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Altezza
03-06-2005, 02:38 AM
Yahoo Article (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&ncid=2026&e=6&u=/latimests/20050305/ts_latimes/subaruattopinqualitysurvey)



Subaru at Top in Quality Survey

Sat Mar 5, 7:55 AM ET

Add to My Yahoo! Top Stories - Los Angeles Times

By John O'Dell Times Staff Writer

Subaru, the Japanese automaker known for its all-wheel-drive vehicles, won the top spot for the highest-quality brand among new cars in Consumer Reports' annual automotive issue.

The magazine's annual survey of product quality and performance, which hits newsstands Tuesday but has already gone to subscribers, ranks Japanese and South Korean automakers tops for quality. U.S. brands are second but fall below the industry average, and Europeans rank a distant third.

Subaru jumped 16 places to become the most reliable automotive brand overall for 2004 models. It's the first time Subaru finished in the top spot in the 26 years Consumer Reports has conducted the survey.

Subaru owners reported eight problems per 100 cars and SUVs sold — an 8% problem rate. Honda was the second-highest-rated brand at 9%, and Toyota took third at 10%. Lexus, last year's leader, fell to fourth with an 11% rate.

In another surprise, the magazine found South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co.'s mid-size Sonata sedan to be the most reliable car in the U.S. last year, with just two problems reported for every 100 cars sold.

"That's quite dramatic and shows that Hyundai has really made a big effort," said David Champion, Consumer Reports' auto testing director. "It used to be a joke to have Hyundai and reliability in the same sentence."

Last year's reliability champ was Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus GS sedan.

"With Subaru and Hyundai doing so well, we have two newcomers pushing the others to do even better," Champion said.

The magazine's quality ratings are based on surveys from 810,000 vehicle owners. Subscribers were asked to report problems in 17 areas, such as engine or bodywork troubles, for vehicles up to 8 years old.

As for the U.S. automakers, they keep drawing closer to their Asian rivals but never quite catch up. The best U.S. brands — Ford, which ranked ninth, and Pontiac, 10th — had 15 problems per 100 vehicles for 2004 models, more than twice Subaru's rate. Audi was the best from Europe, with a 12% problem rate.

The industry average for 2004 model vehicles was a 16% problem rate, compared with 17% a year earlier.

As a group, Asian brands averaged 12 problems per 100 vehicles, a score unchanged for three years. It wasn't all glory, though. Nissan Motor Co., hobbled by glitches with the Titan pickup, the Armada SUV and the Quest minivan built at its new Mississippi plant, fell well below the average with a 19% problem rate.

Several brands were not rated because of insufficient responses, the magazine said.

Domestic brands fell just below the industry mean, averaging 17 problems per 100 vehicles sold, an improvement from 18 last year. "They've been getting a little more reliable year after year," Champion said.

European passenger vehicle brands continued dragging the bottom with a 21% problem rate, slightly worse than the previous survey's 20%.

Of about 160 models surveyed, the worst reliability scores, with 49 problems per 100 vehicles, were tallied by two behemoth vehicles: Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln Navigator SUV and the Nissan Quest minivan.

This is the second consecutive year U.S. brands outscored European makes. The European automakers, long plagued by problems with complex electrical systems, have been further hurt by quality problems with their SUVs, Champion said.



Volkswagen's Touareg, for instance, had one of the worst results in the survey, with 48 problems reported per 100 vehicles. Porsche's Cayenne, which shares the same vehicle platform, had 41 problems per 100. BMW's X5 and DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes-Benz M-Class SUV, the Mercedes E-Class sedan and Volkswagen's New Beetle also scored far below average in reliability.

In a separate satisfaction survey, Consumer Reports asked subscribers whether they would buy the same car or truck again. The magazine said it received more than 250,000 responses.

In this category, the Toyota Prius gas-electric hybrid topped the list — a first for a hybrid — with 94% of owners saying they would repeat. Last year's leader, the Lexus LS430 sedan, dropped into second place with a 92% positive response.

Of 32 vehicles on the magazine's "most satisfying" list, 25 are Japanese models, six are European, and only one, General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet Corvette, is a domestic model.

The survey shows that satisfaction and quality don't always mesh: The reliable Hyundai Sonata doesn't appear on the list of most satisfying vehicles, but the Nissan Titan pickup, which received poor reliability scores, does.

