Here's a report from Consumer Reports that might help you get it.

"These are the best of both worlds: vehicles that have performed well in Consumer Reports road tests over the years and have proved to have several or more years of better-than-average overall reliability."

Toyota 4Runner
Toyota Avalon
Toyota Camry
Toyota Camry Solara
Toyota Celica
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Echo
Toyota Highlander
Toyota Land Cruiser
Toyota Prius
Toyota RAV4
Toyota Sequoia
Toyota Sienna
Toyota Tundra
Acura Integra
Acura MD
Acura RL
Acura RSX
Acura TL

Buick Regal
Chevrolet/Geo Prizm
Chrysler PT Cruiser
Ford Crown Victoria
Ford Escort, ZX2
Lincoln Town Car
Mercury Grand Marquis
Mercury Tracer

Honda Accord
Honda Civic
Honda CR-V
Honda Odyssey
Honda Prelude
Honda S2000
Infiniti G20
Infiniti I30, I35
Infiniti Q45
Infiniti QX4
Lexus ES300, ES330
Lexus GS300/ GS400,
GS430
Lexus IS300
Lexus LS400, LS430
Lexus RX300, RX330
Mazda 626
Mazda Millenia
Mazda MX-5 Miata
Mazda Protegé
Mercury Grand Marquis

Mercury Tracer

Mitsubishi Galant
Nissan Altima
Nissan Maxima
Nissan Pathfinder
Subaru Forester
Subaru Impreza
Subaru Legacy
Subaru Outback

Dono

 

yeah Encho and my 77 still has mainly original parts. That's nearly 30 years on the stock equipment with no major trouble (326k miles). Now granted, fords today will not do that, but this is what people want. Ford and chevy and dodge are still getting out of that "throw away car" mode from the early 90's, where they thought that they could make cars with a lot of features and then people would just keep buying the next year's model when their lease ran out. They didn't consider longevity because their warranties were out by the time problems happened. Now resale and recalls and 'long lasting" imports are their downfall.

But here's another thought, even though the imports may break down less, the parts and repair work are often more. Think that those driving rice are just breaking even?

and red star, I know what you mean about dodges' sedans. I wouldn't buy one, simply because of how many I see burning oil at around 100k.

 

Yeah. What was ever wrong with the plunger switch that was on the brake pedal? Not exposed to engine heat, water, weather, or brake fluid. Kinda reduces the liability factor a WHOLE lot doesn't it? AND it could be a cheaper switch too.

 

Excellent point SteveH-CO.

Expanding on this, the domestic content combined with the assembly jobs provided by Toyota, Subaru, and Nissan EQUAL tens of thousandsof jobs for people here in the U.S. These jobs provide money that those workers spend to eat, buy homes, vehicles, pay taxes, etc.

That said, the "profits" from those companies may be going overseas but these companies' collectively contribute tens of billions of dollars each year to our economy.

I found the following on Toyota's website:

"Last year, Toyota spent nearly $13 billion for parts and materials from hundreds of North American suppliers and business partners. In turn, our purchases from these suppliers directly created more than 55,000 local jobs."

If I am interpreting this passage correctly, these figures are only for their parts and materials and doesn't include assembly jobs.

I agree that we should all try and keep our money at home. But don't be fooled by the "Big Three". Perhaps so-called "Japanese" vehicles built in the U.S. have such high customer satisfaction because the workers building them have a very high "employer" satisfaction. Why is that?

Dono,

Is what's REALLY conspicuous about the list of vehicles you posted is the lack of European built vehicles. If there have ever been vehicles that break down more than they run lets talk Jag, M-B, BMW, Saab. (I'm surprised Volvo and VW weren't in the C.R. list.)

So in the end how much difference does it make to our economy if we buy a "domestic" (Ford or GM) built vehicle, or a "foreign" vehicle that is manufactured in the U.S. with predominantly domestic parts? In my book, providing U.S. jobs is keeping your money at home.



Oh, and Krewat, I'm 5'10' and 185 lbs. and am very comfortable in my wife's Subaru.

 

What people fail to realize, while GM and Ford have problems.

GMAC Finanical and Ford Motor Credit are going gangbusters. GMAC in particular(home mortages).

I seriously doubt anybody is going "bankrupt", Maybe on paper( to break union contract?). but close up shop forever? Nope.

 

I don't know, I can't figure out a reason for that. I see no safety related issues that the switch on the pedal wouldn't take care of that the master-cylinder switch does. Nor do I see a reason to run it hot at all times when the cruise is only used when the engine is running. All I can think of is some newbie newly-graduated engineer on a CAD workstation somewhere saying "that's good enough" when he had to find something hot to run that switch from

As for the continuing Japanese debate, who ever said something about my "getting it", get MY point, will ya?

