Car Quiz

[Gripenfelter]

QUESTIONS 1. Which country can boast that their brands occupy 2 of the top 3 spots for long-term reliability?
a. Germany
b. Japan
c. Korea
d. United States

2. As of August 2007, which manufacturer had the most recalled vehicles in the U.S. for that year?
a. Chrysler
b. Ford
c. GM
d. Nissan
e. Toyota
f. Volkswagen

3. Pick the brand from each group that has the highest initial quality.
a. Acura, BMW, Cadillac (all luxury makes)
b. Honda, Mercury, Nissan (all non-luxury makes)
c. Acura (lux), Chevrolet (non-lux), BMW (lux), Mazda (non-lux)

4. Which midsize sedan has the highest initial quality?
a. Accord (Honda)
b. Altima (Nissan)
c. Camry (Toyota)
d. Malibu (Chevrolet)

5. Which large sedan has the highest initial quality?
a. Avalon (Toyota)
b. Grand Prix (Pontiac)
c. Sable (Mercury)

6. Which midsize pickup has the highest initial quality?
a. Dakota (Dodge)
b. Ranger (Ford)
c. Tacoma (Toyota)

7. Which car is the most economical overall?
a. Aveo (Chevrolet)
b. Fit (Honda)
c. Prius (Toyota)

8. Which car did the LA Times describe as "a better car than BMW or Mercedes or Lexus or Infiniti"?
a. A6 (Audi)
b. CTS (Cadillac)
c. RL (Acura)

9. Which company makes the winner of the 2008 "Green Car of the Year"award?
a. Chevrolet
b. Honda
c. Toyota

10. Which car was selected by the North American automotive press corps as the "North American Car of the Year" for 2007?
a. Aura (Saturn)
b. Camry (Toyota)
c. Fit (Honda)

11. Which car won the same award for 2008?
a. Accord (Honda)
b. Altima coupe (Nissan)
c. Malibu (Chevrolet)

12. Which company had a luxury vehicle, a midsize sedan, and a large truck removed from the Consumer Reports recommended vehicles list in October 2007 because of mounting quality problems?
a. Chrysler
b. Ford
c. General Motors
d. Hyundai
e. Toyota
f. Volkswagen

ANSWERS

1. Which country can boast that their brands occupy 2 of the top 3 spots for long-term reliability?
Answer: United States. Per J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study, Mercury and Cadillac are inthe top 3, along with Lexus. And in 2007, Buick was tied with Lexus for the top spot.

2. As of August 2007, which manufacturer had the most recalled vehiclesin the U.S. for that year? Answer: Volkswagen.According to Business Week, Volkswagen had the most recalls at this time a year ago. The second worst was Toyota.

3. Pick the brand from each group that has the highest initial quality. a. Answer: Cadillac (better than both Acura and BMW) b. Answer: Mercury (better than both Honda and Nissan) c. Answer: Chevrolet (better than Acura, BMW, and Mazda)This is according to J.D. Power's Initial Quality Survey.

4. Which midsize sedan has the highest initial quality?Answer: The Chevrolet Malibu has better initial quality than anycompetitor, including the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima. The Ford Fusion also beat all 3 Japanese competitors. This too is from the J.D. Power Initial Quality Survey, which also reveals that above average are American brands Mercury, Ford, Cadillac, Chevrolet , Pontiac, Lincoln, and Buick. Below average are import brands Acura, Kia, Nissan, BMW, Mazda, VW, Subaru, and Scion (and several others).

5. Which large sedan has the highest initial quality?Answer: Again per J.D. Power, the highest quality large car is the Pontiac Grand Prix, beating the Toyota Avalon. Two other Detroit cars that beat the Avalon are the Mercury Sable and Mercury Grand Marquis.

6. Which midsize pickup has the highest initial quality?Answer: The Dodge Dakota has the best quality for midsize pickups, proving that Chrysler too can beat the imports. Both the Dakota and theFord Ranger beat the Toyota Tacoma.

7. Which car is the most economical overall?Answer: Per Edmunds.com, the premier automotive analysis site, the mosteconomical car in America, taking into account not only mileage but allcosts, is the Chevrolet Aveo. The Honda Fit is #3 and the Toyota Priusis a distant #34.

8. Which car did the Los Angeles Times describe as "a better car thanBMW or Mercedes or Lexus or Infiniti"? Answer: "Cadillac makes a better car than BMW or Mercedes or Lexus orInfiniti, and that car is the 2008 CTS. No other car in the mass marketdares so much as this expressive and audacious bit of automotive avant-gardism." Dan Neil, LA Times.

9. Which company makes the winner of the 2008 "Green Car of the Year"award? Answer: The Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid is the winner of this award.. How could a full-size SUV defeat the media darling Toyota Prius? "What's equally eye-opening is that the Tahoe's 21 mpg city fuel efficiency rating is the same as that ofthe city EPA rating for the four-cylinder Toyota Camry sedan. " Did you catch that? A huge, full-size SUV from Chevrolet that gets the same city mileage as a 4-cylinder Toyota Camry!! Chevy obtained thisremarkable achievement through the use of its 2-mode hybrid system, a technology that Toyota does not have.

