Are Turbo Engines Reliable?

I've taken a deep look into turbo engines and whether or not you can have a reliable car with a turbo in it. We'll talk about some of the ways that turbos fail or turbo engines have problems, and what issues might arise. I'll take you through an explainer of how turbo engines work and why they might have some issues as a result of how turbos work.

We all love turbo charges for efficiency and power reasons, but sometimes they can cause you to have a engine reliability issues.

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[Vincent-kezn]

They are only fuel efficient if you drive normally, NOT WHEN YOU DRIVE LIKE YOU'RE IN A NASCAR

[nwlly]

Depends entirely on how you drive the car and, critically, how well you service/ maintain critical things, such as oil, coolant, etc.

[avengersendingangel]

The theory in practice is to take a small engine and add performance, which in turn provides for less emissions, and all the other ecological feel good legislation. Out of the equation is reliability, longevity. And the engine plastic melts like a candle, like Ford's disastrous Ecoboost engine, with enough heat to ignite the engine into flames. Carbon build up, integrity of oil quality. Personally, I like naturally aspirated engines, large displacement. Ford used to make a wonderful 460CID with a four barrel eight jet carburetor for their Lincoln line. Those were the days! I blame California for the demise of the auto industry.

[husseinadib]

The truth is, we pretty much are running out of naturally aspirated engines! Our options are very limited today.

[yellowboxster]

Excellent video. Going back a few years I remember my friends lusting after the Saab 9-3 Aero with the turbo 4-cylinder engine. I thought it was an amazing design at the time, but I was living in a hot, desert climate and it seemed their turbos preferred cooler climates. Now days I drive an E350 with the turbo inline 4 cylinder engine and am amazed at how much performance you can get out of a 2L.

[stevenpollard]

My retired relative just bought a new Honda CRV with a non-turbo 4 cyl. The no turbo is why he went to it. He wanted less expensive complex technology and less parts and more reliability. It is also a top seller. His last car was a Fusion. My car is a 2006 Escape 4-cyl with 269, 000 miles. The engine and auto trans have never been gone into. It does not burn oil.

[robertwillett]

Had a 1986 Ford Thunderbird with a little 2.3 turbo. I was just a kid old enough to drive. Worked my butt off to pay for it. I believe it was around 190 hp. which wasn't terrible for the 1980s. I fell in love with that car, had no intercooler. Not one thing while I owned it went wrong. I beat the hell out of it and towed a 19ft open fisherman style boat. I would be at the boat ramp ready to pull my boat out of the water. Always, mostly from the truck people would always keep an eye on it while I was pulling the boat out of the water. Like it wasn't going to do it. It had a five speed manual with a posi rear end. All you heard was the turbo spool up and it would easily pull my boat out, everytime. I put 120, 000 rough miles on it before I sold it( had to so I could get a work truck).
It wasn't the fastest car I ever had, but it was the best, most reliable and fun car I've ever owned. I'm an old man, I've had more cars then I can remember.
Dam, I miss that car.
I know turbos put extra wear on a engine, I couldn't kill that car. Had to be very lucky, because I ran it like it was stolen. Great car.

[rcusa]

We as a nation should demand the reduction of over-engineered vehicles. Why do we need plastic push buttons (that require chips) for starter, parking brake, transmission drive/reverse select, windows, seats, mirrors, etc? We got lazy. We should demand BASICS, QUALITY and SAFETY only AND an End to Dealerships, and an End of Turbo's. Gas Hybrids are still the only acceptable future mandate until hydrogen is perfected. PHEV and Electric are just stupid as the electrical grid cannot handle millions of them; plus, they will burn your garage/house down.

[MichaelGolpe]

Very nice 👍 Excellent description of use cases for turbo vs non-turbo. Also excellent description of how the engineers have to design the complexity of engines. Thanks, Mark!

[mdk]

Also, the newer Kia's and Hyundai's with the 1.6 L turbocharged four-cylinder GDI engine and the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission are unreliable as well. Please avoid any of them and buy the ones with the 2 L and/or 2.4 L four-cylinder non-GDI engine, if you are planning to purchase a Kia or a Hyundai. Better yet, buy the ones with the 3.3 L, 3.5 L and/or the 3.8 L V6 engines instead.

[hughb]

I have a 2017 Civic Hatchback with the 1.5 Turbo. I've been lucky so far to have had none of the problems associated with this engine. This car gets downright stupid real world MPG (34-37) and it's a blast to drive. BUT - I have no confidence that this will last for the long haul. Great Video Mark, one of my personal favorites.

[jackson]

Planned obsolescence and the fact they're sticking them into virtually every new car should answer that question in terms of long-term reliability.

[guscasillas]

Excellent video. Best explanation I’ve heard on turbos vs naturally aspirated. I have both and NOW i understand they have to be treated slightly different. Keep up the great work and I’ll keep watching. 👍🏼

[derekcrymble]

Listen carefully, turbos belong on diesel engines and racing applications . This guy all wrong about the false sales narrative "more power and better gas mileage" . It takes "X" number of joules (work energy) to move 3000 Lbs. from zero to 60 mph in 5 seconds . Force them and they blow the gas like a V8 . THERE IS NO FREE ENERGY . Gdi engine intake valves are shedding chunks of burned coked oil through the turbine side of the rotating element causing servere unrepairable damage . This debris then plugs the catalytic converters, very expensive . I am a turbine machinist for twenty years . I make a good living from the poor customers that fall for the B/S . ALWAYS get the bigger engine . If you gave me a free turbo car, I wouldn't thank you for it, and I couldn't sell it fast enough . Avoid GDI, turbo and CVT at all cost .

[thatsentertainment]

I use to own a Peugot 508 turbo saloon and even after putting top grade Motul oil at service the turbo had issues like smoke and leaks later. Also, I saw the service history of the car and the turbo had repair work done to it a few years before.

[nkgudih]

Great work and informative. Back in 2008, I compared and opted to replace turbo with hybrid cars cause they both provide that extra boost, only with the electric, one gets instant torque, zero atmosphere impact, no added heat built up & amazing reliability with added low maintenance

[Fush]

Wife has the V8 Mercedes 2 turbo. I ❤️ my golf. Never an issue. Great German build quality.

[Tigerfan]

Turbo 4s are generally short-lived. I had an Audi A4, and it was wretched in terms of reliability and upkeep. Used oil, lots of electronic issues, and at 50K miles, the turbo died. As naturally aspirated engines go away, we'll be driving more cars that are expensive, unreliable and so on. Gone are the days when your Toyota Camry would last 200K miles.

[BMWI-gkwh]

Kinda like AWD.(puts less stress on the engine, when drove lightly and not maxing it out, and not driving conservatively)
Depends mainly on the engine and type of engine mainly.

[IsabellaJones-yt]

Very nice Excellent description of use cases for turbo vs non-turbo. Also excellent description of how the engineers have to design the complexity of engines. Thanks, Mark!