Japanese cars and reliability...

[JusFlyinBy]

I know this isn't representative of all jap manufacturers and cars, but just thought I'd share.

I've owned 6 domestics. A Dodge, a Ford, 3 Pontiacs, and a Chevy. I put a 130,000+ on all of them, and 230,000 on the Grand Am before I sold them. And I sold them just for something better, not for engine problems. My major problem out of all of them was an alternator here and there.

I buy a brand new suby, and its being towed to the dealer as we speak. 11,000 miles and it has a horrible knock and almost total loss of engine power. Not to mention, the tranny felt like it was slipping since 6 kmi, but it was always chalked off as my imagination because it doesn't throw a code. Well lemme tell ya, its not throwing a code now either, and it sounds like its going to throw a piston through my hood.

Im sure I just got some random lemon, and I am by far NOT a domestic nut swinger, but its funny how that works out right?

But no worries. The dealership will kiss my @ss like they did the first time it needed service, and I'll feel better about it. They will rent me a Cobalt or something so im not incovenienced while they fix the problem. Then I won't report it as being an unreliable POS in any of the reports because the service people were just so nice. I'll keep it on the down low and just tell everyone I had a minor problem, but in general say that jap cars are rock solid!

Edit - (And then Ill publish my praises in Consumer Reports)

[mloaks]

Re: Japanese cars and reliability...

American quality caught up too late. It is now an unforgiving marketplace.
my Suburu was the worst car re reliability I ever owned.

[Fireball27]

Re: Japanese cars and reliability...

Thats interesting... my friend has a 99 Forester and he beats on it like a second penis, and so far its been rock solid; although the body is starting to rust to pieces, but thats MA for you.

[Niko97RS]

Re: Japanese cars and reliability...

heres my theory....

when the uptight business man who just started making money goes out and buys his 05 camry or accord he says "im gunna do all the preventitve maintanence to prove that these cars last forever" and then when something huge goes wrong...they ignore it and say FLUKE!

BUT when the same person goes out and buys a brand new impala or fusion or midsize american car they say "this piece will barely last 100K miles" and they never change the oil or fix the brakes or w/e" then wen something little goes wrong its the biggest deal in the world...

maybe its just me and the fact that i dont beat on my cars but i had a 95 exploder with 155K on it...ran fine. camaro has 144K on it...runs mint

89 caprice, 70K on it...extremely strong running.

moms 01 intrepid, 90K never had a problem

grandfathers 94 continental 133K, never had a problem

i love american cars and for what its worth the impala beat the camry and accord in intial quality, gas mileage and engine size like the last 2 years. idk
someone correct me if im wrong(but im not :))

[Fireball27]

Re: Japanese cars and reliability...

heres my theory....

when the uptight business man who just started making money goes out and buys his 05 camry or accord he says "im gunna do all the preventitve maintanence to prove that these cars last forever" and then when something huge goes wrong...they ignore it and say FLUKE!

BUT when the same person goes out and buys a brand new impala or fusion or midsize american car they say "this piece will barely last 100K miles" and they never change the oil or fix the brakes or w/e" then wen something little goes wrong its the biggest deal in the world...

maybe its just me and the fact that i dont beat on my cars but i had a 95 exploder with 155K on it...ran fine. camaro has 144K on it...runs mint

89 caprice, 70K on it...extremely strong running.

moms 01 intrepid, 90K never had a problem

grandfathers 94 continental 133K, never had a problem

i love american cars and for what its worth the impala beat the camry and accord in intial quality, gas mileage and engine size like the last 2 years. idk
someone correct me if im wrong(but im not :))

Yea, i think a lot of it is mind set. It is true, however, that the American companys have made some truely awful cars in the past.. and its given them a bad rep. Come another 10 years tho and i think that'll change. Kinda like how people looked down on Japanese cars as **** boxes in the 70s..

[LD]

Re: Japanese cars and reliability...

Yea, i think a lot of it is mind set. It is true, however, that the American companys have made some truely awful cars in the past.. and its given them a bad rep. Come another 10 years tho and i think that'll change. Kinda like how people looked down on Japanese cars as **** boxes in the 70s..

it has been 20+ years since they made the crap cars
you'd think people would let it go

[Fireball27]

Re: Japanese cars and reliability...

it has been 20+ years since they made the crap cars
you'd think people would let it go

Oh come on, the 90s was FULL of aweful american efforts.

[Camaro Dom]

Re: Japanese cars and reliability...

not as bad as the 80's were...

and btw... it'd throw the rod thru your fenders. Subaru's are horizontally opposed boxer engines.

[JusFlyinBy]

Re: Japanese cars and reliability...

not as bad as the 80's were...

and btw... it'd throw the rod thru your fenders. Subaru's are horizontally opposed boxer engines.

Lol, good catch. I didnt write that cause I thought people would think im retarded, but yes, you are absolutley right. I only say that cause when I tell people its a boxer, even my car savy friends, they are like, wtf? No way... Hell, I didnt know that either till I bought it.

