Big Dave

Today's Money section in USAToday lists Porsche as being #6, behind Lexus, Inifinit, Acura, Honda and Toyota in reliability for models that are 4-5 years old.

I wonder how that survey would change if they looked at cars 15-20 years old. Aside from reliability, the % of Porsches still on the road compared to the other brands, I venture to guess, would be significantly higher. Does anyone know of a survey of this type?

Big Dave

Here's the article for anyone who's interested:

<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2002-11-21-dependable_x.htm" target="_blank">USAToday Article</a>

hitbyastick

I guess it has to do with the fact that when a Porsche breaks or something they never get "thrown out". They get rebuilt to stock or racecar status.

BrianS

I am quite impressed that Porsche scored so well. There seems to be quite a cluster between #5 and #12, as they are all within about 10 points of each other. Surprised to see that MB was below average!

Ed Ruiz

Based on anecdotal evidence, I would guess that Porsche (and many other German cars) would probably be higher in the ranking as the years go by. For example; My wife's 87' 300E still runs great and looks good. Assuming it isn't totalled in an accident, it will probably last another 10 years - easy.

So, how many 20+ year old cars are still being driven today? Among them, what's the percentage for: American, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Sweedish, or other European?

Based on my limited survey in the DC Metro area, most of the older cars I see routinely driven are usually German. Most are Volkswagens, then Mercedes Benz', then Porsches. Among the very oldest are: Volkswagens and Mercedes Benz.

BTW, the last time I read the stats on which car has the long distance record, it was held by a 53 MB with well over 2,000,000 miles. Second place was held by a VW Golf with over 1,700,000 miles. YMMV.

bcdavis

I think it has a lot to do with how much you love your car. If you crash a generic import, you will probably just collect the insurance money, junk it, and buy a new one. But if you wreck a Porsche, you will probably want to rebuild it. And if you don't, someone else will come along and rebuild it. I see a lot of Porsches in used car lots. Right in the front. Undoubtedly mechanicly unsound, but shiny and repainted. So I think people still love them and want them, and people will buy them because they always wanted one. So they stay out on the road a lot longer. Not as many get scrapped.

Normy

Numerous friends have gazed across the curved surfaces of my shark and asked me about the reliability of my car- more often than not with a slight gleam in their eye.

-I interpret that gleam as an "Hmm...why haven't I gone this direction yet" sort of thing.

To be brutally honest, I tell them that my '85 S2 5 Speed is approximately mid-'80's VW in reliability. To this day, I would not hesitate to drive my 115K mile shark to California from my home in Florida if I had to. And I usually add that while I think that the mechanical bits are totally reliable, the accessories are the shlt!

I wind up telling them "If you want a fast, unique car that you can work on, and don't mind door locks that cycle, sunroofs that don't work right, A/C that is weak, and cruise control that works when it wants to....then a shark is perfect for them.

Normy!
'85 S2 5 Speed