How Long Can The Most Reliable Vehicle Last?

I bought my '99 Camry in 2004 with 78,000 miles on it. Before that I owned Subary Legacy '94 and Taurus '96 and just recently I learned that Ford Taurus is on the 5th place on reliability in JD Power's rating, just behind Camry.

My life before Camry
In fact I drove a lot more vehicles, but Taurus and Camry are my favorite. They are on the opposite sides of the curve for me. The reliability curve. I had 68,000 on my Taurus when I got stuck 200 miles from home on route 93 in New Hampshire with idle pulley's bearing breaking. Well, not only that: this little bearing caused pulley to get stuck and belt to slide off the track... then it is obvious. By that time my Taurus could not stay in a traffic jam for more that 20 minutes as it had some problem with cooling system (noone could find out what). It was trashed. I invested 2,500 a year in it and it was just getting worse.

My life with Camry
When I bought my Camry it had 78,000 on it. It was almost three years ago. Here is a list of things I had to change on it:
1) oil
yes, that is it! Of course I also had to change break pads, but this is true for any car, especially if you drive in a city. Well, you also have to change oil as well. I did not once, and the car died. Sad story.

It obviously does not make sense to list all qualities of this vehicle: a lot of people did it before me. What does make sense to do is to point out that this is a Great car. In fact there are two cars like that, cars that deliver high quality for 20,000-25,000 dollar segment: Camry and Accord.

Who buys Camry?
When you look at various ratings you should keep in mind that there are three types of cars: leased, financed and used. There are a number of different categories for those in the first category: color, interior, acceleration, "coolness", whatever... they do not care what happens after three years they own the car. For those who buy a new or used car there is one category: R-E-L-I-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y (there is also mpg, but it correlates with the first one). This quality cannot be ascribed to a new vehicle, it makes sense to talk about it after 4-5 years - time when you will encounter first serious problems. Thus, we need to clarify that Camry is a great car for those who cannot afford to change car every three years and has to think about the time when they will have to learn words like "engine leak", "transmission failure" and "break pads".

Why Camry?
So why do I talk about a vehicle that was manufactured 8 years ago? Can't I get a job and buy a better one? The answer is simple: when I came to dealership, this is exactly what I thought! Now I do not want to have any other vehicle.

Camry does not give you much horse power: LE will max at 133 hp for 4 cylinders and is somewhat slow on acceleration. It looks like it is going to fall apart: all this plastic, different tubes underneath and under the hood. But it is the most reliable car ever made. With reasonable 33 mpg and as much space as in Taurus, it gives a great feeling - feeling of certainty. If you have to choose a vehicle in a $6,500 range, this one is your best bet. You will not only buy a car, but also a friend you can rely upon!

Conclusion:
If you only have $6-7,000 in your pocket, you will not find a better choice. Camry will save you a lot within the next few years and, probably, will be your friend after you change your job.