I'm in the process of buying a newer car/truck for a family member, and it's depressing. So many sensors, and computers that dealership mechanics barely comprehend.
I understand it's for emissions, but so many of those sensors are for comfort systems, and selling gizmos. The problem being is when they malfunction. A dealership mechanic will not tell a customer we are basically learning on your new computer on wheels, but they put that in the price to fix.
I went to automotive school in the ninties, and these new vechicles still scare me.
My trusty Snap-on Mt2500 is practically useless on newer vechicles.
And there will ge the guy whom claims, "I just plug a scan tool in, and that lovely system (CAN Bus system, and multiple computers), just spit out a PID, and the fix is found."
It's just so much more complicated.
On a positive note, my New Years resolution is trying to master these new electrical systems.
There's a market for a simple vechicle, like older Toyotas.
I don't see any company offering a simple vechicle? And yes, I understand emissions are a problem, but it doesn't seem like an impossible problem to get a manual four banger, with just the basics on the market.
And I won't get started on automatic transmission problems.
Sorry for the rant.
I've been quite happy with Ford also.
Chrysler products are the worst I've ever owned from a reliability standpoint, most of my issues with them have been electrical not mechanical though.
This is all the more impressive given that our roads are salted constantly in the winter months here.
The worst I've seen for it are mid-2000s Fords. It's like the frames aren't galvanized at all, but that may be a problem limited to UK models.
That said my (beloved) Nissan Leaf is starting to go orange underneath but thankfully it looks like surface rust rather than rot.
Older Toyotas rust horribly, especially the trucks
My 25 year old Toyota SR5 pickup has no rust at all.