The “new” Volkswagen Beetle had a bad electrical system, too. My mom had lots of trouble with hers, and finally sold it and got a Camry (again) because they always start.
That's interesting, because you'd think they'd know by now how to get those elements right. In my case I was driving old cars long past their anticipated life (what else can a poor student do?), but new cars???
The last time I needed to buy a (used) car I checked out the April Consumer's Reports -- and it was an eye-opener. Over and over, the first year run of a new model had problems, but subsequent years usually improved. What I bought was one of their best recommendations for under $5000 (prices here are much higher), and it has turned out to be a quite reliable car.
Sadly, looking at this month's CR, that automaker has slipped badly in the quality realm.
The Metro was a "fun" car, though. Size of a VW bug, frame built like a tank, it was basically a Bug-eye Sprite.
One day I thought I was having a bad day, to much to do. I exited the I=15 S in Menifee and at the end of the off ramp was a new bright blue VW bug blocking the right turn lane. It had the clean shiny new look that news cars have. It didn’t have license plates yet. I was turning left so it did not block me so I might have not noticed it except that it had just caught on fire. There was a young lady standing on the side of the road on a cell phone. A Caltrans truck had already stopped and a man with a small fire extinguisher was standing back from the car looking at it. My day wasn’t so bad after all.