24th May 2011, 21:31
Not true. One ratings test results I was reading about placed Mercury at the bottom of the list, while Ford was near the top with the same exact cars. Ratings companies use data by uninformed consumers that have no idea what they are driving. These ratings systems are so severely flawed it is ridiculous, and many of the claims of reliability are based purely on brand perception, and not on factual data.
Yeah, Toyota is so low ranked, yet Lexus, who is built by Toyota and shares many parts with them ranks #1. And people swear by these ratings companies? Give me a break!
24th May 2011, 10:51
"People generally think that paying more for something makes it "better". That has been what has driven much of the Japanese superiority urban legends."
Nope. In fact, when Toyota and Honda first started selling cars in the US, they were considerably cheaper than domestic makes. This was partially due to them being new in the market and needing to compete with the Big 3 on price. Their prices only went up because over time people began to see how reliable they were - hence more demand. But even today, any Toyota, Honda, or Nissan is going to be in lockstep with price with domestic makes. That's the way it's been for decades. So again - there was and is not a "myth". A myth means something is untrue. But since the big 3 Japanese automakers build reliable cars, and most people know it already, then it's not a myth.