21st May 2011, 18:46

"Cadillac, Buick, and Lincoln make some nice looking cars. They're not quite there yet, in that they really compete with the German luxury cars, but they're close."

Actually, they aren't close...They're AHEAD. The Cadillac CTS V was recently tested against the Mercedes AMG, and beat it in every test except top speed (in which it TIED it). It beat it in acceleration, cornering and braking. The Mustang Boss 302 took on the BMW M3 and blew it away so easily in speed, cornering and acceleration that Ford is looking at a match-up with Ferrari. As of March 2011, Lincoln toppled Lexus from the spot as the world's best car in terms of long-term reliability and build quality. Before that, Buick had traded places with Lexus for a decade as the number one best car on Earth. Reliable and well built domestic cars have been around for a very long time.

As for the Japanese... well, Honda is holding up pretty well in spite of major transmission issues. It still ranks 5th place in reliability (BEHIND Ford). Nissan has never been noted as a very good car maker (witness the Titan/Armada fiasco), and Toyota now has 20 other car makers that are ranked as better built and more reliable. The well-paid-for myth of Japanese reliability is losing ground fast. I just watched an auto-cross competition, in which the Japanese cars were falling out left and right with smoke pouring from the engine bays. Ford and Hyundai were leaving everyone in the dust, with Ford ultimately winning the championship. Toyota wasn't even in the competition at all. They don't build anything faster than a riding lawn mower anyway.