Consumer Reports Top Car Picks All Japanese

Domestic Automakers Shut Out of Consumer Magazine's List of Best Cars for 2006 By ERIC NOE March 1, 2006 - For the first time in the 10-year history of its list of recommended automobiles, Consumer Reports ...

[William Ryan]

Having had vehicles from all three contnients over the years, there is no doubt Japanese vehicles are superior to either American or European vehicles. Rather than rely on rebates and other such incentives, American carmakers should concentrate on reliability. While I find no reason to even consider an American nameplate, I might if they offered a standard bumper-to-bumper warranty for 5 years and 70K miles. This would show they are concerned with quality and reliability. Using rebates and incentives simply gives the impression American carmakers can only sell their vehicles at discount prices, partly because of reliabitiy issues - continually reinforcing the view they are lousy vehicles. Of course I am only a consumer, so what do I know.

[John]

A long warranty is nice, but even if they pay to fix it when it goes wrong, you still have to take the time to take it in.... Personally, I'd rather have better reliability (even if it means a shorter warranty). My time's worth something, and I've never seen a warranty that covers that. As I recall, Chrysler was a pioneer in the long warranty business in the 80s. Unfortunately, even though their cars gradually became more reliable, so did everyone else's, the gap didn't narrow.

Then there's the little "resale value" issue. So long a GM/Ford/etc. offer mind-numbing vehicles and push them out the door with rebates and incentives "to protect market share", most of their vehicles aren't going to be a good buy from a resale value perspective.

Then again, maybe resale value is just the embodiment of superior reliability. Lots of people dumping less reliable vehicles after just a few years (and similarly lots of people not wanting to buy those same used vehicles) is a sure-fire recipe for cramming used car lots and hurting resale value.

Even though Camry is the top selling car in the US, and Accord/Civic are close behind, you never see used car lots full of Camrys, Accords and Civics, just Tauruses and such that lately haven't been selling that well to people who buy cars for their own personal use (vs. fleets and rentals).

[IRON JAW]

american cars are just too cheap and unreliable. german and japanese cars are legendary for their reliability and handling, which american cars are notoriously bad for. american cars just are not as well made and the chassis are really bad. alot of people say that american cars cant drive round corners becuase the handling and chassis are that terrible. no offence to any americans in here but i have driven many american cars in the states and i can tell you i would never ever buy one.

so many things about them disapoint, like the cheap plastic interiors, the lack of power and their poor ability to compete with international competators. even the supposed good american cars are terrible by european and japanese standards. italian cars handle perfectly and are beautifuly designed with the amazing interiors too. german cars are legendary for their reliability like the japanese. i find german cars a bit souless, but the quality is amazing. british cars used to be amazing too untill the british layland took them over and it collapsed. but classic british cars like italian cars have so much so and are probably the fastest you can buy.

i remember driving the dodge viper and corvette c6, i was so dissapointed and shocked at how bad they both were. they were slow compared to foreign rivals and the interiors were just cheap plastic. even cadillacs, lincolns and chryslers are major disspointments. they are supposed to be luxuray cars but are filled with cheap plastic dash boards and have poor handling. american cars can be very good looking which is why its all the more disspointing to drive them

[Dr Waddell]

IRON JAW wrote:

american cars are just too cheap and unreliable. german and japanese cars are legendary for their reliability and handling, which american cars are notoriously bad for. american cars just are not as well made and the chassis are really bad. alot of people say that american cars cant drive round corners becuase the handling and chassis are that terrible. no offence to any americans in here but i have driven many american cars in the states and i can tell you i would never ever buy one.
so many things about them disapoint, like the cheap plastic interiors, the lack of power and their poor ability to compete with international competators. even the supposed good american cars are terrible by european and japanese standards. italian cars handle perfectly and are beautifuly designed with the amazing interiors too. german cars are legendary for their reliability like the japanese. i find german cars a bit souless, but the quality is amazing. british cars used to be amazing too untill the british layland took them over and it collapsed. but classic british cars like italian cars have so much so and are probably the fastest you can buy.
i remember driving the dodge viper and corvette c6, i was so dissapointed and shocked at how bad they both were. they were slow compared to foreign rivals and the interiors were just cheap plastic. even cadillacs, lincolns and chryslers are major disspointments. they are supposed to be luxuray cars but are filled with cheap plastic dash boards and have poor handling. american cars can be very good looking which is why its all the more disspointing to drive them

