You don’t always have to look hard to find trouble. While the typical problem rate for each trouble spot in our survey is fairly low, even for 10-year-old vehicles, some models stand out as especially problematic in some areas.
For example:
More than half of the 2004 Infiniti QX56, Nissan Armada, and Nissan Titan owners reported a brake problem. And almost half of 2005 Armada and Titan owners also reported brake problems.
The 1999 BMW 5 Series V8 had the worst engine-cooling-problem rate, with 34 percent. In addition, 2000 to 2001 BMW 5 Series V8 and BMW 7 Series all had about 30 percent of their owners reporting engine-cooling woes.
About a third of 2001 Chrysler Town & Countrys and Dodge Grand Caravans had problems with power equipment such as windows and sliding doors.
Another third of the respondents with the 2001 Mercedes-Benz C-Class V6 griped about serious electrical problems,as did nearly a third of the 2004 Volkswagen Touareg owners.
Nearly a quarter of owners of the 2001 Acura CL reported a bad transmission problem, and nearly the same percentage of 1999 Volvo XC70s were reported to suffer from fuel-system problems.
The 1998 Ford Explorer/Mercury Mountaineer and the 2004 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (V8) had the most temperamental audio systems, with about 20 percent of respondents reporting trouble.
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