Why are American cars considered cheap, junky, and just plain $hitty?

Question

My family used to drive a Dodge (and a Chevy before that), but they were pretty terrible cars. They both began to break down around 50,000 miles, and we ended putting way too much money in both of them compared to what they were worth. We now drive a Toyota Camry, and it hasn't given us one bit of trouble (and it has 120,000 miles on it). It still rides completely quiet, handles the same as when we bought it new, and stylistically, it looks sharp and refined, inside and out. It was about $2000 more than a comprable American car, but it's lasted WAY longer than that car ever would have and ended up being far cheaper than the maintenance costs of our previous American cars. I'm wondering if American cars deserve their bad reputation...some are ok, but most seem to be unreliable after a little while and, frankly, they just look plain junky. Everytime I see a new Chrysler or Ford or Chevy, I cringe...what is up with their design engineers?

Confuse music fanatic, thanks for agreeing with me (btw, I'm sorry that your sarcasm backfired on you).

Answer 1

That was a WAY long opinion of your satisfaction for your Toyota.

Answer 2

Then was then, and now is now. Take a look at the new Ford Taurus. It is the safest full size car in production.
I owned a Mercury Sable, I got it from my step-father, I used it, then I gave it to my daughter, then she sold it to a friend of her family. The last I heard, it had 186K miles on it, and it was still going strong. In all those years and miles, the engine was never gotten into. Maintenance was performed religiously every 3K miles.
So American manufacturers do make quality cars, start doing some research on the new cars they are putting out.

Didn't Nissan just have a recall on a bunch of Altima's because the air filters were catching fire. Cringe on that.

Answer 3

A Civic isn't a miles less high priced motor vehicle, they carry their fee particularly properly. once you're gazing new autos, Suzuki, Kia, and Mitsubishi are the main inexpensive and lowest high quality. in case you're able to do ANY motor vehicle, it is perplexing to assert i will record some for you. save away from Neon Any Daewoo Ford Ranger Ford Escort Chevy Cavalier Hyundai accessory Saturn Ion Ford concentration Ford Festiva <--- Worst looking motor vehicle IMO Mazda 626 those are merely some.

Answer 4

Wow with all the recalls that Yota had last year I am suprized it is still on the road.

I dont like any of the new body styles any of the new cars have.
I can tell they did all the work on a computer for designing.
And no real cars are being made anywhere.

Answer 5

There was a time when Japanese cars were much better than American cars in terms of quality and reliability. Those days are now gone. Toyota recalled more cars last year than all the Big Three combined, and Ford and GM are kicking the absolute crap out of the Japanese in the reliability ratings by respected research firms like J.D. Power and Associates and Consumer's Digest. Of course, Consumer Reports still rates (and will always rate) Japanese cars over American cars because they're biased. Here's the Readers Digest version: 20 years ago, Japanese cars were much better than American cars, and the Big Three were scrambling to catch up. Now, Japanese cars are less reliable than they were and American auto makers have improved their quality and reliability by leaps and bounds. So car buyers now have good reason to "buy American."

Answer 6

I have 91 Buick Le Sabre 425,000 with normal maintenance + water pump. show me a Toyota to match.
I have 01 Mustang 300,000 only normal maintenance.
I have 98 F-150 360,000 only normal maintenance.
I have 05 Mustang SDS only 60,000 miles so really too soon to tell but only normal maintenance to this point.
I will agree that there was a time when Japanese car had better quality but that time has passed.

also check this any prius onwers out there don't let car sit more than 2 weeks without use. the battery will fail and because it wasn't used in over 2 weeks the waranty will be void. so don't take a long vacation without a toyota sitter.

Answer 7

Yeah, what others said, that was then, and now American Cars are just as good as asian cars.

Answer 8

Why? because other people have had the same expereinces as you with American cars. thats why the are total crap. I bought a chevy colorado and by 45,000 miles I had changed the CD player 2x, replaced both tail lights, both brake lights, the cruise control didn't work, i mean come on, I traded it for an Acura MDX with 85,000 that hasn't given me any trouble.

Answer 9

This is why Toyota just become the # 1 seller of cars in the world surpassing GM.

For General Motors, instead of rethinking and improve its product, they offer all these incentives, 0%, $5,000 cash back to induce consumers to buy their product.

Plus did you watch all the commercials on TV that GM is putting out there? They have put in so much money to marketing their crap instead of putting money into R&D to design a product to satisfy their customers.

Frankly, this will be the downfall of GM.

Answer 10

Because ford is an American car company.