In another first for hybrids, Consumer Reports named the 2005 Honda Accord Hybrid as its best pick for a family sedan. The hybrid uses a V-6 engine and an electric drive system to provide enhanced performance with the fuel economy of a four-cylinder car.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Reliability survey

Asian automakers continue to lead the industry in reliability, according to a Consumer Reports survey of 810,000 passenger vehicle owners in the U.S.

Top five

Brand Parent company Problems per 100 vehicles
Model year
2004 2003
Subaru Fuji 8 17
Honda Honda 9 10
Acura Honda 10 13
Toyota Toyota 10 11
Lexus Toyota 11 9

Bottom five

Nissan Nissan 19 14
BMW BMW 21 19
Volkswagen Volkswagen 23 19
Mercedes-Benz DaimlerChrysler 25 22
Lincoln Ford 26 31

Some brands, including Hummer, Isuzu, Jaguar, Kia, Mini, Mitsubishi and Porsche, were not rated because of insufficent owner responses.

Source: Consumers Union

Skyline_Addict
03-06-2005, 03:45 AM
ouch for nissan. definetely not keeping pace with japanese counterparts.

habsfan
03-06-2005, 10:07 AM
at least its not nissans cars that are causing the problems, the article blames the trucks and van from mississippi

rylake
03-06-2005, 11:39 AM
Booyaaa...

"In another surprise, the magazine found South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co.'s mid-size Sonata sedan to be the most reliable car in the U.S. last year, with just two problems reported for every 100 cars sold"

M_Power
03-06-2005, 12:57 PM
These articles shouldnt influence anyone very much. The reason taht BMW and Mercedes have more problems is because they have more features. I can build a box with an engine and wheels and it will be the most reliable car in america.

86max
03-06-2005, 01:30 PM
gee....I think I'll go buy a hyundai now, screw the bmw 3 series, it's a low quality, unreliable piece of garbage now :rolleyes:

All these surveys do is employ a couple people for a few weeks, and in no way is the information entirely accurate.

Neil4Speed
03-06-2005, 01:37 PM
This is a huge shame for Nissan, Lincoln, and Mercedes especially MB, since they seem to be riding mostly on their reputation now.

If you ask me, you can feel a difference in the quality of their cars. Not even comparing 20-25 years ago (because that would be somewhat irrelevant, but true) but take a look at the <1999 S-Class vs. the New one, Same with the C Class, and the E prior to 1996.

I am not familar with BMW, but it is a shame, and somewhat surprising.

Volks I know are pretty unreliable cars, I hate to sound ignorant, but I recall reading somewhere that their golfs etc are not made in Germany?

I love Lincolns LS, but wouldn't be getting one after reading this.

Weapon_R
03-06-2005, 01:42 PM
Honda's sittin pretty :bigpimp:

Here come the VW owners "Well, it doesn't say what malfunctioned. It was probably a door handle that broke" :eek:

86max
03-06-2005, 01:55 PM
My sister's 2003 hyundai accent gsi has had a bunch of problems since she bought it new, all the problems associated with it being put together poorly and being made of low-quality materials. I didn't expect much since it's only about 15g new, but come on. How can a 'survey' come out and say it's more reliable, and of better quality than my dad's f-150 per say? This is a joke. Every brand has it's lemons, which voids my right to go around saying hynudai is garbage. But out of the millions of vehicle owners in the US, 810,000 of them say that a mercedes is of less quality than a subaru? Please.

ehos
03-06-2005, 01:55 PM
It clearly states satisfaction does not equate with quality.

Also, the Sonota (who names a car after a bodily function?) maybe rated #1 as far as CR is concerned, but it doesn't take into account things like...

1) Problems NOT reported. IE, Someone paying high end money for a high end car (ie MB, BMW, VW) WILL REPORT EVERY SINGLE THING! I would. But a lower priced car owner won't care as much (eeeh, it's just a POS Hyundai, who cares if the trim broke, it's supposed to, it's no Benz).

2) Individual reporting methodolgy. I know for a fact BMW, MB are much more methodical about keep customer records and tracking. I'm also 100% sure Hyndai and the other car makers are NOT.

