[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Too many people have been burned by the "Big Three" and simply don't care if they have (allegedly) improved. They have a long track record of basic design flaws that they take a decade or more to iron out. People got mad enough that they swore they would never buy another one of their shoddy hunks of junk again.

A problem with most companies is that they don't understand that what they view as "customer loyalty" is just inertia. The majority of people do not like to change. You may lure a few people with your ads but the majority will come to you because their former supplier ticked them off royally.

And once they leave they tend not to come back.

[redangus]

I buy American most of the time because they fit me and my needs better than imports. From my experiences I would say the problem isn’t so much with the newer American cars as much as it is a problem with the dealers. They still treat you like they are the only game in town, especially when it comes to warranty work. Even when the same dealer sells both American at one location and imports at another you get treated better at the import dealership. If I ever switch to an import that will probably be the reason.