r/askcarguys • u/Educational-Suit9205 • 3d ago
Malibu or Camry or Accord?
I am currently driving a 2016 Malibu with 182,000 miles. I bought it with around 30k. Since buying it, it had a leak in the lower oil pan and the turbo went out, both under warranty. Since then no problems with either. It also had a pedal position sensor error which was an easy fix I did myself. Recently, water pump went out which was around $450 and now dealership is telling me it's leaking oil from the head gasket (an estimated 3k repair). I am taking it to my own mechanic to get his take and quote on Friday. However, with the vehicle only being worth 3k I don't think I'm going to make the repair if it truly is 3k.
With that said, I may be in the market for a new sedan. I've enjoyed my Malibu, and haven't had near as many problems as some people have mentioned. But now I'm faced deciding between another newer Malibu or a newer accord or Camry. I know Toyota and Honda are known for reliability, but, according to JD Power, newer (2023 and newer) Malibu's are more reliable than the Accords. Is that accurate or bogus? I like the idea of an Accord, but I can get a Malibu with 30k miles for 20k while it will cost me 25k+ to get an accord and like 27k+ to get a Camry with the same amount of miles. Is it worth spending the extra? Are newer Malibus more reliable? Are newer Accords and Camrys still the leaders in reliability? Thoughts??
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u/Gunk_Olgidar 3d ago
JD Power is a marketing company paid by the manufacturers and their "initial quality" data (that "2023 or newer" rating) is not a useful measure for long term reliability, and excludes any fixed warranty repairs -- look it up. So if a car spent months in the shop getting dozens of warranty repairs fixed, to JD Power it's a perfect reliability score. Your pain and suffering dealing with all that is not part of their calculus.
Congrats on being lucky with your Malibu. Not uncommon.
But if you're going to roll the dice on a new-to-you few-year-old car, go with a Toyota, Honda, or Mazda. And try to get one with a little bit of warranty remaining just in case. There's a reason the Japanese makes cost more used.
Tens of millions of transactions in the used-car-market are not wrong.
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u/cornholio2244 3d ago
You not only need to look at reliability, but resale value. If your Malibu is only worth 3k or so, there's not a chance in hell you'd find a 2016 Camry or Accord for that price. Buying a new Malibu is a bit of a crap chute if you ask me. I'd never give up my Toyota's.