3) Inerhent flaws with all 'consumer' reports. They themselves admit to these biases and inherent flaws (as with all attempts at quantifying unquantifiable events).
IE It's tough to subjectifiy things that are sometimes just opinion/conjecture.

SO, good for Hyundai (I love the Tib, we have one parked at my house!) :) But, don't blow it out of proportion.

ehos
03-06-2005, 01:56 PM
Originally posted by 86max
My sister's 2003 hyundai accent gsi has had a bunch of problems since she bought it new, all the problems associated with it being put together poorly and being made of low-quality materials. I didn't expect much since it's only about 15g new, but come on.


EXACTLY! You didn't expect much for 15K Hyundai right? (As you state), so would you report every little problem? Probably not.

Also, I'm not 100% sure how CR does their 'reports'.

BumpinTalon
03-06-2005, 07:06 PM
okay, lets try and discredit the number one consumer reporting agency in all of north america. sounds like a pretty hopeless argument to me. just because they rated your car bad doesn't mean they don't know what they are doing.

looks like Volkswagon sucked ass, just like I said it did. Six more problems per 100 then the domestic average. How do you argue that? looks like they got eight more problems on average then Pontiac. wow, that takes some doing.

btw the 19 Volkswagon got includes Audi and all their subsidaries, so that score does not count for excusing their shoddy quality.

Hollywood
03-06-2005, 08:10 PM
Originally posted by BumpinTalon
okay, lets try and discredit the number one consumer reporting agency in all of north america. sounds like a pretty hopeless argument to me. just because they rated your car bad doesn't mean they don't know what they are doing.

looks like Volkswagon sucked ass, just like I said it did. Six more problems per 100 then the domestic average. How do you argue that? looks like they got eight more problems on average then Pontiac. wow, that takes some doing.

btw the 19 Volkswagon got includes Audi and all their subsidaries, so that score does not count for excusing their shoddy quality.

Yup I agree. I would never consider a VW. Poor quality. Bad service.

Nissan, basically any of the vehicles that are not made in japan, are lower quality hands down.

I was looking at a GS400 at a mercedes dealership, the salesman said that the lexus GS was the most reliable car on the lot, hahahaha. It was funny. He was saying that mercedes cant touch lexus reliability, but in turn lexus does not have as much exterior flare to their cars compaired to mercedes.

Now BMW, I have no experience with owning a BMW but this thread basically tuned me off BMW's.

http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?s=&threadid=73114&highlight=winter

bspot
03-06-2005, 11:45 PM
Well shit, since you guys on here all know better you should publish your own list :rolleyes:

A2VR6
03-07-2005, 12:59 AM
Must be those craptastic coilpacks and window regulators that are bringing vw down. Then again, im a little surprised the Touareg has so many problems with it.

Hollywood
03-07-2005, 01:09 AM
Originally posted by A2VR6
Then again, im a little surprised the Touareg has so many problems with it.

What do you mean??? Since when has VW known to make solid sport utility type vehicles?

Are you really that surprised? They are out of their element, and even their own "element" needs work.

Xtrema
03-07-2005, 08:12 AM
Remember, the more trucks a manufacturer has on the lineup, the worst this number will get. Toyota (10 trucks/suvs) and Honda (4 truck/suv) are still sitting pretty good. Nissan is hurting because of all new trucks from new plants (Titan/Armada/Pathfinder/Xterra/Frontier are all new in 04/05). But Nissan weren't that great to start with since the new turnover products start coming onto the market anyway.

Last I checked, the only Scooby can be called a truck is the Baja and that thing doesn't sell at all. Number will come down when more people buys the Tribeca.

And gadgets also prompt more calls. Luxury cars tends to get more toys that people don't know how to use. Each call to support will count as a problem.

A2VR6
03-07-2005, 10:35 PM
Originally posted by Hollywood


What do you mean??? Since when has VW known to make solid sport utility type vehicles?

Are you really that surprised? They are out of their element, and even their own &quot;element&quot; needs work.

Thats true, but if VW plans to sell their sport utility type vehicles in the upper range of the market (~$50,000+) I would expect them to atleast have decent reliability.

5hift
03-08-2005, 03:08 AM
I cant say much for cars outside of Honda (both my Hondas so far have been extremely reliable).

