An elderly woman is crying profusely over the phone, and all anyone can do is listen and try to console her. 7000 repair estimate for a car that has become a 3500-pound paperweight. The only thing she knows about cars is how to drive one. Guess who was responsible for this tragic scene? The guy writing this article. That鈥檚 right. I was guilty鈥攏ot by intent, but by association and anecdotal experience. Guess who recommended to her that she buy that car? Yep, that was me. I bought a reliable version of the same model鈥攁 car that鈥檚 still on the road with 350,000-plus miles on the odometer鈥攎ore than 20 years ago. In fact, my evangelizing about the reliability of that daily driver, a 1994 Toyota Camry coupe, eventually led my family to buy four more Camrys. Between 1994 and 2012, those were the only cars bought by my parents and brothers.
I drank the industry Kool-Aid that makes many of us believe that, out of that ocean of millions of cars, only a few chosen models can offer you true long-term reliability. That鈥檚 no longer true. Soon after that woman on the phone (my mom) was given that jaw-dropping estimate, I decided to do two things. First, I replaced a sensor and told the dealer where he could stick that estimate. And second, I became involved with a project called the Long-Term Quality Index (LTQI), a four-year-old, collaborative effort that studies the reliability of used cars. The study now includes data on more than 1.4 million vehicles that have been independently inspected by certified mechanics. Let us give you an example that hit us right between the eyes. The Toyota Camry has long been hailed as reliability incarnate, along with the Honda Accord, the Toyota Corolla, and the Honda Civic. We at the Long-Term Quality Index expected those models to be right at the top.
But guess which older, used vehicles outperform all of them according to LTQI data? Nope, not even close. Try sports cars and roadsters such as the Mazda MX-5 Miata, the Chevrolet Corvette, the Mercedes SL-class, and the BMW Z3 and Z4 convertibles. As time passes, two big ingredients help these models offer one tasty recipe for long-term reliability: care-conscious owners and strong powertrains make a real difference. A 10-year-old Camry sounds like a great idea until you find out about frequent engine issues and melting dashboards. LTQI data shows that a Camrys of that vintage are just middle-of-the-pack, not leaders. And another similarly well-regarded vehicle, the Honda Accord, has good years and bad years thanks to chronic transmission issues that apparently took several years to resolve. Unpopular Cars Can Be Reliable . You don鈥檛 have to buy an old person鈥檚 car like a Buick Park Avenue or Lincoln Town Car to buy a car that lasts. Fun can be had along with long-term quality if you spread your search to the unpopular cars. Volkswagen is a damaged brand at the moment, and many of its powertrains aren鈥檛 a good deal. But if you stick with a manual transmission, and an engine that doesn鈥檛 have a turbocharger or direct injection, you may be able to get a quality vehicle at a discount thanks to all the bad publicity these days. Have you ever heard of a Suzuki Equator? The Toyota Camry was the right decision for my family, until it wasn鈥檛. Quality can change over time. So choose a smart path. Invest time in questioning the owner. Make condition your priority, and don鈥檛 talk yourself out of buying a car that鈥檚 fast and fun. Sometimes the best deals are exactly where you wouldn鈥檛 expect to find them.
However, there鈥檚 now a growing group in the middle ground promising affordability and usability, thanks to their accurate and genuinely exploitable predicted range that鈥檚 making 鈥榬ange anxiety鈥?a thing of the past. EVs are as usable as ever and leading this group are two upstarts and one familiar face. The newest model is the Kia e-Niro, which combines an advanced electric drivetrain with a conventional compact SUV body. The latest BMW i3 gets a bigger battery that gives it even more range. And in the sportier i3s trim that we鈥檙e testing here, it pretty much matches the e-Niro for performance and price. Finally the Hyundai Kona Electric is our current favourite affordable EV, having taken the title at our New Car Awards last year - but it鈥檚 by no means old. The e-Niro shares much of the Hyundai鈥檚 tech, so it鈥檒l be interesting to see how much difference there is and which will be Britain鈥檚 best wallet-friendly EV. Kia鈥檚 e-Niro is not the Korean brand鈥檚 first attempt at a full EV.
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