Having confidence in your car

[stephend]

My present pair of Volvos, and the Mondeo I had before the V40. Mind you, I have them serviced on the dot, and get fixed anything that needs it.

Any car can let you down, of course. The fuel pump packed up on the Mondeo, stranding me in Halfrauds car park (argh!), and the coil pack had to be renewed when it started misfiring. But it was a good motor. Both the fuel pump relay and the Hall sensor have had to be sorted on the 740: both chose to fail simultaneously just after I'd finished renewing the head gasket... But I regularly take it up to Scotland and back, a 1000-mile round trip in a weekend, and the only time it's let me down was when I had a tyre blow out.

[rickp78]

I've had my 1982 2.8 Granada for 9 years and it has been totally reliable and would have no second thoughts about going anywhere in it. Even drove it to a show in Germany a few years ago and use it for family holidays etc. It isn't my 'main' car, but it gets used a lot.

It is easy to fix if anything does go wrong, plus everything is so accessible, unlike modern cars.

Regards,

Richard

[Bill_56]

Have to say my Saab 9-3, purchased new in 2000, gets my vote. Apart from a slight oil weep from an engine gasket, which never affected driving, the only unscheduled work in 125k miles was for a shredded auxiliary drive belt after a dealer forgot the service schedule (unlike many Volvo's, a broken belt doesn't kill a Saab), and once when the ignition module died. A few months after the DI module Saab issued a recall for these ignition modules, which meant I got a full refund, over £300, even though my failure had predated the recall and the car was over 90k miles and six years old.

I feel sure I'd still have it today, but it was wiped out in 2007 when an oncoming car span out of control on a bend, coming to rest embedded in my beloved Saab. Even then, the airbags and safety apparatus all worked to perfection, the photos of my poor car conformed exactly to the pictures of industry crash tests, same deformation in same places. And nobody hurt (much).

[heyskull]

I have had 2 940s the last one has been sold today, these 2 cars converted me to Volvo.
Their was never a time I would think it won't start or this will never make it.
Absolutely stunning reliability even when abused.

I have recently bought a 2000 Phase 1 V70 2.4 and I am up to 1,100 miles in it since just before Christmas.
It has a full service history and runs a lot cheaper than the 940 even though it has a bigger engine.
But at what point do I trust it the same as the 940s?!!

SC

[GMad]

That would be my Pontiac and the numerous V8 engined Yank Tanks that preceded it. Simply because they are basically V8 tractors and very uncomplicated.
Then of course there are the motorbikes I do and have owned, because they are generally over engineered

[volvorocks]

Originally Posted by rickp78

I've had my 1982 2.8 Granada for 9 years and it has been totally reliable and would have no second thoughts about going anywhere in it.

Richard

That would be the square one,the 2.8 injection or the Ghia? Always wanted one of those. A teacher at school had an older shape Granada, and also a Cortina - the one with the round dials. Loved them as well.What made you go for a Granada? The Sierra GLS I had was a 'stop gap',yet was one of the best cars I have had,reliability wise. Quick as well. Only sold it as someone offered me much more than I paid for it.

Regards

[emmerson2]

Contrary to popular opinion, any one of my 5 Range Rover classics. Over the twenty years total ownership, my current one is the only one not to have completed a journey, and that was when a high-pressure ABS hose blew when in Germany.It had to be transported to Land Rover, Dresden, where it was very quickly (and surprisingly cheaply) fixed.
And bear in mind that all of these cars had done over 100,000 BEFORE I bought them!
Next to those, a Peugeot 309 1600, which just went on and on, till I got bored with it after about 6 years.(it did let me down twice, though)

My current Volvo 850 has such poor traction that I cannot use it in frost or snow, so it cannot be classed as reliable, sorry. Great car otherwise, though.

[SonyVaio]

For me I've had a number of cars but the ones I had confidence in and knew each and every time I got in it the car would start and deliver me with little to no fuss:

Volvo 360 GLT - to this day still my favourite ever car I've owned (long gone now though), had it for 9 years and was my first car
Vauxhall Vectra (B) 2.0 DTI - gave me 260,000 miles and still satrted each and every time (regular oil changes are key!).
Vauxhall Vectra (C) 2.2 DTI - 160,000 miles trouble free and over 50mpg on a run (680miles to tank)
Volvo V50 T5 - Current car but have put on 40,000 without any running problems at all. Plan on getting some work done at Shark to spruce it up and vigour the ride a little.

[Father Adam]

No surprises here, but my Granny is the most reliable and cheap to repair car I've had

[volvorocks]

Originally Posted by Father Adam

No surprises here, but my Granny is the most reliable and cheap to repair car I've had

Adam

The font on your site is microscopic?

Is it just me, or can you make it any bigger? Or can I ?

Cheers