It is not now, nor has it ever been, the wisest idea to determine a car’s anticipated reliability based upon the country in which it was built or where the HQ is located. It is far better to judge based upon the individual car company and, better yet, the individual model.

Japan has gotten a good rep over the last few decades based almost entirely on Toyota and Honda. But I can give you example after example on absolutely horrid cars from Mitsubishi, Subaru, and yes even Datsun/Nissan. Do any of you recall the US govt pressuring Nissan to buy back and crush all of the first gen minivans they brought over here because they could not keep them from catching fire, even after several recalls? They eventually did buy them all back.

Even Toyota is slipping now – take a close look at the newest gen Tundra record…pretty pitiful (I can supply links if necessary).

I keep my cars up to 150K miles and have owned 5 American cars to this mileage. The most expensive repair for any of these was one grand to replace an a/c condenser and it was covered under warranty. None of the vehicles needed more than two repairs in 150K miles, and most of those were also warranty work (highest out-of-pocket I’ve paid total for any of those cars is about $500). And I still own a 220K mile Chrysler that is probably going to go forever. Original radiator, alternator, water pump, and it regularly passes smog with nary a wimper.

Now let’s compare to my nearest neighbors. Across the street, Honda Accord needed a new tranny at under 100K miles. Next door, Infinity G35 – 3 yrs old – has had the drivers window motor replace FOUR TIMES. Yikes! I thought this was a fluke (maybe bad wiring in that particular car?) until a second friend has told me his G35 is on it’s third driver window motor. Ouch.

I’m not saying Honda/Nissans/Toyotas are crap – I have no doubt you can dig up similar stories on GM/Ford/Chrysler. I’m just saying that the difference in quality of cars now is so small as to be not even worth discussing or considering when making a purchase.

If you track JD Powers defects per vehicle over the years, you’ll see the range from best to worst has become increasingly small (and the rankings will likely surprise you).

Anyone who tells you that you have to buy Japanese (or American or German or Swedish) to get high quality is only showing their prejudices. Buy the car that best fits your lifestyle and be happy. It’s a great world with many choices out there.