If you want to sound intelligent then learn how to spell. I do agree that the corvette's interior is not as high end as say a porsche. However, the corvette's price is about 55k for a fully equipped car, a porsche 911s with similar performance characteristics with nav is about 90k. I will be buying a corvette. Having driven both cars and a bmw, I enjoyed the corvette the most. The corvette gets 27mpg on the highway similar to the porsche. I do not know how you can say the corvette does not perform. I am wondering if you have nothing better to do than put down american cars. 0-60 for the corvette is 4.1, cornering with the Z51 suspension is .98g, and 60-0 is 161ft, in my book that is a lot of performance for not a lot of money. The engine in the corvette has evolved for the last about forty years and has gotten better and better.

[SOHC 4]

... Mr. Ryan,... I must admit my ignorance as to what an "American" car is! For example...

... I had a "1986 Dodge Colt hatchback." Sure, it was marketed by Chrysler-Plymouth and they did the final manufacturing on it, BUT... the engine was built by Mitsubishi.
... If you bought a Geo Metro (GMC-manufactured), that 3-cyl. sohc engine was built by Suzuki!
... If you bought a Ford Festiva, the engine was built by Kia.
... If you buy a Chevy Aveo, the engine was built by Daewoo.
... The little Mini Cooper may be mfg. in Britain, but BMW makes the TurboDiesel engine.
... If you buy a Pontiac Vibe, you'll get the same engine & drivetrain that is in the Toyota Matrix - mfg. by Toyota.

[JACK]

IN MY OPINION YOU JUST BUY WHAT YOU LIKE OH AND SINCE IM AMERICAN I CAN HONESTLY SAY A CORVETTE IS THE ULTIMATE AMERICAN ICON CAR AND ITS A GOT THE BANG FOR THE BUCK

[Jessica]

SOHC 4 wrote:

... Mr. Ryan,... I must admit my ignorance as to what an "American" car is! For example...
... I had a "1986 Dodge Colt hatchback." Sure, it was marketed by Chrysler-Plymouth and they did the final manufacturing on it, BUT... the engine was built by Mitsubishi.
... If you bought a Geo Metro (GMC-manufactured), that 3-cyl. sohc engine was built by Suzuki!
... If you bought a Ford Festiva, the engine was built by Kia.
... If you buy a Chevy Aveo, the engine was built by Daewoo.
... The little Mini Cooper may be mfg. in Britain, but BMW makes the TurboDiesel engine.
... If you buy a Pontiac Vibe, you'll get the same engine & drivetrain that is in the Toyota Matrix - mfg. by Toyota.

Kia makes Festiva engines?!? I didn't know that I have an '88 Festiva that I got 4 years ago.

[s2000gt4]

I do not oppose or subscribe to the idea of supporting or putting down vehicles of any brand, the facts don't lie. Plenty of americans can honestly testify to the longevity of certain USDM cars, and most will say that if you have the money, can keep them running for quite some time, not as well economically as say HONDA,TOYOTA, NISSAN, SUBARU (US SPEC) japanese manufactured, american produced and sold, but any car given the money can last a lifetime! I myself loved and still love the chevy cavalier 80's model, and the ford F-150 (04), have owned both, both great vehicles, but the honda accord (99), subaru wrxsti (04), mitsubishi lancer evolution IX, and nissan frontier (06) are all better cars for the money, reliablity, safety and performance by far. I can contest to all of this because I still own all four of these (JDM) us spec autos all still running well and cost little maint.
The subaru and mitsubishi more so than the nissan and way more than the accord, but in defense my wife drives the accord and nissan more than I do

[jackson]

consumer reports are biased against American cars
I sure dont take anything they say seriously,and have always driven Chevys which always start and run and get me where I need to go even in extreme temperatures,Im talking minus 30 C and such.
btw only a morron would label GM cars interior plastic as CHEAP,does the foreign cars use some super expensive plastic??..sheesh!!
and whoever here was dissing Corvette and Viper as lousy ,must have his brains scrambled by too much internet porno no doubt,get real dude!

