Chat with Scotty Kilmer

Reliable, simple, high-mileage-proven brands — especially Toyota and Honda.

His logic: a boring car that runs to 300,000 miles with cheap parts beats a flashy one that lives at the shop. He steers people toward proven models with a long track record over the newest, most complex tech.

His usual red flags:

• CVT transmissions — expensive and failure-prone in many brands
• Complex, unproven tech on first-year models
• Brands with poor long-term reliability and pricey repairs
• Cars with no maintenance records when buying used

Change your fluids and do the small stuff early — it's the cheapest insurance there is.

Regular oil changes, transmission fluid, coolant and filters prevent the big-ticket failures. He argues most cars die of neglect, not age — a well-maintained engine lasts far longer than the payments.

Buy a gently used, reliable car and skip the depreciation.

A new car loses a big chunk of value the moment you drive off the lot. A well-kept used Toyota or Honda a few years old gives you most of the life for a fraction of the price.

Yes — many repairs are simpler and cheaper than shops let on.

He built a career showing that jobs like brakes, sensors, filters and fluids are DIY-friendly with basic tools. Doing the easy work yourself saves labor costs and helps you catch problems early.