It is believed for some reason that modern cars are disposable. You can drive it for three years and then just sell it and buy a new one. But it might be just an exaggeration and generalization. Indeed, there are bad quality motors, but this is only a part of the market. People own cars for 5-7 or even 10 years, and also buy used cars. Hence, reliable engines exist. The question is: how to find them?
What car would you like to buy? And what engine would you prefer?
Each class of the various cars has its leaders and of course more complex and expensive cars are not well suited for harsh environments. But they have their own leaders and those who are lagging behind in the necessary volume of service and the probability of failure.
Middle Class Engines
We begin immediately with the common good one of the middle class. This category opens up a series of engines from Hyundai / Kia / Mitsubishi G4KD / 4B11.
These two-liter engines are the heirs of the famous Mitsubishi 4G63, including their reliability. There was also a variable valve timing system, and in its drive is a very robust chain. There is a simple power system and good quality. Motor power is high – 150-165 hp. This is more than enough to drive any C-Class with any load on the highway and in the city, with automatic transmission and with “mechanics”. A huge number of such engines are put on such cars as Hyundai i30, Kia Cerato, Mitsubishi Lancer and other passenger cars and crossovers of higher class: Mitsubishi ASX, Outlander, Hyundai Sonata, Elantra, ix35 and Kia Optima.
Junior Business Class
In the segment D + are also popular two-liter engines. Among them there are also reliable and well-known leaders of the C-Class. But the most popular one are sophisticated and “prestigious” high power motors.
Toyota’s is the first time met in this rating, but once in first place in its class.
2AR-FE engine power 165-180 hp and a working volume of 2.5 liters is put on one of the best-selling segment of D +, on the Toyota Camry, and without any doubts it is the most common and reliable engine in its class. These engines are also installed on crossover RAV4, and minivan Alphard. Motor is simple enough, but the key to success is the quality and a frequent maintenance of Toyota’s cars.
Senior business class
Luxury sedans of the E-Class does not apply to vehicles with low operating costs, and the engines in this class are sophisticated and powerful. And very often they cannot boast of extreme reliability. But among them there are leaders and units with high reliability.
Again, the leader is Toyota, more precisely Lexus, but you know that the company is in fact the same? 3.5 Motors series 2GR-FE and 2GR-FSE are installed in the Lexus ES model and the GS luxury SUVs and Lexus RX. Despite high power and low weight, it is a very successful gasoline engine, in a version without the direct injection is considered as one of the most trouble-free in its class.
In this category can be also named Volvo with its B6304T2 and 3 liters. This is the first turbo in our ranking and in operation it is even easier and cheaper than the diesel. This is due to the design with a good margin of safety, and relatively low prices for services.
Infiniti can be attributed to this category too, namely Q70 model with the legendary “Six” series VQVQ37VHR volume of 3.7 liters and output of 330 power. The key to success in this case is its performance, a long-standing history of the series engines and its prevalence. Such motors were installed on the sports Nissan 370Z, and SUVs QX50 and QX70, and for a small sedan Q50.
Also senior business class may include a diesel Mercedes E-class W212 body and engine OM651. Yes, it’s turbo, but the weakest of its version with conventional solenoid injectors. Therefore, it is capable of delivering a minimum of trouble in operation.
Executive Class
In this case don’t wait for the ratings. F-class cars can’t be cheap in operation. And a modern car of such a level contains all the technological advances of recent years, all the most sophisticated and expensive equipment. They have, of course, its leaders and its outsiders, especially the German executive sedan are also produced with very reliable diesel engines, and the Korean and Japanese premium brands are focused on the reliability of gasoline engines and warranty. But it is difficult to make choice between them, and it does not make sense, in this class there are other rules of the game.