Car Tech forum: Poll: What nationality's carmakers build the better car?

Heartland schmartland. Quality is what counts.
Consider this:
My first car was a Nissan Sentra. I had it over 82,000 miles with only one problem - a leaky radiator. This car still had much life left in it when I traded it in.

Next was a Saturn Wagon. Two recalls and a few stops in the shop to fix problems such as a horn that didn't work, a faulty sensor, and a motor mount that gave out after about 70,000 miles. I owned it until it started needing major repairs, but I did get 139,000 miles out of it.
This was supposed to be the high quality American car, and it was good, but the Nissan was better in quality.

Then came another Saturn Wagon. Three recalls, and trips to the shop to fix a broken latch on the cargo floor, a piece on the front passenger door, and the electrical system(twice). These were minor problems, but it showed that there was some sloppiness in workmanship.
I had the car for 96,000 miles.

Now I have a Toyota Highlander. I have yet to take it into the shop for repairs after two years and 35,000 miles. This car feels solid and has a quality feel to it.

The Saturns had already visited the shop for repairs by two years and 35,000 miles. My experience indicates that the Japanese car makers pay more attention to quality than the American counterparts.

Someone (you) finally has things understood!

Two words: LAND ROVER.

.....Land Rover....I use to own dealerships that sold them....They are useless now. The R/R is far to expensive and why do you think that Nissan/Toyota 4x4 are all you see nowadays in the Middle east...The British car industry died along with Morris, Triumph, Riley. The only one to survive is Morgan...The reason?...They didn't pander to the whims of footballers/media personalities.

Thank You!

One word, Toyota

One word, "loyalty"

FERRARI

here's another word, 4 syllables...

LAMBORGHINI

If we're talking about the best cars, it makes sense to mention the names of the very best cars.

Not to say that Japanese cars aren't well built, they are and they certainly excel in areas like fuel efficiency, pollution control, etc.

However, I seem to notice that Japanese, Korean built vehicles don't stand up too well to cold canadian winter climates and salty roads. Lots of body rust on newer japanese vehicles that are maybe 2-3 years old, their heating systems usually suck and on cool nights (not necessarily frozen nights), problems with condensation on the interior of the windshield of most japanese imports leads me to believe they don't perform any research & development in a colder climate.
Domestic vehicles (chrysler, ford, gm, etc.) don't have these problems, I have seen domestic cars that are more than 10 years old without rust that operate in our climate, I could never say the same about a japanese car.



Just my 0.02 cents, feel free to agree/disagree.

The reason why Toyotas are so reliable is because they have no engine. If they had an engine they'd be quite unreliable. Even the new camry has a like 230 hp engine but it was rated BELOW AVERAGE! (by Consumer Reports).
Toyotas are about as reliable and as fun as a wooden chair.

But I do find them horribly boring. If that doesn't matter to you, and reliable is the key for you, then buy a Toy, it's the best choice.

In recent years, I've owned the following:
Buick Century 2000...good basic car.
Volvo XC90... a true piece of junk; would never buy another
Audi A6...very fast, very cool. Not the most reliable, and very expensive to fix.
Ford F-250...American muscle. Good for towing. A one dimension vehicle.
Saab 93 convertible...very cool, very fast, very fun. Like the Audi, not so reliable.
Toyota Camry Hybrid...basic car, but exceedingly reliable, it is my favorite car. Everything works, and it works very well. It is the best car I have ever had. If you don't buy a Japanese car, explain to yourself why you didn't when you have a big repair bill.

the only answer is japanese. HMMMM

So how come my sunbird has 490,000 km's on it and still runs perfect. Or my 96 Sunfire has 300,000Km's and still on the road.

Oh wait we also have some plymouth voyagers with 400,000 km's that we beat the snot out of and they still run.

Plus they get awsome mileage. Wow you people will believe anything. The imports are using marketing techniques to make you think there better. When in reality they are not.

I know because I worked at a import plant. There made out of the same stuff.

the only reason why they might get better mileage is cause they put a realy small engine into them.

but strange there trucks dont get better gas mileage than americans.
And what about the corvette 30mpg with 505 HP. Now that is impressive.

I saw a Buick for sale that had 280K miles on it. 3800 V6 is a good engine. As for me, my Lumina with the 3.1L V6 went 180K miles before I get rid of her.

It's difficult these days to tell what is an import and what is a domestic. (in my view) I noticed it after working at the Cadillac dealership. Two Caddys come in for repair. Both need the same part, an alternator. One caddy comes up $1200, the other comes up $300. What's the difference?

The Catera is actually an Opal Germany built car. The alternator is imported at around $1000 per unit, $200 to install on the import motor. The Fleetwood has a Chevy 350 running it. Alternator is $150 at most, and easier to install.

Point is, you can't really say that domestic manufacturers make domestic cars, or the import manufacturers make import cars (read Honda).

Ultimately I think American autos will fail.

Japanese autos have a huge advantage, in that the people of Japan and Japanese government sees auto makers as a benefit. They actually support the companies who provide jobs and income to the country at large.

In America, we see the evil companies as greedy blood sucking, money grabbing infections that hold down the working man. We tend to beat the crap out of auto makers with regulations, taxes, unions, and demands, that they invest in expensive projects ($400 million lost on the EV1 project) while we pass capital gains taxes and tariffs on exports.

There is simply no way American companies can fend off government supported imports, while having the crap beaten out of them, by their home team at the same time. Just look at the "Who killed the Electric Car?" film. Note how *all* the manufactures canceled their EVs, yet who is smacked and beaten repeatedly about it? GM. Domestic Autos will fail, millions will go unemployed, and it will be the publics fault. At this rate, it would take a miracle to change the direction of things.

TOYOTA! TOYOTA. If you have doubts. ask a toyota owner. I'm 60yrs old ,. this is the first car I ever owned ; where a complete stranger walked out of his way to say "You're gonna love this car" Incredible.

what a bunch of baloney !