[jack]

even anyone got a vehicle w/an engine can run "mach 1" it would be useless... always remember, as long as there are speed limit posted on freeways and lidar manufacturers... these fast american and foreign cars are useless.
if a driver doesnt know how to take care of his/her vehicle, cheap or expensive, big engine, powerful or rice burner its worthless.
try to picture these :

1. a "porche" rolling 35mph on a freeway driven by an old man wearing half inch eye glasses on the left lane on a freeway w/a 55mph speed limit.

"Consumer Reports Top Car Picks All Japanese"
i believe this should be changed into...
"Consumer Reports Top Car Picks All Was Driven Wrong"

2. a 16 y.o. driving a "honda civic" 80mph on a 30mph street.

3. a beautiful blonde cannot back up her "corvette" on the parking lot of a shopping center.

4. a driver of "H2" rolling 15mph suddenly stopped because of a 2-inched speed hump on a parking lot.

[jonny]

I've had cars from the US, Japan and Germany. With confidence I'm saying that the most reliable cars I ever had were all Japanese nameplates. The American made once like the Ford Explorer and the Caddi CTS did not even come close. But I should give credid where credit is due. The German cars were not better. The 5 series gave me as much problems as the cadillac, and the cost to repair it was much higher. So it is cheaper to fix an American car. My lexus GS havent given me any problem and it drives like a dream. I gave all three major car producing countries a fair chance and now I'm going to be loyal to Toyota. They haven't done me wrong yet.

[Bob]

I like Jonny's approach, he spoke based on his own experience. Here is how I experienced cars ownership: I also owned cars from many major brands and confidently say that the best cars that caused me the minimum probelms were (starting with causing least to most problems): STS, Yukon, Caprice LS (1988), Expedition, 300C, GS430, Land Cruiser, BMW 745, E430, Range Rover. I also owned other cars which were so bad to the extreme such as Mazda 929 (in the seventies) Toyota Prado (similar to 4 runner), Mitsubishi Montero, Jag XJ.

Therefore, I became very loyal to GM and other domestic brands especially SUV. My favorite is Cadillac although my current sedan car is 300C which I love driving.

[con_tiki]

Consumer Reports Top Car Picks All Japanese because they are better built vehicles, hold up to long term reliability and have great resale value, these vehicles that the public can trust.

You can't fool the public and it shows in marketshare and why Honda and Toyota are seeing increased sales while the domestics are suffering!!

[Caleb Gibson]

i am looking to buy a new or used vehicle right now and all i'm thinking of is toyota!!

[con_tiki]

Buy Toyota or Honda and you will not be disappointed in your purchase and will have MANY years of carefree driving to enjoy.

[Chris]

I am always going to pull for american car companies, they have inspired me, and dissapionted me.

I am watching how all three are pulling out, and I am really liking what GM is doing, adding some really exciting cars, we will have to wait and see how well they actually turn out, just so everyone knows, I do not currently own an american car, but will probably buy an HHR for my next car.

Consumer Reports is biased there is no question, I remember looking at a year end magazine, where they rated the cars, and the Chevy Cobalt had just been released and crash tested by the insurance institute, now if you follow crash tests at all, small cars are generally pretty terrible, and only two, yes TWO vehicles (that year) recievied an acceptable in the side crash test, The Cobalt, and the Toyota Corolla, both with optional side airbags, both were terrible without the airbags, in fact ALL other small cars made were terrible, with or without the airbags

The negative they put about the Cobalt was "Poor Crash test ratings without side airbags", there is how I know they are Biased, there are many things you can say about the Cobalt, it is not on class with the Civic, but you cannot call it unsafe in its catagory, when every other car in its class totally failed the test, and it with only one other car, rated acceptable. The other crash test ratings are pretty good for its class, it is near the top, the New Civic, BTW was not out yet, but it has fantastic scores

Basically, Consumer reports favors Japanese and the less reliable than domestic, european makes, I think american companies are making good strides, look at the Pontiac G8, and should be given props when they are due, please understand I am not saying the Cobalt should have been praised, it does have issues, but instead of bashing the safety of one of the top rated (for safety) small cars, why not talk about how the seats really suck, or one of its other faults that it actually has.

