Are Toyotas still the ‘indestructible’ cars everyone worships? Mechanics spill the tea — and it’s complicated

The grand debate in the auto industry is which brand makes the most reliable car, but in all honesty, Toyota seemed to have settled that argument quite some time ago. A mechanic on TikTok recently asked his colleagues whether that long-held belief still stands today, and their answers were far more divided than most people would expect.

There’s nothing quite as stressful as a young person buying their first car. That anxiety is so universal they literally built the billion-dollar franchise Transformers around it. When faced with that decision, there’s a flood of advice on how to get it right. First, you’re told to check the Carfax if the car is second-hand. Then you’re warned about navigating conversations with mechanics and avoiding being overcharged. It’s a whole process with one comforting rule of thumb: if you settle on a Toyota, you supposedly won’t have to worry about constant breakdowns.

According to some mechanics, though, that assumption may no longer be entirely true — or at least, it’s more complicated than it once was. A TikTok posted by a creator named Aeschbach Automotive asked mechanics a simple question: is Toyota’s reliability “overrated” today?

The first mechanic answered confidently, calling Toyota the “gold standard” for reliability, echoing what most viewers and longtime owners already believe. The Japanese automaker built this reputation over decades by refining its manufacturing process, famously empowering every factory worker to halt production or demand a recall if something doesn’t fit correctly. That obsessive quality control is what made Toyota synonymous with longevity. However, other mechanics argued that newer Toyotas don’t quite live up to that legacy. One mechanic offered a more nuanced take, pushing back on the idea that Toyota is overrated, saying, “Not if you keep up with the maintenance. Toyota will run a long time if you keep up with the maintenance.”

In the comments, many users lamented what they see as a decline in Toyota’s build quality. Several argued that if you want true longevity, you should look to older models that are still roaming the roads, like early-2000s Tacomas and RAV4s. Some users claimed their Toyotas had crossed 300,000 miles, others even 400,000 miles, without showing any serious signs of struggle. Still, there was pushback. A number of commenters insisted Toyota has only seriously mishandled one engine design in recent years, and that it’s simply too early to judge whether newer models will last as long. They argued that more frequent mechanic visits don’t automatically mean a car is on the brink of failure.

Ultimately, the clearest takeaway is that maintenance matters. Even the most reliable machines are still machines. That means paying attention to dashboard warning lights, checking tire pressure monthly, and committing to annual checkups. Go the whole nine yards, and your Toyota can still live up to the reputation you’ve heard about from other owners.

If you skip that maintenance, small issues quietly turn into expensive problems. You might think it’s cheaper to ignore a warning light because the car still runs, but eventually you’ll learn why people say cheap is expensive.