18th Oct 2010, 12:03
I too have worked in cars for years and if something goes wrong with anything in our family - I'm usually the one they call. I would argue that specific brands not "Japanese" in general brands are better than others. Toyota and Honda are above and beyond better overall quality than the bulk of what Ford, GM, and Chrysler produces. On top of that, they are actually easier to work on and better laid out, thus easier to service. The machining quality on almost any Honda and Toyota product I've worked on is night and day compared to the typical Ford or GM product I've fixed.
For example, Toyota and Honda uses mostly heavily yellow anodized or galvanized nuts and bolts on everything, even for body panels, on their cars and trucks. Thus, even if you're removing a starter motor from a 14 year old Toyota truck, it's going to come out easily. On the other hand, my brother's Ranger uses a lot of painted hardware that rusts to the engine block. I've broken bolts off on his truck more than once as a result. It's the small things that you never see that Toyota and Honda took the time to do right that makes their overall product better.
I will say that Mitsubishi, Nissan, Isuzu, and Mazda are all hit and miss, which isn't surprising given Mazda is a Ford nameplate and Isuzu a GM brand. Mitsubishi builds awful vehicles. Nissan is a mixed bag. They have definitely let their quality slip significantly.
I own a 14 year old Tacoma and so far the only thing I've done is change the clutch, which lasted for 215,000 miles. The truck now has over 240,000 miles and it shows zero signs of mechanical or even cosmetic wear. My brother's Ranger, which was of the same vintage, is long-gone.
10th Nov 2010, 12:12
Here's another myth - all domestics are built in America. Just another MYTH.
The following cars are built in either Canada or Mexico, therefore, they are imports:
Chrysler: Town & Country, Caravan, 300, Charger, Challenger.
Ford: Fiesta, Crown Victoria, Grand Marquis, Edge, MKX, Flex, Fusion.
GM: Camaro, Impala, Allure, Lacrosse, Equinox, Torrent.
10th Nov 2010, 18:37
Heck, I'm still patiently waiting for an explanation of just what the myth of the superior Japanese cars is? Billions were spent on it... spent on what???
17th Oct 2010, 10:35
Huh, I've known many very successful mechanics that are really good at what they do, and they always have told me imports are the better choice for overall reliability. They would never have gotten so popular based on some "myth" that they are better. If people were fixing them, and wasting so much money on them above and beyond their monthly payments, it would have caught up to them long ago. This is why they basically buried the domestics in the last decade. I still can count at least three to one on imports over any domestic, every time I go out the door and drive somewhere.
The only myth is that domestic cars gained 10 years of innovation in one year, and suddenly topped all the quality surveys. To believe this is anything but a boost tactic for American auto sales really places too much faith in an industry that has proven its incompetence time and again. They couldn't even manage their own companies last year, and suddenly their products are at the top?? Yeah right. At least import cars have an actual proven track record.
Tell you what, after 10 years, if the domestics are still topping charts everywhere, I'll concede they are good.