Isn’t it interesting how American cars totally dominate the list of the worst? If any country should KNOW what works, and what doesn’t; shouldn’t the largest car companies in the world have a good grasp on this? It’s quite apparent that Detroit just doesn’t care - unload crap on the American consumer, weasel out of new car warranties after taking taxpayer bail-outs - no thought to the damage they have done to their reputation. Short-sighted business practices.
My last American car was the Chevy Monza. I made the mistake of buying this when I was in college. I babied that car, because I was poor; yet 2 engines, 2 transmissions, and re-hanging the doors 4x still wasn’t enough ... and I finally abandoned it when I left college with 85,000 miles on it.
Since then, I’ve had Toyota’s and Honda’s and have never had a single problem. My Lexus had 312K before I traded it in, my ‘93 Toyota pickup has 317K and is still going, and I drive a Tacoma with 117K - still runs like new.
And, one doesn’t have to review the Cars issue of Consumer Reports to see that American cars remain inferior to the Japanese cars. When one typically takes a loan out for 4-5 yrs to buy a car; it’s not outrageous to expect that car to last well beyond the last car payment.
I will likely buy several more cars before I die; and I can promise you that not one will ever be American. My wife knows that the quickest way to get a divorce will be to bring an American car home. It’s personal. When I could least afford it, American car manufacturers gave it to me, and now I’ll enjoy my revenge for the remainder of my life. I don’t care what the cost is ... I will never buy another American car.
It could also be argued that for decades, the American Car industry was the boldest in throwing out new concepts to be accepted or rejected by the consumer. For every one of the failures noted above, there have been a number of eminently practical or downright impressive models.
I have not bought a new American car since my '74 Pinto. I loved that car. My ex-wife, who knew that she was a good driver totalled it.
My next car was a '77 Civic which lasted until 1990 when my daughter left for college.
What sealed my permanent anti-American car choice is the number of REPEATED (and ongoing) abuses by Union Thug workers drinking beer, doing drugs and lounging at coffee bars doing crossword puzzles from ALL three major manufacturers during lunch breaks and while on the clock!
Even the paternalistic Japanese culture would not tolerare such abuse from any worker more than once. As do I.
Add to all that the fact that before a GM car starts to be assembled the buyer (me) already owes $1300 to cover overinflated pension and health benefits to the army of losers, and the non-deal is sealed.
My sentiments exactly. I will continue to seek the highest utility possible for my dollars. Purchasing a car from a US company would be contradictory to that philosophy.
I currently own a Toyota Sienna and a Toyota Corolla. The Corolla gets 43 mpg as long as I keep the speed just below 60 mph. Both vehicles are flawless. Both were bought 'used'. Both were manufactured in the US.
I promised myself as a teenager back in the 70s that I would never buy a GM product (including Frigidaire refrigerators). Thirty-five years later, I see no reason to go back on that promise. GM designs and manufactures crap.
I am reminded of the story of the Mazda Miata. From the day that the concept of the Miata was first etched out on a dinner napkin during an employee lunch break until the day the first car ran off the production line, a grand total of 18 months passed. Compare that to GM's Saturn where that same period took ten years. And the Saturn program was GM's response to the Japanese dominance in the US auto market which began two decades prior. GM is a failed company that should have been put out of our misery back in the 80s.