10. Which car was selected by the North American automotive press corps as the "North American Car of the Year" for 2007?Answer: Not only was the Saturn Aura picked by the automotive press corps as better than the Honda Fit and the Toyota Camry, "When a panelof 47 journalists named the Saturn Aura the North American Car of the Year over the Toyota Camry, the vote wasn't even close, 205-89." ChicagoTribune, 1/15/07

11. Which car won the same award for 2008? Answer: GM again crushed the Japanese competition in 2008 when the Malibu received 190 votes to the Honda Accord's 95. The Accord actually came in 3rd since GM's other finalist, the Cadillac CTS, received 165votes.

12. Which company had a luxury vehicle, a midsize sedan, and a large truck removed from the Consumer Reports recommended vehicles list inOctober 2007 because of mounting quality problems? Answer: Toyota's much publicized quality problems resulted in Consumer Reports actually removing from their recommended vehicles list the Lexus GS luxury car, Camry V6 sedan, and Tundra pickup. This demotion occurredin October 2007.

[hampstor]

I do agree that a lot of american cars have a bad rap despite being better cars than their competitors overseas, however I found some of the questions clearly were picked to be biased towards American manufacturers.

10. Which car was selected by the North American automotive press corps as the "North American Car of the Year" for 2007?
a. Aura (Saturn)
b. Camry (Toyota)
c. Fit (Honda)

11. Which car won the same award for 2008?
a. Accord (Honda)
b. Altima coupe (Nissan)
c. Malibu (Chevrolet)

For example, if you look at MotorTrend instead of North American, the answer would be:
2008 Cadillac CTS
2007 Toyota Camry

I would say that North American was used because the quiz was biased towards the american manufacturers - especially since pretty much every answer is a vehicle from the detroit 3.

Same with the 'highest initial quality' ones. Though initial quality is important, long term quality was not part of the question (and it is just as equally important, if not more)

Not knocking on american cars, just this kind of journalism.

[corsvette]

My 07 Camry was my last Toyota!Its German or American for me from now on,i do find the reports biased though,but there is no doubt about Toyota's reliability failing.

[KRyn]

What a bunch of dribble, it's very easy to create something like this to make any manufacturer come out on top. You just need to ask the question a certian way.
:thumbsdow

[1997GSR]

:rofl:

[92Mx-3]

blasphemy .

[A790]

Originally posted by KRyn
What a bunch of dribble, it's very easy to create something like this to make any manufacturer come out on top. You just need to ask the question a certian way.
:thumbsdow
Bingo. Desperation is setting in.

[Gripenfelter]

Originally posted by hampstor
I do agree that a lot of american cars have a bad rap despite being better cars than their competitors overseas, however I found some of the questions clearly were picked to be biased towards American manufacturers.

10. Which car was selected by the North American automotive press corps as the "North American Car of the Year" for 2007?
a. Aura (Saturn)
b. Camry (Toyota)
c. Fit (Honda)

11. Which car won the same award for 2008?
a. Accord (Honda)
b. Altima coupe (Nissan)
c. Malibu (Chevrolet)

For example, if you look at MotorTrend instead of North American, the answer would be:
2008 Cadillac CTS
2007 Toyota Camry

I would say that North American was used because the quiz was biased towards the american manufacturers - especially since pretty much every answer is a vehicle from the detroit 3.

Same with the 'highest initial quality' ones. Though initial quality is important, long term quality was not part of the question (and it is just as equally important, if not more)

Not knocking on american cars, just this kind of journalism.

Agreed. The admin of a Camaro site was sent that by GM,

[Ferio_vti]

Four of those questions ask about initial quality. Yet nowhere do they bring up questions about long term quality/ownership/reliability and cost of maintenance.

[Eleanor]

Originally posted by Ferio_vti
Four of those questions ask about initial quality. Yet nowhere do they bring up questions about long term quality/ownership/reliability and cost of maintenance.
Yeah, why don't they have data on long term reliability of brand new cars? :rolleyes:

[Ferio_vti]

Originally posted by Eleanor

Yeah, why don't they have data on long term reliability of brand new cars? :rolleyes:

Oops, there is one question on long term. Who said anything about this quiz only about new cars??

[Eleanor]

^ Maybe the fact that all the questions refer to current models :dunno:

I don't see any '95 Civic vs. Pontiac 6000 comparisons.

[rc2002]

Even if the US carmakers have gotten their act together and are starting to produce quality cars, the damage is already done. They have a long uphill battle trying to change the public's perception on reliability and quality of domestic cars.

[urban.one]

True true. Look at the junk Mazda produces and people by it up like crazy believing theyre getting a high quality, reliable Japanese automobile.


Originally posted by richardchan2002
Even if the US carmakers have gotten their act together and are starting to produce quality cars, the damage is already done. They have a long uphill battle trying to change the public's perception on reliability and quality of domestic cars.

[Masked Bandit]

Is this piece of "journalism" slanted? Probably. But what isn't? I do honestly believe the quality of GM stuff has come a long way in the last couple years but like Hyundai, public perception will take some time to change / overcome.