25th Aug 2010, 20:32

I'm a mechanic. I regularly get Hondas, Toyotas and even some Nissans in my shop with well over 250,000 miles. It's almost an everyday occurrence. They're almost never in for anything very serious (I think one of the biggest issues I've seen in awhile was bad lower ball joints on a Toyota with 220,000 miles on it).

I service American vehicles as well, and I have seen a few high mileage examples, but it's rare. The American cars pay my bills, as serious repairs are far more frequent. Even with well over 250,000 miles, most of the imports are in for oil changes!

26th Aug 2010, 08:09

You should have let me know. You could have worked on my GM plenty with all kinds of repairs. In fact you'd be an expert on everything from front end rebuilding to computer problems to intake issues. Heck you would be a GM trailed technician by the time you spent a month with my Trailblazer! Thankfully, I now have a Toyota and won't get bored sitting in dealer waiting rooms while they fix it all the time!

26th Aug 2010, 19:24

Lots of luck with a car that's rated 21st out of 33 in build quality. Ford ranks 5th, and GM is still way above Toyota.

28th Aug 2010, 10:45

Lots of luck buying your cars based on surveys! I'll go with actual real life experience thanks. GM is junk as proven many times over by my sitting bored in waiting rooms at dealers getting them fixed. My Ford also ended up on a flatbed going to the dealer at 8K miles. Huh, never happened on any import. In fact I have never been to the dealer ONCE with any import I have owned in the past 25 years other than one Nissan. Domestics?? Oh yeah, the dealer service manager knows your name when you have a domestic. I was on a first name basis with the Chevy service manager, because my Trailblazer was in every other week for something or other.

So go for it. Buy your "highly rated" domestics. High ratings apparently mean "high cost of repairs" as far as domestics go.

Good luck to you.

29th Aug 2010, 10:18

Do we in America really think that the auto industry isn't buying their high ratings to look good while their companies are in the toilet?? How do you go from the CEO of GM being asked to resign, by the president no less, to top ranked cars in less than a year. Did they have the time or money to completely redesign their entire fleet in that time? How about the massive retooling of their factories, which they would have had to do in order to change their cars that much. Hmmmm, most of their cars look the same to me, and are probably still made the same.

Here we are in honest and upfront America where no business has ever lied about anything... yeah, there was just a tough of sarcasm there... The government is involved here, so you can bet they will do what it takes to get more of your money. What better, or more convenient way, than to make things appear better than they are. This is business people... don't fall for the hype of high ratings as your only measure of a car lines quality. If you have had a number of imports and domestics like I have, then you can make intelligent assumptions of quality. There is a reason I still prefer imports, and it has nothing to do with false ratings!!

29th Aug 2010, 12:13

"Do we in America really think that the auto industry isn't buying their high ratings to look good while their companies are in the toilet??"

For decades the fabulously wealthy Japanese car companies somehow miraculously got fantastic ratings from American automotive sources on some of the most poorly built cars ever produced. Now that the domestic car makers are finally getting the ratings they deserved two decades ago, it is "buying their high ratings"? Anyone who has ever worked on a Honda knows the quality of any domestic is far better, the materials more sturdy and the overall quality much better. The new Ford Fiesta just received the highest safety rating of any car in its class. The reason: Better build quality and stronger materials.

29th Aug 2010, 12:22

I too find it odd that the American car companies are all of sudden rated so highly right after almost failing completely. The fact that Toyota is suddenly the worst you can buy is also a bit strange right after the near failure of the American auto industry. Coincidence? I think not.

As for me, I drive imports. I've always had better luck with them. We have 4 cars:

A Honda CR-V with almost 60,000 miles, the only issue being a drive axle that was replaced under the lifetime warranty.

A Hyundai Elantra with no issues at 84,000 miles.

A 14 year old Toyota Corolla with 183,000 miles, the only big repair being a radiator.

A Chrysler Cirrus that I recently acquired through a trade for our Subaru Legacy that had 161,000 miles and only needed one water pump. I haven't had the Cirrus for long, it only has 80,000 miles but we'll see how it does. I'm hoping for no issues but it is American so I'm expecting them anyways. Thankfully it was essentially free so if any big issues arise I'll simply junk it.

My American vehicles cost me thousands to keep running, and only one made it over 100,000 miles (none of my other domestics even made 100,000). GM was the worst for me, never had one last beyond 50,000 miles.

29th Aug 2010, 13:16

Cutting wages in half and no benefits is not a step forward. But hey what's cheap and in my drive as it's a free country right?

29th Aug 2010, 19:36

Do you guys buy cars on who a CEO is, or do you test drive and pick what's great to drive? I could care less, but want a great driving car, and no flimsy weak cars and short warranty.

30th Aug 2010, 13:19

Not in my experience. Imports have outscored every domestic in every category, and I have never once had a single major issue with one of my import cars. GM has only earned its "going out of business" status over the past 20 years. They were the most mismanaged, counterproductive company in our recent history... maybe just in our history all together. If you think companies that have been run into the ground, produce high quality products, then you have a lot to learn about business. Not one of the import companies, other than those owned by a domestic larger company, has ever been going out of business, requiring $billions to survive. Imports earned their high rankings because they are better vehicles, period!

I know many, many mechanics, and all of them praise imports as longer lasting, better built cars. Most of them own domestics such as old muscle cars and such, but they are mechanics so they can work on them. Apparently that is a requirement for owning a domestic car. Seems like everyone who is a domestic fan on this forum is a mechanic. Hmmmmm.