Niko, it looks like you caught my drift, lol.

[HokieBird]

Re: Japanese cars and reliability...

Lumping everything in one basket like American cars suck and Jap cars last forever is just ignorance. There are crappy cars by American companys and crappy cars by Japanese companys. Even if one specific car has a great record there are bound to be a few bad eggs along the way. Sorry it happened to you man.

The average person also thinks Lambos are race cars and not just penis extendors. So what do most people know about cars?

[Fireball27]

Re: Japanese cars and reliability...

Lol, good catch. I didnt write that cause I thought people would think im retarded, but yes, you are absolutley right. I only say that cause when I tell people its a boxer, even my car savy friends, they are like, wtf? No way... Hell, I didnt know that either till I bought it.

Niko, it looks like you caught my drift, lol.

Really? Subaru has been using boxer engines forever now...

[JusFlyinBy]

Re: Japanese cars and reliability...

Really? Subaru has been using boxer engines forever now...

Yup. I had no idea. I've never ever considered a subaru for one of my vehicles until recently. I mean, if you are into cars, what does Subaru offer that would actually grab your attention besides the STi? The only reason the Legacy caught mine is because I happened to just come across it and see everything it had to offer. I can also tell you I know NOTHING about Hyundai's, lol...

My mistake, that's all. I just made the assumption I was speaking to a much more general audience but there's a lot of random knowledge floatin around here.

[JusFlyinBy]

Re: Japanese cars and reliability...

Lumping everything in one basket like American cars suck and Jap cars last forever is just ignorance. There are crappy cars by American companys and crappy cars by Japanese companys. Even if one specific car has a great record there are bound to be a few bad eggs along the way. Sorry it happened to you man.

And you notice I agree with you all the way. I just say its funny to hear all this hype (which I never believed in the first place) and here's a prime example of just the opposite.

By the way, Im trading this POS in if they have to do any major work to it. I don't want some dealer cob jobbed pile of sh*t. I may look into a G5, an Si, or possibly a Spec B Legacy. Yea, another Legacy, but im sure its safe to say mine was a fluke. Hell, maybe even an Eclipse after checkin out Shirls post. I kinda like those new Jetta's too, but I think you need estrogen flowin thru you just as a requirement to drive one. Almost like a Volvo... :p

[CoasterKev06]

Re: Japanese cars and reliability...

IMO the quality of American cars has been lackluster compared to Japanese or European cars... i think the biggest difference is that imports are much more forgiving than a domestic car... if you take care of your car it'll last for a very long time unless it is a "fluke"... but Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans are a little more forgiving if you miss a couple of oil changes... i had a friend with a civic that he had 320,000 miles on... he drove it the whole time during high school and never changed the oil... I've heard of several other cases like this... so I don't really think he's lucky... my mom had an accord with over a million miles on it... i'm not speaking figuratively... her 6 digit odometer reset itself a couple of thousand miles before we sold it... lol... i'm not sure of the other import brands... but i know that Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans are very well built as far as the aspect of reliability is concerned... i also like Honda, Toyota, and Nissan because they choose to build their products in America... unlike American cars which are mostly being made in Mexico and Japan... I also like Nissan cause they don't allow their workers to form/join unions (they use to serve their purpose... but they don't anymore IMHO... no offense to anyone in one)... allowing them to spend more of the money on cars... or just sell their cars for cheaper...



now as far as power is concerned... i'm still a domestic fan boy... however... imports are starting to kinda catch on to that too... new altimas have 275 hp v6's... that ain't too shabby for a grocery getter....



just my two cents...

[JusFlyinBy]

Re: Japanese cars and reliability...

IMO the quality of American cars has been lackluster compared to Japanese or European cars... i think the biggest difference is that imports are much more forgiving than a domestic car... if you take care of your car it'll last for a very long time unless it is a "fluke"... but Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans are a little more forgiving if you miss a couple of oil changes... i had a friend with a civic that he had 320,000 miles on... he drove it the whole time during high school and never changed the oil...

There's always a contradicting story. My sister bought a 1986 Jeep Cherokee with the 4.0 inline six. It had 150 kmi on it. She beat the absolute crap out of that thing. She sold it at 240 kmi, never ever changed the oil or did any service work on it. Just fixed things as they broke, but lemme tell ya, the only thing engine related was changing the plugs. The whole thing was starting to fall apart of course (the interior mostly, the body and chassis stayed actually rust free), but if you saw how she treated it (it was prob more off road then on the road), you wouldn't be suprised. By the way, she sold it a year ago, I still see it driving around in the city.

I won't bore you with more examples, but you catch my point right?

Hokie's got it right. You got your lemons on each side, but I want to say in general, the playing field is pretty level latley no? I think domestics are stuck with the stigma of being unreliable because its the cool thing to believe.