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GM has been ahead of all but Toyota in quality for years, and Ford hasn't been far behind. Honda has been slipping lately and Nissan's gone to the back of the pack. In the latest JD Power Long-Term Reliability study 7 of the Top 15 brands were American including Lincoln at #3, and Buick and Cadillac and #4 and #5 respectively. Toyota was #6, behind 3 American brands and barely ahead of Mercury at #7.

Fact of the matter is that Detroit can, and does, make just as reliabile and safe car as Japan does, and at a cheaper price too. Does that mean that it's a better car though? Not at all. To make a car that is just as reliable and just as safe as the competition faced with the incredible overhead expense that American automakers are burdened with (by their own means) they have to make cuts, and they primarily do so in materials. They might last as long but they don't look or feel as good. They also make some stupid design, engineering, and business decisions.

And I say all that owning 2 "Japanese" cars myself and no Domestics; one made in Japan one not.




I wouldn't say that Detroit can't make a good car either. The Towncars and Continentals we've had were excellent cars, but the Explorers, Windstars, Contours, T Birds and Expeditions were not up to the level of refinement of their Japanese counterparts.

As for JD power surveys, don't trust them. Ever filled out one? For every person like me who says a car with 5 problems requiring trips to the dealer in the first 4 years of ownership isn't reliable, there are 4 people who will say that their car is reliable even though it currently is sitting in the driveway with half the power equipment broken and not running correctly.