The expense of a car doesn’t stop at the dealership. The real cost of ownership comes from how expensive the car is to maintain. If you’re looking for brands that won’t break the bank regarding maintenance and running into issues, Royalty Auto Service went to TikTok to reveal the cheapest brands that come through their shop.
After collecting two years of data from their own shop, Royalty Auto Service found that there were five brands that weren’t costing as much to own as others. While you may know which brands made the list, you may be surprised by the order — even the shop was.
Cheapest Car Brands to Maintain
According to Royalty Auto Service, here are the five cheapest car brands when it comes to maintenance:
The mechanics at the shop were shocked that Honda and Toyota weren’t at the top. These brands are often coveted for their reliability, endurance, and affordability. Instead, it was Mazda at the top. While it was maybe not expected at first, car owners in the comments confirmed that their Mazdas were highly durable and refused to die. Said one proud owner: “I have a 2016 Mazda 3 with 295,000 miles and done nothing but normal maintenance.”
This is one of those rare times when nobody in the comments really disagreed with the TikTok. While some users joked that Mazda was at the top of the list because there just aren’t as many of them being driven, the sentiment from the car community was that it’s a reliable brand. One driver noted: “Mazda superiority! Finally someone recognizes it. Nine years later and it still runs like when I bought it.”
Where Are All The American Brands?
Image Credit: Ford.
You may have noticed a pattern — these are all Japanese brands. According to a J.D. Power study, Japanese brands have made up J.D. Power’s top five for “car brands with the least problems per 100 cars” for multiple years in a row. Other countries don’t often have the same reputation — in fact, the car community usually jokes that it’s the opposite. Ford is especially stereotyped for needing constant maintenance.
Royalty Auto Service noted to TikTok users that their word shouldn’t be taken as fact everywhere in the country — they are only going off of their own data. But we can’t help but notice their top five list does coincide with the usual rhetoric and statistics for the past few years.
Have an American or European car? Remember to avoid these maintenance mistakes if you want to keep your costs down like a Toyota or Mazda driver.