But for trucks I can speak with experience. Spending part of my life growing up on my Grandpa's orchards in California, I have seen trucks get the shit kicked out of them on a daily basis. All that gets driven and actually lasts in that farming community are GM and Chevy trucks. If you think its impressive when a car is still running good after 200K, I'd like to see how ppl would feel when they see a 95 Chevy Silverado with 200K on it that has never even seen a paved road but still drives good. Anything can be written about a cars reliability these days, you cant really believe it until you see it year after year yourself. So am i surprised that Lincoln/Ford or Dodge/Chrysler were found not to be reliable? Not really, I've seen these trucks fall apart so fast.

heavyD
03-08-2005, 08:47 AM
Originally posted by Weapon_R
Honda's sittin pretty :bigpimp:

Here come the VW owners &quot;Well, it doesn't say what malfunctioned. It was probably a door handle that broke&quot; :eek:

Ha. Ha. Been there seen the carnage.:D

Things aren't exactly going too good for Ford these days. Toyota will surpass Ford to be the second largest automaker, their car sales have been declining for the last few years, and now they are the most unreliable vehicle you can buy. If it wasn't for truck sales, Ford would be in big trouble. Anyone interested in purchasing the first year of the new Ford Mustang?

Aleks
03-08-2005, 09:20 AM
I've had a VW, Chevy, Olds, Nissan and now an Acura.
My Nissan Altima was the most reliable by far. Granted all of them were mostly stock. Now the Acura is FI and I drive it hard Every day. We'll see how long it lasts :burnout:

ZorroAMG
03-08-2005, 10:29 AM
Those reports are SO full of holes with respect to the luxury cars. I have seen MB's specifically so I can comment on the BS:

The CR I saw had reliability ratings for the '03 and '04 E-Class and the summary of the rankings do not add up: In the case of the '04, ('03 was the first year of the W211 so it's no surprise it was average or below average) the rating of every one of the 10+ areas of problems being reported is "Average number of problems", "Fewer than average problems" and/or "Much fewer than average problems".

How does that amount to an overall reliability rating of "Below Average" and "poor" for the summary of the car? :bullshit:

It's like saying a kid got 65, 80, and 90 on 3 exams but I gave him a 51 average.

All that shows is that I cannot teach, nor can I do simple math and consumer reports should stay away from surveying cars IMO

heavyD
03-08-2005, 11:00 AM
Originally posted by ZorroAMG
Those reports are SO full of holes with respect to the luxury cars. I have seen MB's specifically so I can comment on the BS:

The CR I saw had reliability ratings for the '03 and '04 E-Class and the summary of the rankings do not add up: In the case of the '04, ('03 was the first year of the W211 so it's no surprise it was average or below average) the rating of every one of the 10+ areas of problems being reported is &quot;Average number of problems&quot;, &quot;Fewer than average problems&quot; and/or &quot;Much fewer than average problems&quot;.

How does that amount to an overall reliability rating of &quot;Below Average&quot; and &quot;poor&quot; for the summary of the car? :bullshit:

It's like saying a kid got 65, 80, and 90 on 3 exams but I gave him a 51 average.

All that shows is that I cannot teach, nor can I do simple math and consumer reports should stay away from surveying cars IMO

Let the excuses begin.:rolleyes: There is an old saying that goes "excuses are for losers". Consumer Reports has being doing this for years, they know what they are doing.

D. Dub
03-08-2005, 01:23 PM
Originally posted by heavyD


Let the excuses begin.:rolleyes: There is an old saying that goes &quot;excuses are for losers&quot;. Consumer Reports has being doing this for years, they know what they are doing.

Why because they and you say so?:rolleyes:

Consumer Reports is bad science...plain and simple. Their car reliability data is bunk because they use a self selecting sample of people comprised of solely their subscribership, have next to no validity in their testing, poor definitions of the variables in their surveys, and many other limits and biases.


CR is junk social science research and here's why?

http://www.allpar.com/cr.html

http://www.junkscience.com/consumer/consumer_about.htm

ZorroAMG
03-08-2005, 01:23 PM
HeavyD, you are a piece of work(or something at least). Excuses? I am not making excuses, it's plain and simple math. I can explain it to you if you wish. :rolleyes: :

A bunch of 7s, 8s and 9s with one 5 or 6 does not make the average a 4.

Ask your grade 6 teacher if you don't believe me.

