These New Cars Are Hurt By Their Past Unreliable Reputations

Shaking a reputation as a car that's unreliable can take decades to undo. As it turns out, the perception of South Korean and British carmakers from Hyundai Motor Group and Jaguar Land Rover is skewed by the past, and these brands are still carrying a bit of that unreliability baggage.

Even though they've clawed their way to a better image, recent recalls and safety issues affecting models from Kia and Hyundai have hurt their reputation as cars that've outgrown their past. Jaguar is more or less still reeling from the Leyland days, and Land Rover is known as the king of off-road luxury but has struggled to lay reliability concerns to rest.

Readers brought up good points about the lasting effects of the reputations automakers are beholden to, especially when talking about the big three in the U.S.: General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. And I'm grateful for all of you who brought a sense of humor — I'm definitely rooting for your Audis.

I'm also overjoyed that Alfa Romeo still has some proud defenders (as in fans, not the SUVs) So, here are some of the cars readers say are still affected by past unreliable reputations today:

Hyundai and Kia.

Their early cars were total shit. I think they have largely overcome that stigma, but I imagine some new-car buyers will never give them a chance.

Submitted by: Unacceptably Dry Scones

Jaguars have been perfectly reliable for at least 20 years now. My first one was an X-Type that ran like a top at 165,000 miles when I sold it. My current one, an XF Sportbrake, has 53,000 on it now and has had no issues. Jaguar's current "reliability issues" stem from people that are too stupid to use the touchscreen and people that skimp out on maintenance because it's expensive and they're trying to flash money they don't have.

It's not the Lucas Electrics in British Leyland-built cars anymore.

Submitted by: Xequar

And...

Well this is where I'll put my Jaguar defense I guess. I'm on my second new one and they're fine. I bought a new XF in 2012 and it was perfect, until 5 minutes after the warranty expired and the water pump failed, which is the one thing that always went wrong on those otherwise awesome N.A. 8 cylinder engines. Cheap plastics...

In 2018 I got a new F Type R and while it's still on warranty, there hasn't been any problem of any kind yet. I keep up with the Jag message boards and that experience is typical, though some people have experienced electronic gremlins, but no more than what I've seen on BMW or Mercedes boards. The engines are awesome and reliable, because they're old Ford engines that go back years.

Great cars. 5 stars. Would recommend.

Submitted by: ftyperbruin

Land Rovers were a reliability nightmare in the 1990s, but post-BMW and now in the TATA era, they are much more reliable. No, they won't take the abuse that something like a Land Cruiser will, but they are absolutely fine as long as you keep up with regular maintenance. That seems to be the issue in the US – people lease / extend themselves financially for a luxury SUV to show off but are not able to keep up with basic maintenance.

We've had 4 Range Rovers, all post-2008 and they've been flawless – only thing that went wrong was a heat transfer case which rattled and was replaced under warranty. My extended family in the UK has had almost 30 Land Rover products to date. A diesel 1997 Discovery was an absolute lemon but everything else just fine.

Submitted by: William

I don't think the American brands deserve the hate they get from the "I'll never buy a Ferd/Doge/Chebby because I once owned a used 1993 Lumina and it was awful" crowd. Yes, their reliability is average, but nearly every new car is far, far more reliable as far as "does it start every morning" daily-drivability. Today's "average" pretty damn good, all things considered. And, personally, I don't consider shocks that don't last 200K miles or an occasionally flaky infotainment system as making a vehicle unreliable, but others feel differently.

Submitted by: Dbeach84

And...

I don't actually think Jaguar is hurt by its prior reputation for unreliability. As you hint, sister company Land Rover has an equal or greater record for unreliability, and manages to do just fine. What hurts Jaguar is that its current crop of cars don't do anything as well as the Germans, and aren't particularly distinctive. Heretofore, they also weren't able to peddle competitive lease rates, which bring other companies a lot of volume.

I'd say Chrysler, Ford and especially GM have poisoned the well quite thoroughly. There is a large swath of customers who bought or were subject to 70s/80s/90s Detroit steel and who were treated so poorly by those products that they rushed into the open arms of foreign brands and never looked back. That those same years marked a quality high point for Japanese and German automakers did Detroit no favors. It solidified positive and negative impressions of certain brands that remain to this day, whether or not they still deserve them.

If I had a dollar for every "And that's why my father's last five cars were Toyotas and not Buicks" story I've ever heard, I'd be typing this on a private yacht.

