!!!!!!Honda and Toyota!!!!!!?

[Crazygooon]

How come Honda and Toyota have such a good rep when it comes to reliability but Ford doesn't.Ive had 2 Fords with over 230,000 miles with no problems.Commuter van is a Ford with 250,000 miles.Ive seen crown vics with over 300,000 miles.Why does everyone think toyota and Honda make such amazing last forever cars.They break down just like any other car and people act like every single American car is a pos.I don't get it.I can't speak for chevy or dodge but there probably just as good as toyota & Honda too.Also what the hell is happening to the designs there boring as hell compared to any of the new Fords.

 

[Stangman]

it's a sad stigma that remains from the 70's and 80's when American manufacturers DID make crappy cars. And most people aren't smart enough to see that most modern American cars are of comparable or better quality than foreign ones.

 

[silverbullet]

My wife's Focus has been a maintenance and reliability nightmare.

Last really reliable car I had was my '89 Horizon.

Cost accountants have ruined American vehicles.

 

[edmitchelll]

Because red blooded americans like you and me don't take the time to tell our friends how good our Fords, GMs and Dodges are. Our friends already know and we don't make a big stink about it.

A hippy who hates the way he was brought up and hated everything his/her parents did buys a Honda or Toyota. They love to tell all their hippy friends about how the american products suck and how they destroy the ozone and the snowy barn owl. Then they bring up "Toyota emits less green house gas." Then another will say, "Honda donates to save the snowy barn owl." Then they all say how great their forign POS is. Hippys tell their hippy friends, who tell their other hippy friends and since they don't have real jobs and read books barefoot in parks all day, they have the time needed to boost a reputation. While we work hard to put food on the table and support out hippy freako kids, we don't have time to spread wonderful thoughts about our old reliable Fords, Chevys, Dodges, etc.

If we quit our jobs, worry about the environment, smoke weed all day, name our kids Kaitlen and Summer, eat organic foods, stop wearing shoes, protest about something, stop being responsible, stop being reliable, turn our backs on our family, then we'll have more time to tell the world how great Fords and GM products really are.

 

[Kirch]

Definitely a stigma. American car makers were so used to no one having a choice that they could put any POS out there and people would have to buy it. Then the Japanese manufacturers starting putting out better and better vehicles in the 70s and 80s that surpassed American cars in quality and reliability.

Now most American cars are as good or better than their foreign competition. The Chevy Malibu and Cadillac CTS are both highly rated vehicles in their respected classes. Many professionals in the auto industry predict that the new Ford Taurus is going to be a big hit and also the Lincoln MKS.

Unfortunately all people are focused on is the negative press that Chrysler and GM are getting about the bail-out loans they are taking. I think it is important to stress that Ford has not needed any of that money, but you won't hear the media do that.

 

[Eric F]

you're absolutely correct.

It's all about marketing and the perception that the marketing people have made you believe.
the import companies are masters of marketing, honda's to me handle poorly, and the handling hasn't changed since the early 80's. But honda makes you believe that that's how a car should handle, so people believe in it.
in the 70's & 80's American car companies got lazy and decided that quality wasn't important and put out some very poor cars.
they're unionized dealerships also benefited from it as well.
while the Americans were lazy and carefree, the imports were concentrating on quality and marketing and style.
and that alone began to win people over. they kept it up and while the American companies scrambled to catch up, they only were winning in the SUV and truck markets. They excelled at that, and well with the gas prices skyrocketing, they lost again.
the imports haven't succeeded too well in the suv and truck markets, but as a whole, they've kicked out butts.
Car magazines like car & driver, were and to me still are biased against anything American. consumer reports is the same, and I believe it's because whoever pays more for a review, gets a favorable review.
although consumer report did put an article in about a guy with a 1997 Ford Ranger with over 465,000 original miles. And they've begun to place some smackdown on the imports for their quality as well.
toyota was having major issues with quality for several years and they couldn't figure out how where or why so they slowed production down and audited themselves to find out, and I believe they're still in that holding pattern.
Ford has gotten very high marks on their cars lately, but it's still all about the stigma and perception. Somebody's going to remember that 1989 Ford Tempo way back that had a headgasket leak at 20,000 miles and the dealership that wouldn't fix it under warranty.
I've been reading articles from people at GM who are retired, or laid off, etc.. who've said quality control is higher than that of any import plant, nothing is taken for granted and the parts manufacturers are held to a higher standard for all GM products. Yes a few issues get through the system, but that happens for every manufacturer.

as our economy is in the dumps, the import companies are struggling more than the American companies.. they rely on US for their profits, they don't sell worldwide as much as a GM or Ford does.

It also boils down to regular maintenance.. simple oil changes do wonders.