Here on Long Island, everyone I know with a japanese car, HALF of them have had some major work that required towing and days of downtime. PERIOD. And yes, I keep track.

Besides major stuff, what do you call having the check-engine light come on at some point and fail inspection because of it? That those same people then are off warranty and wind up paying $100's to have the problem diagnosed? That one has needed a catalytic converter somewhere between the 80K and 90K mile point? That another had a tranny toast itself for no apparent reason ($3K out-of-pocket at 75K miles)? Another pulled a wrist pin, and the guy drives like granny? Brakes needing redoing every 20K miles (too small), rust-through, etc.

Sure, many of them run forever until they just give up in one big huff. I'm not saying they are not reliable, more reliable than US cars overall in fact.

I just don't get what driving a tinny, rattly, creaky kinda car gets you.

Everyone I know of with a Ford has driven them up into the 150K range without problems. One guy with a 300 I6 toasted a main bearing but that was because he tried starting the motor during an oil change, when there was no oil in the pan yet.

Key point: Everyone sees their own share of failures for whatever brand. Neither I nor any of my friends/family have ever been polled for their opinions on their rides. Nor did they write detailed reviews or complaints about what they had to deal with. Yet Consumer Reports and lots of other places seem to think they know what 100% of the "statistical universe" is. It's like exit polls that predicted John Kerry winning in certain places, if you don't ask (or get an answer) from 100% of the voters coming out of a polling place, your results are not results, just guesses.


Anyway, I'll say no more, this is the wrong place for this.

 

Well said Krewat.

 

Good gas mileage and low monthly payment.

 

Ummm.... now everyone caught that GM and Ford bonds, not their cars, were lowered to junk status, right?

 

Yup. But my 76 is paid for and $120 a week in gas is still cheaper than the monthly and insurance on any new car.

 

amen 76supercab2. I'll gladly trade 100 dollars in extra gas for an extra thousand for a new car. and where I'm at, you have to pay vehicle taxes. This means that whilst I pay 25 dollars for my old truck, the new car folks pay extra thousands.

 

Gangbusters? On Wednesday, Moody's dropped dropped Generl Motors Acceptance Corp. (GMAC) to junk status.
Dono

 

Well, quite simple, it gets you THERE

About the tiny, blablabla, etc, comments, i´ll tell you something. The president of HBO for Latin America (some years ago) was a good friend of our family, and he´s the kind of person who rides on big american sedans back seats (with his personal company driver) or drives his Volvo or Mercedes. Well, we putted him on the back of our "tinny, rattly, creaky kinda car" and hes no kiddie, he weights more than 200lbs., he told us the car was quite comfortable and felt like it had more space than his COMPANY CAR!!!

Im not speaking bad about Ford, my truck is my baby and it´s as good as it can get, but i´ts absurd no to reply to such... how may i say it? ignorant comments (im not calling ignorant nobody here, but i think some of the people posting negative comments never owned a Toyota, so they are ignorant of that issue).

P.S.: My post here are only a reflect of my own personal experience with that brand and doesn´t in any way try to express the feelings of others here.

 

Although I drive a Ford truck I would not want to be "stuck" on any certain auto maker. Poeple I know say Chevie sucks, the next guy says Ford sucks, then it is VW or Chrysler and so on. Too often people are brand loyal cause their parents or whatever else. Every manufacturer has something good to offer and also negative aspects. Ford has great trucks, imports are cheap on gas and realible, Dodge trucks have the Cummins engine, etc. I will buy a vehicle from any auto maker that suits me and its purpose, is affordable, and made in North America and supports our economy.
Just my two cents.

 

So does my '97 Cougar, which gets 25MPG and ain't no Honda/Toyota/Nissan/etc piece of, well, never mind.

Again, I respect that they are reliable. That's not the issue. It's just that I have absolutely no respect for "minimalist" engineering.

Take my '97 Cougar. Compare it to a japanese car of the same size. The "other" car is lighter, smaller bolts are used all around, beit body or suspension, much smaller motor/tranny, thinner sheet metal, everything is just, I don't know, CHEAP?

I also have no respect for my neice's/sister's Inifiniti SUV - worse turning radius than my F250 Superduty, sounds like a soda can going over bumps (there's that TINNY sound again), and gets 15MPG on the HIGHWAY! My Superduty V10 gets that! WHAT? Now, my sister has one, my niece has another one. They BOTH get 15 on the highway... And, at 5 years old, the exhaust/cat shields are all rotted through because they used galvanized iron sheet metal for the shields instead of STAINLESS like my Fords... there's that CHEAP thing again.

Caveat: I own a Honda NX650 Enduro ... great bike. No US companies even come close in that respect. But bikes are not cars... and it ain't no Civic. My '97 Cougar is a 30th Anniversary Edition w/Sport. Think Thunderbird SC without the SC.