Interesting automobile reliability report done by Consumer Reports

[mithrandir2001]

Funny what happens when some people's car preferences are considered risks by an independent authority.

I don't know why this report is such a surprise. The evidence has been out there for years. Japanese-badged cars - in general - require less repairs than domestic-badged cars. Japanese automakers don't have 30% of the US market for any old reason. People are saying with their pocketbooks "I'm tired of the problems and the recalls."

My last car was a Ford Contour. 7 recalls and 3 warranty repairs (some were never fixed to my satisfaction) in 2.5 years of ownership...and I bought it new. The heck with that crap.

 

[RossMAN]

Toyota Camry = built in Georgetown, Kentucky = American jobs

Yes the profits go back to Tokyo, Japan BUT these are AMERICAN built supporting AMERICAN jobs.

 

[zod]

Agreed.

With Toyotas built in Kentucky, Hondas built in Ohio I don't see where all the complaints are from.

And if you are really interested in buying American, don't buy a Mercury Grand Marquis! Built in Canada

Do I love all of CRs reviews? No. Theyre seemingly written by 60 year olds, but I believe theyre reliability surveys are just that. Submitted by the readers. So when it appears that American badged cars have poor reliabilty when compared to "imports", they probably do. And their plastics look cheap

 

[StageLeft]

Cars are all hit and miss I think you mean Domestics are hit and miss! Sure there are some good domestics, but there are plenty of bad ones. I know two people who have ford windstars (late model). One of these people has now changed the transmission twice in the first 30,000 miles. The other guy had to get the fuel pump replaced almost immediately. Another friend of mine has a ford taurus and the transmission went around 25,000 miles. When was the last time you heard of this happening to a decent import? Any car can be a lemon, be it domestic or import, but when you look at the stats - as CR has done to the chagrin of the die-hard domestic enthusiasts - you'll note that the imports consistently score better grades in the reliability department.

You don't even need to consider the fact that most people realize this anyway, so why not go look at prices of used cards. Domestics lose their value ridiculously fast because people know that used domestics suck compared to their import counter parts.

 

[Nefrodite]

maybe domestics suck because they are built in mexico and canada

 

[Thegonagle]

<< maybe domestics suck because they are built in mexico and canada >>


LOL! And maybe your precious European Volkswagens suck for the same reason. I love my American made Hondas.

Of course Hondas aren?t godly. In fact I think Toyotas and Subarus are tougher and more reliable, but Hondas are a lot more fun and satisfying to drive. They have the best handling, get the best gas mileage, and they have that nice, one finger action on the manual transmissions down like no other car maker (except on the cable operated 98-2002 Accords, a rare lapse for Honda).

 

[ToBeMe]

Haven't looked at one of these in years! Never paid much attention to them then though either.........I can say this.......I have not done anything but regular matienence to a vehicle since the late 80's and I have never owned anything except Fords & GM's! Hell, I haven't even bought new tires or put brakes on one since the 80's...............but then I guess it helps that I trade for new vehicles every 2.5 to 3 years tops.

IMHO this is the best way to do it..........I bought a brand new top of the line Pickup in 87, and a brand new Trans Am for my wife the same year................we paid them both off in 18 months and have traded as mentioned above since. I always sell my vehicles "outright" and pay the balance of the new one off in 12 months or less! Never out of warranty and never have to worry about big ticket, major repairs..........at least to date we haven't.....(knock on wood).

Honestly though, perhaps I've been very lucky with my purchase of new vehicles in this manner, but, it allows us to drive new ones regularly and repairs are not a concern!

 

[jonnyGURU]

<<

<< There has yet to be a Ford based off a Mazda platform. >>



Not so! When the body style changed in '91 ??? they went to the Mazda design....Been a very good car ever since and the ZX2 is the last.....and best! >>



Still hecho en Mexico, my friend. The body design may be based on a Mazda design, but Mazda hasn't been very Mazda since Ford bought the company!

As far as the comment about imports costing more in parts and labor... I guess that depends on the import. VWs share so many parts across so many models over a span of so many years that their parts tend to be pretty inexpensive because they are produced in so many countries in such a large quantity. Then again, they're the third largest automaker in the world behind two domestic automakers, so they may be an exception to the so-called rule.

 

[Ornery]

Nice to hear from jonnyGURU once in a while! Hope you'll be poking around more often!