They are pretty darn reliable cars when you consider how much performance they squeeze out of them, and how uncompromising the driving experience is. Moreover, that they can handle being driven HARD day in and day out for decades and stay reliable- something really no other car make can do.
I bought an old Porsche Boxster for cheap on Craigslist and commute daily with no breakdowns for the last 3 years... it's not a Toyota- it's reliable because I spend A LOT of my free time doing preventative maintenance on it. While it requires a lot of maintenance, a cheap economy car would be toast in a few days if driven as hard as I drive this thing. Yet in stock form I could take it to the track and keep up with crazy unreliable exotic supercars that cost 30x what I paid for it.
I bought an old Porsche Boxster for cheap on Craigslist and commute daily with no breakdowns for the last 3 years... it's not a Toyota- it's reliable because I spend A LOT of my free time doing preventative maintenance on it. While it requires a lot of maintenance, a cheap economy car would be toast in a few days if driven as hard as I drive this thing. Yet in stock form I could take it to the track and keep up with crazy unreliable exotic supercars that cost 30x what I paid for it.