What mechanical issues can be expected in a cars life?

[ChillyWilly72]

Hello,

I was wondering, what are the typical mechanical issues that can be expected over the lifetime of an American car/truck (10-15 years/~200k miles)? So for example a timing belt by at say 50k miles? Differential at ??? or anything you can think of.

I am trying to compile a list of all the stuff that goes wrong "in general" so that I can determine what is and what is not covered by a warranty and what out of pocket expenses I can expect and what would be covered by an extended warranty.

Thanks

Jerry

[Moppie]

Collapse of the company that built it?
Could make getting spares difficult.

[shorod]

Welcome to the forum!

So you're referring to a new car, not a car that was built 5 or more years ago?

You will need to add some assumptions to your question, such as "assuming the manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedule is followed for the appropriate service type (severe duty, normal duty, etc.)." Also, would this list be anticipating ownership by DIY'ers or all work done by shops? A DIY'er may be more likely to clean a MAF sensor whereas a shop would probably replace it, for example.

Many current models have a 100k mile service interval on the timing belt. I've started seeing some of the newer "sealed" transmissions have a 150k mile service interval for the fluid/filters. However, reading on the forum for the cars with those transmissions, it doesn't seem like a large number of them probably make it 150k before needing some form of service (typically solenoid packs). Fuel pumps seem to be pretty reliable until the 100k mile range.

Certainly suspension and steering components can't be expected to last 100k or more under severe duty, and brakes will often need service once or twice within the 100k mile range. The other "consumables" will often need replaced frequently, such as air filters (engine and cabin), the fuel filter, brake fluid flush (want to keep contaminated fluid out of the ABS pump).

-Rod

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by ChillyWilly72

I am trying to compile a list of all the stuff that goes wrong "in general" so that I can determine what is and what is not covered by a warranty and what out of pocket expenses I can expect and what would be covered by an extended warranty.

In addition to Rod's statement about maintenance, another big issue is the design and proven reliability of specific components. Often this varies a great deal from one manufacturer to another and between models and years of production from any one manufacturer.

A review of owner's experiences based on vehicle model, year mileage and use would be very helpful.
This is a good site that I use regularly:http://www.carsurvey.org/

It includes thousands of owner reviews and will give you a good general idea about problem areas. When reading the reviews look for the problems that seem to occur repeatedly over many reviews since these are likely the problem areas. Any problem that occurs in a very few of just one review are less significant and less likely related to a design flaw.

Note that the owners are often biased when writing reviews. Some are much more tolerant of reliability issues than others, depending on their temperament and expectations.

For example, the Mercedes ML class of SUV's have received simply terrible and scathing reviews about reliability, because the owners bought them new, paid a lot of money and expected flawless reliability, which they generally did not get.

In contrast, the 1984-88 Pontiac Fiero may not be any more reliable than the ML, but the owners are far happier than the Mercedes owners. This is because the Fiero owners are typically auto enthusiasts who know of the Fiero reliability issues but are willing to forgive them because of their interest in the vehicles favorable characteristics.