Car shopping is tricky business. It’s easy to get distracted by a new vehicle’s shiny leather interior, high-tech navigation system, and premium Bluetooth stereo. But what you should be inspecting is the car’s life expectancy and which parts will eventually need replacing. After all, the last thing you need is a car service bill that'll send you into debt.
In a new TikTok video, car expert Zach Trahan breaks down the top five cars that won’t make it to 100,000 miles. According to him, these "horrible" vehicles have a short lifespan, faulty motors, and unimaginable transmission issues. Ahead, get all the need-to-know details below, plus hear from real-life car owners themselves.
RELATED: Mechanic Says This Popular SUV Is a "Ticking Time Bomb."
1. Range Rover
iStock
If you’re looking for a vehicle that’s in it for the long haul, you might want to steer clear of the Land Rover dealership. According to Trahan, Range Rovers are “horrible to work on” and will rack up an expensive service bill quickly.
“The lifespan on these things is probably about 100,000 miles max on the motor, [transmission], and everything on it,” he says.
And it seems people on Reddit agree. In a thread titled “Why does everyone hate Range Rovers so much?” Range Rover owners chimed in with their complaints.
“They’re mechanical nightmares to work on,” wrote one person.
“I have one, it’s awful. The drive feels naff, riddled with problems (coolant issues, random squeezing noises from the vehicle, rattling noises) bearing in mind it only has 25000 miles on it. Servicing brought back ‘no’ issues, hard to believe,” shared another Redditer, who is now “actively [looking] at ways to get rid of this car.”
2. Jeep Renegade
Shutterstock
“These things should be classified as trash,” Trahan says in his video. As for why you should avoid this model, he says the Jeep Renegade has “horrible drivetrain, everything is plastic, and it’s made by Jeep—you can’t get much worse than that.”
CarEdge awarded the Jeep Renegade a two-star rating for reliability and a one-star rating for satisfaction.
“The Jeep Renegade boasts a modern design and a solid build, offering decent rear cargo space. However, its charm wanes quickly due to cumbersome handling, a choppy ride, uncomfortable front seats, and limited visibility. The nine-speed automatic transmission can be hesitant, paired with the 2.4-liter engine, affecting power and performance,” per the website.
Out of precaution, Trahan also avoids Jeep’s Compass and newer Grand Cherokee models.
3. BMW X3
Shutterstock
With a BMW X3, you won’t face one major problem but a ton of little ones, cautions Trahan.
“I fix so many of these, it’s actually insane,” he shares. “Nothing really major breaks on these, but everything around the motor and transmission breaks. It’s all plastic, you take it apart and it probably breaks.”
And you don’t have to rack up a ton of miles before the BMW X3 starts wearing down, either. Most of these aforementioned issues occur around the 60,000-mile mark, Trahan notes.
Bottom line, he says: “It’s a nightmare to work on, and they’re expensive to fix.”
RELATED: Expert Names 5 Cars He'd Never Own: "Avoid These at All Costs."
4. Ford EcoSport
Shutterstock
“This is definitely Ford’s worst vehicle they’ve ever made,” says Trahan, citing its “major drivetrain issues.”
On Reddit, multiple users called the Ford EcoSport “cheap” and “far from perfect.”
A car salesman even agreed, writing, “At one point we had a sales event that had them marked down anywhere from 5-10k off just to get rid of them.”
“They are hot garbage dumpster fire of a car,” said another. A third user wrote: “Worst vehicle I have ever drove.”
Trahan adds, “To be honest, it’s hideous.”
5. Nissan Sentra and Versa
Shutterstock
Nissan’s Sentra and Versa models have a “[expletive] transmission that come in them,” per Trahan. “If you don’t service them, they’ll literally blow up way before 100,000 miles.”
However, if there are qualities in the Nissan Sentra or Nissan Versa that you do like, Trahan says an easy (but expensive) fix would be replacing the original transmission with a manual transmission.
