Japanese brands dominate list of top cars in U.S.

Waterbury Republican-American ^ | March 2, 2006 | Dee-Ann Durbin (A.P.)

[soccer_maniac]

That's strange because I would take a Porsche or Audi over a Nissan any day of the week.

[.cnI redruM]

It's a conspiracy! They produce good products, at a fair price, in a nefarious plot to sell more cars than Ford and General Motors.

[DAC22]

"I would take"


There is the key

[Publius6961]

That's strange because I would take a Porsche or Audi over a Nissan any day of the week.

What's stranger is that most real-world human beings can't affort the double-the-price...

[brainstem223]

This report is a bunch of crap because it is well known that consumer reports is notoriously bigoted against the big three.
The same minivan with a asain badge off the same assembly line when badged as a Mercury got much lower rankings.

They are a bunch of asain car fanatics, and these findings are worthless.

[maxter]

Exactly.

[MatD]

I would definitely take a Lamborghini Murcielago over a Honda Civic. Any day.

[Hoodlum91]

Mercury in the top ten? LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!

I owned one and it was horrible. My friend's was even worse. Never again.

[xsrdx]

I would take a Porsche or Audi

Those are enthusiast cars, not transportation.

CR is all about pedestrian functionality, economy, safety and reliability.

What's sad is that Detroit's consumer staple sedans, SUVs and minivans didn't fare better.

[Alberta's Child]

It's funny you should mention that. I'm currently driving an SUV with nearly 300,000 miles on it. It was made by Ford in Kentucky, but it's actually called a Mazda. The Mazda was slightly less expensive than the Ford with identical options (I think this was because they offered the Mazda with only a few specific option packages), and was a much better deal because the standard Mazda warranty was better than Ford's.

But as far as reliability is concerned, I can't imagine that the Mazda would be any better than the Ford.

[Tribune7]

ping

[Tribune7]

The ping was to you.

[Bringbackthedraft]

We just purchased a used Suzuki Side Kick 4x4 and love it. Its the perfect the local run around town vehicle. We're looking for another one. It was cheap but who cares as long as its fun to drive and is good on gas.

[Alberta's Child]

Rating reliability based on something like "problems per 100 vehicles) may not be the best way to measure this. I would suspect that a more accurate indicator of a vehicle's reliability is its resale value at 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year intervals after purchase.

[brownsfan]

"They are a bunch of asain car fanatics, and these findings are worthless."

You're 100% correct. What's even more interesting is that Freepers will revel in this report and not stop to consider that it was compiled by a group of tree hugging leftists.

[Willie Green]

Fast shift needed to save U.S. autos (260 replies · 2,938+ views)

[xzins]

I don't look at the things they look at.

And you simply can't get a deal on a Honda or Toyota.

Ford will win this war by cutting their labor costs by a third and then putting out road-worthy, but very cheap, automobiles.

Where I live in middle america, a 30,000 dollar car is half the price of a decent house and a third of the price of really nice house.

They should team with Hyundai/Kia in the way that GM did with the Geo.

Go with the 10 year 100,000 mile warranty and small buyers won't care that a Toyota will get 50,000+ more lifetime miles. They will care about a monthly payment they can afford attached to a 4 or 5 year loan.

[Fresh Wind]

Fanatics, indeed. You will notice that any non-asian car is treated very harshly in their "reliability" (color dot) ratings. It is normal for them to rate a model with one or two trouble areas, and all the other areas average or better as "much worse than average".

The fact that Consumer Reports has a "green" category tells you all you need to know.

They should stick to testing washing machines, toasters, and granola bars.

[The South Texan]

Ping to the GM/Ford Protectionist "we like our 70's quality American car" types out there.


Quality products attract buyers. Another lesson in ECO 101 for the Buchannites here on FR.