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Looked up the VIN on my M.Y. 2007 Toyota Tacoma one day, after noticing no hooks front and rear. Hooks are on almost all (or all?) imports as they come in on ships overseas. Lo and behold, mine was made in the former Toyota Fremont plant. A plant since closed, one of the last heavy industry plants in that part of CA.
The quality of my Tacoma, and indeed most of that line, is stellar in the 110K miles since I bought it new Thanksgiving 2006. The workers were clearly American there in Fremont (majority, I'm sure). Therefore, to quoted post:
1) the manufacturer itself enforces TQM and other quality systems to reward and penalize workers for performance.
2) While I can't answer to the UAW's sins directly correlating to "lack of' quality, growing up in a Detroit suburb us white collar types had very little use for their antics, either.
TQM and similar flows top-down. It has to. I'd sooner be dipped in honey and dropped on an anthill than own, say, a Missouri-built Chevy Colorado from 2007 (roughly analogous to the my Tacoma, in the mid-size PU niche) on a direct comparison of quality, reliability, resale, etc.
No one has definitively proven to me, year over year, decade over decade, with facts and data that Big 3 are in there head to head and toe-to-toe with the likes of Toyota and Honda when it comes to TQM and long-term resale. I'm still just not seeing it. One day, maybe, that will change but that's how it's been for decades now since I became an adult.
The Colorado and the Tacoma are now neck with Reliability and Resale.
Go and try to pick up a used 2014 Colorado crew cab and see how much pay
The only american car that I have ever owned that was absolutely problem free was a 2003 Ford Crown Victoria. I couldn't kill that car if I tried. Sold it to a friend for $1000 with 260k miles and was still running strong.
I noticed this year the Honda Civic is no longer recommended by Consumer Reports (who is actually sometimes accused of being biased towards Japanese cars), but the Chevy Cruze is.
What I see in the surveys nowadays is quite a bit of up and down movement in the rankings from year to year.
That's because there's very little difference between brands. Small changes cause big movement.
I worked in automotive in the early 2000s. Back then Japanese compact cars & trucks were as long lasting as American full size cars & trucks, as long as you maintained them properly. Through real-world experience and talking to people I'd say that's still a safe rule to follow. Japanese cars have always tended to be more forgiving to those who fail to maintain them, though. That's why people who know next to nothing about cars seem to prefer them.
It is getting harder to find a true "American" car... Mine have been American in name, but fully Japanese except for the body, or riding on American, Japanese or German chassis, German or Japanese-Korean-American engine, Korean-built transmission, Chinese parts, Mexican parts, built in the US, Canada or Mexico, and so on. I've had vehicles that were supposed to be horrible according to CR and their sycophants on certain forums, but they turned out to be right up there with a Toyota I've owned. So my philosophy is "drive what you like" and don't hang onto it longer than 8 or 9 years.
You can't lump everything into one catagory.. every make and model has good and bad years.. Focuses were rock solid before 2012 when they switched to the dual clutch transmission. After 2012 they depreciate fast and can be had super cheap and be reliable if you drive them like a stick, or better yet get the 5 speed manual.
Hondas had major problems with transmissions during many model years.
My Pontiac was fairly rock solid and lasted me 15 years or 185K miles. Outside of intake gasket leak (external) which I let go for 8 years no major engine or tranny issues.
I would stick with Chevy, Ford, Toyota, and Honda for cars and avoid brands like Nissan, Kia, Hyundai, etc. Stick to the ones that are the most popular and parts costs and maintenance work will cost less.. BMWs are not more reliable and their parts are expensive.
I find that although reliable, modern Toyotas skimp in many areas on fit and finish in an attempt to save money. The materials are a little thinner, the doors feel cheap. things of that sort.. something to keep in mind.. even on the Camry XLE it's apparent. On the other hand their engines are workhorses, particularly the V6 in my Camry.
On the other hand 2014+ Impalas, the LTE's are a joy to drive.. I'd highly recommend one in the flexfuel V6.. domestic makes seem to have better fit and finish and most will be fairly reliable if you take care of them. For what it's worth a direct competitor to the Impala would really be a Toyota Avalon, so comparing Impala to Camry isn't fair.
Impala vs. Taurus.. no comparison Impala wins. Anyways I'm rambling here.. go to this site and research your vehicle make and year before buying. Technology is making it easier to produce reliable vehicle inexpensively while still being able to skimp like they like to do with their engineering. It's fortunate you have so much competition because if you didn't they'd manufacture them to fail after a certain lifespan, like they are starting to do with washers and driers with most of the sales being down to 3 brands... LG, Samsung, and Whirlpool/Maytag
I worked in automotive in the early 2000s. Back then Japanese compact cars & trucks were as long lasting as American full size cars & trucks, as long as you maintained them properly. Through real-world experience and talking to people I'd say that's still a safe rule to follow. Japanese cars have always tended to be more forgiving to those who fail to maintain them, though. That's why people who know next to nothing about cars seem to prefer them.
It is getting harder to find a true "American" car... Mine have been American in name, but fully Japanese except for the body, or riding on American, Japanese or German chassis, German or Japanese-Korean-American engine, Korean-built transmission, Chinese parts, Mexican parts, built in the US, Canada or Mexico, and so on. I've had vehicles that were supposed to be horrible according to CR and their sycophants on certain forums, but they turned out to be right up there with a Toyota I've owned. So my philosophy is "drive what you like" and don't hang onto it longer than 8 or 9 years.
Truest Quote in this thread
Americans in general are lazy people when it comes to maintaining their cars and trucks. Anybody living outside the mdiwest should know this.
My issue is more to do with resale value. American cars are tough and most of them are reliable up until 65-75k mark (atleast for me). After that its issues after issues. Most people don't drive upto that mark before trading or selling but that has been my issue with Buick and Ford in the past. I am not a fan of Korean cars. JI used to have a 2007 camry. Drove it 210k miles with just regular oil change, tire and normal maintenance from sears and sold it for close to $4k back in the days. Try doing that with american car with that many miles. Cars itself are depreciating assets. So unless american cars start retaining resale value as good as japanese cars, I am gona keep renting them only.
Car A has 10 issues per hundred.
Car B has 11 issues per hundred.
Car A is most reliable. Whoopee!
Plus, these "issues" include such menial things as radio malfunctions and window motor problems. I wouldn't call a broken window motor a "reliability issue."
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