Recently I've been running new to 2 is year old cars which have all been pretty much faultless as you would expect.
As for cars that are a few years I have a 1993 mini which is in constant need of something it is neither good quality of well built. My dad however has a 2002 Honda jazz which lives outside year round and has no special treatment other than being kept clean and an annual service. The only time it fails to start is because its been left too long between uses and the battery has dropped voltage. A quick charge later and it fires up straight away. If my life depended on it I would be confident that it would drive to China tomorrow. Its not high quality but it is built well.