"What I hate about Japanese cars is the design. I have owned a Nissan truck once. Once. It couldn't pull my boat without suffering. Had a Toyota truck for a while too. Buyers remorse on that one - never felt safe in the way-too-thin doors, thinner sheet metal. Interior spaces in each seemed cramped. I look at the Honda Ridgeline and think: Truck? Naw... Unibody right? A trunk in the bed of it? Sounds like it needs to come standard in pink and have a pop-up make-up mirror on the dash."
Cars? You've only mentioned trucks. As if 4-cyl regular cab Ford Rangers and Chevy S-10s weren't also gutless, cramped, and tinny. Actually, the regular cab Nissan "Hardbody" trucks were a little tight on interior space - the cab could have stood to be about 6 inches longer, where the S10 was a little better in that regard (but then it had the craptastic interior and a pitiful base engine). Agree on the Ridgeline, though - it's a nice car with an open storage area in the back, but it's not a truck.
Ha! You're so right about the S-10, especially the older ones. 'Craptastic' would be a complement to those trucks.
Did own a brand new Ranger back in 1987 with a 5 speed and a six cylinder, wasn't going to win anything in Formula 1 but it did serve us well for 8 years until selling off.