trying to be an ass, but I don’t expect 100kout if anything.

Times have changed.

So should I expect 150k out of my Toyota Tacoma?

Easily. Double that if you maintain it.

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
I just find this humorous.

When I grew up, if a vehicle made it to a 100k, it was a miracle, seriously, a God given miracle.

My wife still gets rid of vehicles around 30k or less. At 50k she’s stressed.

If a vehicle makes it 100k, isn’t that life expectancy? What are we wanting? 200k?

I’m not trying to be an ass, but I don’t expect 100kout if anything.

When and where the hell did you grow up exactly where cars struggled to make it to 100k miles? My first Honda I drove the living shit out of it until 240K miles (before I sold it, who knows how much longer it went). My dad drove his previous Silverado truck for 500K miles. He bought it back from the insurance company after a semi truck side swiped him at 400K because he wanted to make it to half a million. If you are buying vehicles that can't make it or you don't expect them to make it to 100K miles you are doing it wrong.

Definitely expect more than 150 out of a Tacoma. Even The American cars are easily going past that these days. Times have definitely changed. Of course there will be maintenance, but the engines aren't typically giving out. Usually it's computer issue.

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
I just find this humorous.

When I grew up, if a vehicle made it to a 100k, it was a miracle, seriously, a God given miracle.

My wife still gets rid of vehicles around 30k or less. At 50k she’s stressed.

If a vehicle makes it 100k, isn’t that life expectancy? What are we wanting? 200k?

I’m not trying to be an ass, but I don’t expect 100kout if anything.

Times have changed.

So should I expect 150k out of my Toyota Tacoma?

Good Lord, Yes. My friend has over 300k on his. My wife's Forester has 120k and is going strong.

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
I just find this humorous.

When I grew up, if a vehicle made it to a 100k, it was a miracle, seriously, a God given miracle.

My wife still gets rid of vehicles around 30k or less. At 50k she’s stressed.

If a vehicle makes it 100k, isn’t that life expectancy? What are we wanting? 200k?

I’m not trying to be an ass, but I don’t expect 100kout if anything.

We now have liquid cooled Motorcycles that last well over 100,000 miles. Honda Gold Wing and BMW Touring bikes, just to name two.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Bean:
Anyone work at a dealership or industry that keeps tabs on quality at Honda and Toyota? What's been happening over the last couple of years? My friends 2013 Honda minivan (135k miles) had an engine die on him and another one had a 2007 Pilot (115k miles) tranny go bad.

Reading about Honda vs Toyota quality lately, Honda doesn't seem to be as good now. It's still better than most, but Toyota / Lexus seems to have pulled ahead. You really need to look at specific years and models to see which have issues and which are very reliable.

There is a known issue with some Pilots (and other SUVs) where a valve can degrade and allow coolant to mix with transmission fluid, ruining the tranny. The recommended solution is to replace the radiator ever 100K, but that's only discovered with research on Pilot forums.

Still very good, but not as much of a relative gap as there used to be, thanks to modern manufacturing.

But this at the cost of an edginess they used to have. No more Preludes, Elements, S2000's, or V-4 motorcycles. They used to be a hardcore engineering company, but the bean counters have taken over and with that comes the requisite risk aversion.

Still more life than Toyota, but that's not saying a whole lot.

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
I just find this humorous.

When I grew up, if a vehicle made it to a 100k, it was a miracle, seriously, a God given miracle.

My wife still gets rid of vehicles around 30k or less. At 50k she’s stressed.

If a vehicle makes it 100k, isn’t that life expectancy? What are we wanting? 200k?

I’m not trying to be an ass, but I don’t expect 100kout if anything.

Times have changed.

So should I expect 150k out of my Toyota Tacoma?

If you maintain it well, you should expect much higher than 150k miles from your Tacoma. My 06 is over 303k and still going strong.

When a car note goes 5, 6, 7 years with half a grand or more payments, it had better go >100K before needing major work like an engine or transmission. Nothing like a major repair before your car is even paid for.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
I just find this humorous.

When I grew up, if a vehicle made it to a 100k, it was a miracle, seriously, a God given miracle.
My wife still gets rid of vehicles around 30k or less. At 50k she’s stressed.
If a vehicle makes it 100k, isn’t that life expectancy? What are we wanting? 200k?
I’m not trying to be an ass, but I don’t expect 100kout if anything.

Times have changed.

So should I expect 150k out of my Toyota Tacoma?

Easily. Double that if you maintain it.

Oh Lord yes!
300k out of a Toyota should be a piece of cake.

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
I just find this humorous.

When I grew up, if a vehicle made it to a 100k, it was a miracle, seriously, a God given miracle.

My wife still gets rid of vehicles around 30k or less. At 50k she’s stressed.

If a vehicle makes it 100k, isn’t that life expectancy? What are we wanting? 200k?

I’m not trying to be an ass, but I don’t expect 100kout if anything.

I've never had a car NOT make it well past 100k.

100k is about the time your first set of wear and tear items should be nearing the end of it's life, like timing belts, water pumps, shocks/struts, control arm bushings, etc.

I would hardly consider that used up. That's like throwing out the printer because the ink cartridge it came with is nearing the end.