[con_tiki]

Chris wrote:

I am always going to pull for american car companies, they have inspired me, and dissapionted me.
I am watching how all three are pulling out, and I am really liking what GM is doing, adding some really exciting cars, we will have to wait and see how well they actually turn out, just so everyone knows, I do not currently own an american car, but will probably buy an HHR for my next car.
Consumer Reports is biased there is no question, I remember looking at a year end magazine, where they rated the cars, and the Chevy Cobalt had just been released and crash tested by the insurance institute, now if you follow crash tests at all, small cars are generally pretty terrible, and only two, yes TWO vehicles (that year) recievied an acceptable in the side crash test, The Cobalt, and the Toyota Corolla, both with optional side airbags, both were terrible without the airbags, in fact ALL other small cars made were terrible, with or without the airbags
The negative they put about the Cobalt was "Poor Crash test ratings without side airbags", there is how I know they are Biased, there are many things you can say about the Cobalt, it is not on class with the Civic, but you cannot call it unsafe in its catagory, when every other car in its class totally failed the test, and it with only one other car, rated acceptable. The other crash test ratings are pretty good for its class, it is near the top, the New Civic, BTW was not out yet, but it has fantastic scores
Basically, Consumer reports favors Japanese and the less reliable than domestic, european makes, I think american companies are making good strides, look at the Pontiac G8, and should be given props when they are due, please understand I am not saying the Cobalt should have been praised, it does have issues, but instead of bashing the safety of one of the top rated (for safety) small cars, why not talk about how the seats really suck, or one of its other faults that it actually has.

You got it all wrong Chris, Consumer Reports has it right the Japanese vehicles are far superior in quality and reliability then the domestics and Cobalt has not been a great vehicle at all.

[grossie]

WTF U...... YOU KNOW THEY BUILD CARS AND THEN THEY STAMP THEM OUT ..JAP SHIT IS STAMPED OUT !!!.DOT YES MOST AMERICAN CARS ARE ALSO, BUT IF YOU WANT A REAL CAR BUY A STANG OR VETTE OR VIPER ETC. THERE WILL N E V E R BE A JAP OR ANY OTHER FORIGN CAR FOR THAT MATTER THAT WILL E V E R LIVE UP TO THE AMERICAN L E G E N D S !!!!! ALSO ALL YOU OLD TIMERS SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOUR SELVESBUYING ALL THOSE TUNDRAS AND CAMARYS ETC. GUESS YOU DONT REMEMBER THAT DREDFUL DAY BACK IN PEARL HARBOR.... YOU KNOW ALOT OF THESE PROFITS ARE NOT STAYING IN THE US THEY ARE BEING ENJOYED BY THE FAMILIES AND SERVIVORS OF THAT ERA !!!! JUST A PATRIOT IM PROUD OF MY FATHER BY THE WAY..HE WOULD N E V E R CONSIDER BUYING A FORIGN CAR . HE WAS A REAL MAN MAJOR IN THE AIR CORP. A R E A L AMERICAN!!!!!!!!!!

[Fordman2]

I wasn't going to do this, but enough! con-tiki, why not move to Japan! Obviously, nothing that is built by the big three will ever beat a Toyota or Honda. How many recalls did Toyota do in the last year? They are not invincible. If we lose these great companies, the economies of both America and Canada will be hurting for a very long time. You will have layoffs in nearly every industry out there that pays good wages from the railroads to trucking to health care and the list goes on and on. The Japan comment is meant to be funny, not mean. My point is that while I agree that the Japanese brands have done very well and for the most part build a good product, the domestics have done much to close that gap and are in the process of putting out some really good vehicles.(esp. GM)
They deserved to be recognized for that, and if the quality is there with it, these companies deserve a shot at our wallets also.

[Nick P]

I find any sort of auto reporting interesting. Just about any car manufacturer these days is decent. Its interesting how often people talk about how great their jdm cars are, which I personally don't doubt, but I've had nothing but domestic cars and had little to no problems with them. My father bought an 06 S2000 and has had to get the rear end replaced already (leaking seals in the rear case) the alarm system replaced, and the new rear is already leaking too. A friends mitsu had an oil blow (blew a gasket), a co workers subaru blew the head gasket before 60K, the list goes on. On the American side, dads turbo deisel dodge sprung an oil leak on the turbo line 5 days after purchase, my SS camaro had to get the spark system replaced after a few months, Honestly, software went out on a neon 3 times in a row.....I think preventative maintanence is the only real reason cars last anymore.