Hollywood
03-08-2005, 01:38 PM
Despite the bickering above, the mercedes sales person him self admitted to me their quality issues.

Bottom line is Toyota/Lexus are the most reliable cars you can get overall. Then my next pick would be honda/acura.

And I dont think many here in this thread would argue that.

ZorroAMG
03-08-2005, 02:21 PM
^I definitely agree that Toyota/Lexus is top of the game in terms of quality. No contest. In terms of innovation and styling though....not so much.:zzz:


With regard to the CR's, I just can't stand the fact that they sample obvious morons and then manage to bungle up their own summaries based on their own biased and incorrect conclusions, leading many ignorant followers to create propaganda towards certain car makers.

As for the salesperson claiming quality issues with MB's, what were they and for what models? Oh and which dealership was it...just curious...

heavyD
03-08-2005, 02:47 PM
Originally posted by ZorroAMG
HeavyD, you are a piece of work(or something at least). Excuses? I am not making excuses, it's plain and simple math. I can explain it to you if you wish. :rolleyes: :

A bunch of 7s, 8s and 9s with one 5 or 6 does not make the average a 4.

Ask your grade 6 teacher if you don't believe me.

I'm sorry. You are right. Consumer reports is wrong. Everyone please disregard this credibility of Consumer reports as ZorroAMG says they don't know what they are doing.:rolleyes:

D. Dub
03-08-2005, 03:30 PM
Originally posted by heavyD


. Everyone please disregard this credibility of Consumer reports as ZorroAMG says they don't know what they are doing.:rolleyes:

No...... disregard them as as bad science.

heavyD
03-08-2005, 04:16 PM
Originally posted by D. Dub


No...... disregard them as as bad science.

Nothing scientific in regards to "Hello, we are doing a survey on the first three years of ownership of your VW Jetta. Have you had any problems with it?" Person answers "Yes".

D. Dub
03-08-2005, 04:30 PM
Originally posted by heavyD


Nothing scientific in regards to &quot;Hello, we are doing a survey on the first three years of ownership of your VW Jetta. Have you had any problems with it?&quot; Person answers &quot;Yes&quot;.

Exactly, and thank you for proving my point.

If there is nothing scientific in their method, then their results are questionable in regards to extrapolating any meaning from them.

heavyD
03-08-2005, 04:33 PM
Originally posted by D. Dub


Exactly, and thank you for proving my point.

If there is nothing scientific in their method, then their results are questionable in regards to extrapolating any meaning from them.

You should be celebrating. VW isn't last for once.:rofl: :rofl:

D. Dub
03-08-2005, 04:42 PM
Originally posted by heavyD


You should be celebrating. VW isn't last for once.:rofl: :rofl:

Hmmmmm changing the topic......wonder what that means?

1badPT
03-08-2005, 05:03 PM
Originally posted by ehos
Also, the Sonota (who names a car after a bodily function?) ...snip

Sonata is music played by a solo instrument. Its not such a bad choice for a vehicle name I don't think :dunno:

Anyways, this CR is good news for Subaru since lately they had a bunch of quality problems. I hope the good score isn't just brand biases - I hope they really have improved their product because they have some great vehicles but quality issues can make even the best design a bad choice.

ZorroAMG
03-08-2005, 06:00 PM
Originally posted by heavyD


I'm sorry. You are right. Consumer reports is wrong. Everyone please disregard this credibility of Consumer reports as ZorroAMG says they don't know what they are doing.:rolleyes:

Glad you can finally comprehend. You're welcome.:rolleyes:

heavyD
03-08-2005, 07:23 PM
Originally posted by ZorroAMG


Glad you can finally comprehend. You're welcome.:rolleyes:

I can comprehend that you drive an overpriced Chrysler and that Benze reliability fits right in with what we expect from a good Chrylser product.:devil:

Hollywood
03-08-2005, 08:36 PM
Originally posted by ZorroAMG

As for the salesperson claiming quality issues with MB's, what were they and for what models? Oh and which dealership was it...just curious...

Downtown one. He just generalized in the poor quality and that he feels bad for the customers who spent a fortune on their car and still have quality/problems issues.


Originally posted by heavyD
Nothing scientific in regards to &quot;Hello, we are doing a survey on the first three years of ownership of your VW Jetta. Have you had any problems with it?&quot; Person answers &quot;Yes&quot;.

