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Yes. It's all in the details. Here is a side by side comparison of a Toyota Truck vs a Ford Truck.
The Toyota Truck has heat shield throughout the exhaust while Ford stops halfway. Toyota neatly tucks all wires and stuff under the car saftely. While Ford has theirs dangling all over the place. Don't get me started on the Motor!
I only buy American brand vehicles, have for over 50 years, never a problem. The biggest problem I see with any vehicle is the owner/drivers that don't properly maintain them, abuse them, or use them for what they are not designed for.
You never owned a 1972 Chevy Vega or 1985 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. Two most unreliable cars Ive even owned my miles. Nearly broke GM and me trying to keep the caddy running. You assume this is because I didn't maintain them? really? look at consumer reports objective info and you will see you are settling for less with American brands more often than now over 50 years. now they do make more reliable cars thanks to the Japanese competition.
You never owned a 1972 Chevy Vega or 1985 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. Two most unreliable cars Ive even owned my miles.
I had an '85 Caddy Fleetwood Brougham (the upper trim level of your car) that was dead nuts reliable for the duration that I had it (traded it off at 185k miles). So I can counter YOUR anecdotal evidence with my own.
And my 2013 Chevy Volt was perfectly reliable, economical and had excellent build quality, which is why they have one of the highest owner satisfaction ratings of any modern car. (I've already seen 2011 models go over 200k miles on the Volt forums...)
My 2002 Chevy Suburban is going strong at 135k miles, towing a 35 foot, 9k lb travel trailer all over the east coast. Only trouble I've had with it is environmental (some rust in the brake lines at 120k miles).
My '96 Ford Ranger Splash never needed work in the 3 years I had it, my '99 SVT Contour was likewise flawless (what I traded the Ranger in on). So was my '02 PT Cruiser for the 5 years and 70k miles I had it (what I traded the Contour in on as I needed a more family friendly car at the time).
So yeah, in 38 years I've had a lot of experience with foreign and domestic cars, many with high miles on them.
Or they live in a place where the weather doesn't kill 'hem.
The don't call it the Rust Belt for nothin'.
True. But at the other end of the spectrum, it's just as true. I bought a 10-year-old 1997 Toyota Corolla in Phoenix, Arizona. It had been beautifully cleaned up, engine glistening, pretty much everything worked right, and the price was a few thousand.
Someone said to me: Good purchase, those Corollas will run forever!
Yeah, I suppose, after you've replaced every fricking part in them. This vehicle must have been parked in the 115 degrees desert sun for 10 years, gradually drying out every rubber part, every gasket, and every plastic coated wire.
I had to replace pretty much everything: boots, brakes, gaskets, carburetor, power steering system, even the motor. A Massachusetts mechanic told me he'd never seen some of the stuff that car had.
Finally the AC died and it was making nasty rattling sound when turning. I finally got it through my stupid head to get rid of this junker.
Any car can have problems, even without rust, including Japanese cars. Like someone said, it's how well you take care of them. In my case, the car was ruined before I even took possession, and I sank many thousands into it, because you know, it's a Toyota, so after THIS repair it'll be perfect! Never again.
I'm curious if there's a generation gap here. Older drivers (Baby Boomers and up) seem more split on the Domestic vs. Foreign car debate, whereas younger drivers lean more strongly towards the Toyotas, Nissans, Hyundais etc. of the world.
There may also be a cultural element at play, though I haven't teased it out. Everyone I know that's either 1st or 2nd generation American has a Japanese/Korean car. Of course all of these people are under 35, so maybe that's the reason.
I like that I can directly access my headlights to replace bad ones just by unscrewing the old one from the trunk.. I would not buy a vehicle where you have to remove the front bumper to access the headlights to change the bulbs.
One plus for Honda would be that they still include tranny dipsticks on their models... I know they say you never have to change the tranny fluid but if it gets overheated it will wear out and need replacing.
How easy are they to self service? That's a big selling point.
You never owned a 1972 Chevy Vega or 1985 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. Two most unreliable cars Ive even owned my miles. Nearly broke GM and me trying to keep the caddy running. You assume this is because I didn't maintain them? really? look at consumer reports objective info and you will see you are settling for less with American brands more often than now over 50 years. now they do make more reliable cars thanks to the Japanese competition.
I'd bet the fleet of Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus, Chrysler 200, Dodge Charger, Acura TLX, Mustang, and Grand Caravan cited as least reliable in class pretty much all go 125,000 to 150,000 miles without stranding the driver or having enormous repair bills. Will some be lemons? Sure. If you beat on it with a lot of city driving and don't maintain it? It might have some expensive problems.
I'd be less confident saying that about heavy SUVs and pickups. A lot of those really are prone to expensive suspension and drive train failures. A 2,500 to 3,500 pound mass market FWD sedan that I'd rent as a compact, midsize, or full size car at Hertz? I'd expect most to hold up pretty well no matter how much CR hates it.
Quite a few cars have "lifetime" transmission fluids.
Owners and manufacturers may have very different ideas of what "lifetime" means.
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