GARY NUMAN - CARS
In spite of all the problems reported in the main stream US-based mass media with Japanese cars being recalled and other alleged problems with accelerators and mechanical parts, Consumer Reports shows that Japanese cars, using a 10-year scale measuring reliability, beat out all the competition.
Well, I thought Japan still meant "quality." I'm glad to see my suspicions confirmed.
Before anyone wants to jump on me about accelerator problems in Toyotas, let me show you evidence that this was not true at all and a US Transportation Department 10-month study showed that there were no problems at all with electronics or mechanical parts in Toyota's. It was all media hype.
My 2004 Toyota. Driven everyday for the last 7
years and never been in the shop for repairs even once.
Well, the alleged problems were media hype. The results finding no problems with Toyota's was barely reported in the main stream mass media. Associated Press carried the story, but many major news outlets didn't. The AP reported:
The Obama administration's investigation into Toyota safety problems found no electronic flaws to account for reports of sudden, unintentional acceleration and other safety problems.
Anyway, reports of alleged problems are just that: supposed; accused but not proven.
The test of time is the best judge, in my opinion, and the results of this 10-year survey are in: Toyota and Honda are the best cars made in the world.
Yahoo! Autos reports:
The Best of the best list guides you to the 2001 to 2010 models that scored well in our road tests when new and have been consistently reliable over time. Each has achieved multiple years of above-average used-car verdicts (available to subscribers), indicating that owners have had relatively few problems.
Models built by Toyota and Honda dominate the list once again, and many of the best used vehicles are from Asian manufacturers. But high-quality vehicles are available from domestic and European automakers as well.
The Worst of the worst list shows models that have had multiple years of below-average reliability in our survey. It is dominated by vehicles from domestic and European manufacturers, primarily General Motors, which had 16 of the 29 models listed.
Actually, it doesn't surprise me that there are no Japanese cars on the Worst of the worst list. I am, though, a bit surprised that there are so many lousy GM cars (Lousy? GM? Oh, but I repeat myself). And I am quite surprised to see that there are no Fords on the list.
I suppose the reason there are no Fords could be because they don't live past three years old. As they say, "F-O-R-D stands for 'Found on the roadside, dead."
Congratulations to Japan for still leading the world in building quality cars.
The proof is in the pudding. Japan may be the #3 world economy in 2010, but we're still #1, by far, for quality assurance and superior automobile manufacturing.
Thanks to Philip Oshiro