Exactly 100%. I only wish these people called me when I had my blazer and specV so I could give my 2c. Lessons learned, I'll never buy new again. Not to mention your protoge rusting after 3 years. :banghead:

Qualtity drops when not made in japan.

ZorroAMG
03-09-2005, 12:14 AM
Originally posted by heavyD


I can comprehend that you drive an overpriced Chrysler and that Benze reliability fits right in with what we expect from a good Chrylser product.:devil:

Dude, I laugh at your ignorance. The merger didn't happen til May of 1998 and to educate you on things other than "DSM fo' LIFE, yo!", the W124 has been on record as one of the best sedans EVER engineered. Strike 3. Now go away and read your CR or something.

maximus
03-09-2005, 01:18 AM
Zorro you forgot how to read these CR reports. Even tough they are based on one model year you have to generalize the results to all previous generations as well. All Benz's suck as well as BMW. Sorry buddy thats how it works....I don't make the rules. :rolleyes:

And I think they can't comprehend the simple math example because they haven't passed grade 6.

ZorroAMG
03-09-2005, 03:08 AM
^:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: Yeah I guess I need to get hooked on phonics, I kant reed gud!!!!! :D

Oh you forgot VW's Audi's and Porsche's suck big time too!

heavyD
03-09-2005, 08:50 AM
Originally posted by ZorroAMG
Dude, I laugh at your ignorance. The merger didn't happen til May of 1998.

You are such a putz. Do you think I don't know that.:rolleyes: You obviously can't comprehend sarcasm. Now that Benz & Chrysler is in cahootz it's guilt by association.:bigpimp:

This is a huge waste of time as VW & Chrysler guys will take this thread down the toilet and everyone else with them so let us just agree to disagree and leave it at that.

And to Zorro; We will meet one day as I would like to see your movie star good looks in person.:devil:

ZorroAMG
03-09-2005, 10:56 AM
Sounds great, should I bring my resume or just my comp card for an autograph?:rofl:

Chill out.

D. Dub
03-09-2005, 11:56 AM
Originally posted by heavyD


You are such a putz. Do you think I don't know that.:rolleyes: You obviously can't comprehend sarcasm. Now that Benz &amp; Chrysler is in cahootz it's guilt by association.:bigpimp:

This is a huge waste of time as VW &amp; Chrysler guys will take this thread down the toilet and everyone else with them so let us just agree to disagree and leave it at that.

And to Zorro; We will meet one day as I would like to see your movie star good looks in person.:devil:


Ummm heavy d, from your signature; aren't both car makes you own in cahootz with DaimlerChrysler?

heavyD
03-09-2005, 12:22 PM
Originally posted by D. Dub
Ummm heavy d, from your signature; aren't both car makes you own in cahootz with DaimlerChrysler?

So what? I have owned two Chryslers in the past. If Mitsubishi was at the bottom of the list, I wouldn't be making excuses or claiming that Consumer Reports are liars. It's just a car. I don't need other people to accept my car and I accept that my car doesn't have Honda/Toyota reliability. I like my car and that's all that counts. I don't feel the need to impress people with my car.

What is lame is a guy who thinks he impresses people because he drives a German made car. It's like he thinks he's an actor or something.:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

ZorroAMG
03-09-2005, 12:31 PM
No, what is really lame is a 35 yr old with such low self esteem that he has to pick fights on an internet forum because he knows there are people out there that are better than he is.

Whether what I drive impresses people or not, is not my issue, apparently it's yours. Grow up man-child.

Oh and trying to take cheap shots at by acting career is useless because I know a weak-minded simp like you would never attempt or develop such a difficult craft.

When will you learn?

:rofl:

D. Dub
03-09-2005, 12:57 PM
Originally posted by heavyD


I wouldn't be making excuses or claiming that Consumer Reports are liars.


No-one ever said CR were liars...in fact.... I said that they used disprovable, junk science with low validity in their research....therefore the assumptions they make about car makers are weak at best.



It's just a car. I don't need other people to accept my car and I accept that my car doesn't have Honda/Toyota reliability. I like my car and that's all that counts. I don't feel the need to impress people with my car.

Hmmmm it would seem that this claim does not ring true;
as you feel the need to put down and berate others about their choice of car? :dunno: