bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

What does engine or vehicle reliability have to do with insurance, which is about accidents or theft?

it isn't.

that's a very narrow view. many now lease simply because they're not the best at money management or simply don't make / have much and thus just want the lowest monthly payment they can get. Yes, buying and driving a 2007 honda civic instead might cost the same monthly, but that's a form of instant misery for most to borrow money for a relic no matter how reliable. leasing for many is not about autonomous driving and prestige.

About reliable dinosaur engines, i would argue this no longer really has any merit, as ALL automobile engines these days are extremely reliable. But hey, if it makes certain buyers less fearful to buy an old engine, nothing wrong with that.

Toys4RJill

The excellent 4 cylinder in the Camry is new. State of the art as well. The hybrid powertrain is new as well. Only Toyota really still has a V6 in the segment.

Johnhav430

I can't put my finger on it but I would consider both Toyota and Honda to be the top echelon of Japanese cars. I would go further and say I used to think Lexus was at the top by itself, and Acura was not at the same level. Toyota seems to be different than Apple and BMW where they don't need to manage their brand image. Takata was a good example. Toyota didn't do much. But for some reason they went on a full send with hooks for floor mats! I guess that bubble boy or was it balloon boy in CO really did a number on them (thanks cnn).

"Um, you told us, um, we did it for the show!" Kids say the darndest things.

Other than the CR-V it seems that Honda is always the stepchild to Toyota. But both are excellent relatively speaking. RELIABLE. Maybe even overpriced, but what isn't nowadays.

Toys4RJill

I think Toyota does manage their image. As for Toyota and Honda being ahead, yes I agree. Engine tech is very good for mainstream brands.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

there's only mazda and mitsubishi and uh, daihatsu and i guess subaru, besides those two, so hardly difficult to put one's finger on it.

toyota and honda are mainstream brands with a decades long earned reputation for quality, value, reliability, safety, etc. so it's no surprise to me at least that they're considered by just about everyone to the "top echelon of Japanes cars".

toyota advertises a lot. they sponsor events and places. because we know the brand, and because we're probably not interested in a lot of their models, we probably don't pay attention to it much.

yes excellent and reliable. overpriced is subjective. and what isn't? gas



they make the best hybrids and have some other excellent engines (as you mentioned, state-of-the-art new 4 cylinder ones for example). they've given up on v6/v8 developments though which is probably smart since a lot of the world is now going to 3 and 4 cylinders and of course a huge push toward EVs.

jwong77

you forgot Nissan

Toys4RJill

I think Nissan gets the least amount of coverage for mainstream brands on this forum

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

lol, oh yeah, nissan...

and my gf has an infiniti too... which i would rate as reliable as anything made, this is her second one (q60 coupe).