So what does everyone think has been on the road the longest?

I simply hate to accept the fact that japan has some very dependable cars but personally I think the most reliable brand would have to be either Volvo or Land Rover. Specifically with Volvo, the late 80s models with the 5 cylinder turbo engines. They often get over 300 or 400 thousand miles on an engine. With Land Rover there is a statistic on their website that really opened up my eyes: 80% of the vehicles ever produced are still on the road. IMO that's pretty impressive. But for car model I would have to say that the 1968 Mercedes Benz 200 diesel is the most reliable. Many of them have gone over a million miles. Mercedes has actually bought one back from an owner that went over a million miles to foul reliability doubts with the brand.

What do you guys think?

 

Id have to seriously disagree with the land rover claim... with accidents alone that would prove false. Not to mention their horrific electrical problems they used to have, they are right next to jaguar in that sense.
Anything diesel will last longer and be more reliable, engine-wise at least. Jap cars tend to rust out like iron bulkheads on ship docks, so it doesnt matter if the engine is still running 20 years later, cuz the body wont be there. Japanese accessories are also known to give out, but Audi doesnt have the best track record there either.
The best thing I could say is that if a car is maintained properly and not driven like I drive, then it should return the favor.

 

its all a matter of how you take care of the car. I've seen old 70's ford pickups on the road. those 4.2L straight sixs you can't kill for some reason if you take care of them and the rear end on old fords are amazing.

I've seen those volvo's way over 200k in person, hondas and toyotas are as said the motors are great but the bodies wear out.

thats usually the most case a well maintained vehicle will run for a very long time. but usually... especially in NY its the body that rusts out first because of the road salt.

 

Think about it a bit, land rover has changed alot in recent years and while I was stating that they are reliable I really was really thinking more about the defender and early models like the series 1 and 2. The defender is very insane car guys its the only land rover that holds its value, read up on them, they are about as dependable as it comes imo. it doesn't have electrical problems because their really isn't much of anything electronic haha. The design of the car hasn't changed in 25 years. Old land rovers do run forever. I would have to admit that newer models like the discovery and range rover are a mess, I should have known everyone would flip out about that haha. every company has an unreliable car.

 

I would have to agree with you with the older LR's. My brother used to have the Series II and currently now has the Defender. These cars can last a long time (engine-wise) and many of the parts from the older models up to the current models are interchangeable. Also the fact that the body parts are made of aluminum, makes the car different.
However, his DD is the RR Sport and there are many electrical issues with that car.

Back to the topic, I think the most reliable car company out there would have to be Toyota. These cars just run no matter what you do to it.

If I went offroading, I would probably go with the LR brand.

 

Audi B5 S4 hands down

 

LOLOL, ya, million miles with just some basic oil changes.. "If you will it, it is no dream"

 

I think volvos, honda, toyota, saab.. all have made some really reliable cars in there time.

Especially Toyota, my neighbor has a 81 small toyota pick up, has like 330k on the engine, still runs, and takes all his equipment to shows every week (he's in a band), so I mean that's pretty impressive.

 

surprisingly enough right now the best built/most reliable car brand is jaguar. . . . . . .

i know let that one sink in for a while, its still hurting my head.

 

Jaguar tied with Buick... Who would have thought.