[dzonga]

in the wild Inline 6 (I6) engines have proved reliable and just going on regular maintenance

B58 (BMW) is super reliable & high performance

same as the I6 used in certain landcruisers & other Toyota cars etc

though now of course - with super cheap solar etc - if you can go electric go electric but if you've to buy an ICE car - yeah buy an I6 - fuel efficient & performance & reliable

[mathstuf]

I had an '89 Cherokee to 235k and sold it for ~60% of my purchse price after 6 years after garages only quoted insanity for the smallest things (Dad is a mechanic, but the commute there for repairs isn't feasible on the regular and apartment living is not conducive to the required garage/tools).

Dad has seen AMC I-6s go 400k before the transmission died and ended its run.

[RickJWagner]

I had an AMC with the 232 inline 6. Wonderful engine.

[sejje]

One of my old cars was a 1996 XJ (Cherokee), 4.0, and I sold it with 319,000 miles.

I still see it around town from time to time, must have 360 on it now. Original engine and as far as I know, transmission as well.

I ran it out of oil once without damaging it.

Since then, I bought two inline-6 Ford F150s from the mid-90s. I plan on running them forever. I bought two so I can learn to work on them, and have a backup to drive. Both manual, as well.

Jeep XJs from the 90s are still great cars to buy, so are the fords from that era (all the engines are reliable, but the I6 is starting to have a cult following online). I was working on that Jeep before I had any mechanical experience at all. It never failed to start.

[jcgrillo]

From Toyota there are many greats: 1FZ-FE, 1HZ, 1HD-FT, 12H-T, etc

The Cummins 5.9L is excellent, particularly the 12 valve with P7100 pump. Awesome low end torque.

From Mercedes the M104 and OM606 are phenomenal. Powerful, efficient, incredibly reliable. The only drawback is the aging engine management software is not very well supported by aftermarket code readers anymore. In the case of an OM606 you can fix this by deleting the ECU entirely and installing an M pump from an OM603, or replacing the ECU with a DSL-1 standalone unit.