Submitted by: Kyree

I think VWs are far more reliable – particularly now – then their reputation would have you believe.

I've owned a number – a GTI and two Golfs. And neither gave me the slightest bit of trouble. One was a TDI – but it was reliable, even if a fraud. My wife owned a slightly older Golf than I did, and it was completely reliable. Similarly, my parents owned a number of VWs and never had any real problems with any of their newer cars. A '92 Eurovan, while awesome, did live up to VW's reputation, however.

Submitted by: TheWalrus

Adjacent to reliability, Mazda doesn't seem to have entirely shaken its reputation for rust (at least in enthusiast circles), even though they seem to have made huge improvements 10-15 years ago. Like, it wasn't weird to see a first-gen 3 that looked like it spent a couple years on the floor of the North Atlantic while it was still a late-model car, but the newer stuff seems to still look relatively clean. Anecdotally, my '14 2 has a bit of corrosion on some underbody components, but I haven't noticed any bubbling yet. and I haven't really done any particular care except the occasional car wash

Submitted by: Maymar

Working for a rental car company in the late 90's/early aughts, I still have a sore spot in my heart from the shovelware GM was lazily tossing out at the time, and it influences my decisions still to this day. However, I think things have changed, especially under Mary Barra's leadership, and GM is actually putting out some great cars these days. For every 2001 Pontiac Grand Am that overheated and left me stranded on the side of the road on the way to the dealer to get the 'Check Engine' light looked at, there is now an affordable Chevy Bolt EV that I can drive and not worry about my house burning down.

Oh wait...maybe that was a bad example. Anyway, it wasn't their fault, right? Still plenty of good cars in their stable.

Submitted by: paradsecar

And...

anything from gm. Every once in a while, you'll hear a snarky comment about the Cadillac Cimarron, when was probably out of production be the time most people were born.

Submitted by: Bronx Resident Benjamin White

Here's the thread I want. I'm also going to throw my hat into the FCA/Stellantis ring.

I've always owned Japanese cars, and a couple of BMWs, so I never thought I would buy an FCA product. I absolutely regarded them as the lowest of the low in quality and reliability. Even after buying my 2022 Ram, I've been given the third degree on how I would always be taking it into the shop for this and that, and how parts will start falling off.

Well, I'm about 15,000mi in, and 8 months of ownership, so far, it's been one of the best vehicles I've ever owned. Too early to tell, but before I purchased, I talked to owners, forum members, even mechanics that work at the dealerships, I haven't seen or heard any red-flags that kept me away.

Submitted by:Ninety-9

And...

FIAT!

A friend went to work for a local Fiat dealer when they were re-introduced a few years ago. He said everyone there was bombarded with tales of rusting bodies, long wait for parts from Italy, and regular overheating problems, that led to the company exiting the USA market about 50 years ago. Last year the FIAT dealer in question, in an eastern state capital city, closed up suddenly. I've not heard from him, but I can't stop thinking about how many potential buyers stayed away from the FIAT brand, because of their poor reputation lingering around after half a century.

Submitted by: Bill McCoskey

Was waiting for this one lol In my experience, the new Alfas are actually quite good and have been at least on par with other luxury cars in reliability. I have owned 4, two of which I still have. A 2018 Giulia QV and a 2023 Stelvio. NONE of the 4 have had a major issue. Yes, some build quality things and some software updates but all have been resolved by a very competent dealer. I realize not all Alfa dealers are as good as my local one, so there's that.

Most will never give a "new" Alfa a go and that's a shame. They are fantastic driving cars.

And sure, someone will say "but, but in 2017...". I got it. There were some issues, just not in my experience...

Submitted by: AlfaLoop

I've had two early 2000's BMW 3 coupes (330ci/335i) that were absolute nightmares, but from what I've heard, the new crop of I6 engines are a lot more reliable than their predecessors so much so that I'm considering a last gen M240 or M2. I'll have to do some more research though.

Submitted by: MikeofLV

And...

I had to revisit a lot of my biases and preconceptions when Toyota put a BMW engine in the new Supra. So.... maybe... every BMW?

Submitted by: Serolf Divad

I'd say MINI. The amount of people that tell me my f56 is an unreliable pile of shit is hilarious. Previous generations are absolutely junk, but the f series cars are much different beasts than their predecessors.

Submitted by: Dustin

My car! 2021 Audi A4. It's only been back to the dealership like 37 times!!

Submitted by: WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4