I'm not impressed by "initial quality". I want to know what a car's like in its second 100,000 miles.
Heh, what you said. Initial quality in defects per hundred cars is a nice metric but doesn't go very far. This doesn't capture the ultra-cheap, non-sealed freeze plugs that can and will pop out at any random high-rpm moment, nor does it count the head gaskets that rust out at 75k miles, each on its own giving the owner a nice, fat repair bill...nor does it count the bushings going out at 40k miles, right after the warranty expires that also leads to fat, happy mechanics.
Ah, hell, this isn't GM's fault, I'm here to brash Chrysler...grumble...