American cars: What's the problem?
I think practically everyone has heard about the latest auto quality rankings, which put Japanese cars at the top of the list. This is a trend that's been going for decades. The American press, public, and politicians complain, Detroit comes up with new models and a pledge to improve things (remember "Quality is Job 1"?) but not much changes.
Or does it?
I own two American cars, and I have to say I am quite satisfied with the overall quality of the vehicles. One is a Ford Escort station wagon. I bought it used after my '88 Toyota Corrolla gave up the ghost. The Escort has been a dependable vehicle for commuting and hauling stuff around, and to date has only required minor repairs. It gets between 25 mpg and 30 mpg, depending on various conditions. The other is a Nissan van built by a Ford factory in the midwest (that's what the sticker in the door says, at least). We also bought it used. I am not too happy with the gas mileage (15 mpg by my calculations) but it's a safe vehicle for my family, and can be used to haul around big items.
Are these cars exceptions? Maybe. The Escort was made in the late 90s, when it had been in the manufacturing cycle for 15 years or more and presumably most of the bugs had been ironed out. The van is Japanese engineered. The Consumer Reports ratings partially depend on user-submitted data, and the current crop of American models just couldn't measure up to Japanese cars.
However, I wonder if stereotypes come into play. Owners of American cars are more sensitive to problems, because they confirm the bad things people have heard about them, while owners of Japanese cars are more willing to overlook defects or won't admit them.
Do you own an American car? Has it been reliable? What about your Japanese car?
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At the same time last spring I purchased a new Toyota Sienna minivan while my brother leased a new Chrysler Town & Country.
So far, my Toyota has run flawlessly.
On the other hand, my brother has taken his in twice to have fixed already. 1st, the air conditioner was bad to start with. 2nd the drivers side auto-sliding door stoped working.
I live in the detroit area, so I guess that makes me a bad Detroiter for not buying big 3...but until these local guys can make a decent car, I'm buying japanese.... (my other car is a honda civic).
I would think there are plenty of people who buy American cars because they think thats the American thing to do and want to believe American cars are as good or better than foreign. You have heard them comment. They see a label that says made in Korea and they say, "Can't we make anything in this country anymore."
I would think they have a decent incentive to report that their American car runs better than it does.
People who buy foreign do so because they either like them better or think they are higher quality (or they hate American :). I suppose they could want to try to confirm their beliefs as well, but I would think the American car buyer is atleast as likely to want to validate that the American car is better than the Japanese car.
Another thing I neglected to mention is European cars. Remember back in the 80s, when both "German-made" and "Japanese-made" was synonymous with quality? Japanese cars generally have a good reputation still, but German engineering doesn't carry as much weight as it used to.
I remember some of the mid-1990s Audis had a bad rep for quality and styling, and a few years back more than one person I know said their VWs had major electrical problems. BMW and Mercedes may not have had these issues, but they do have to compete with a new line of Japanese luxury cars on price as well as quality.
Apex hit on the root of the problem: a large segment of the car-buying public make their choice based on a non-economic critera. Ford, GM, and Chrysler never had to have better quality control because people didn't use quality as the main decision-making criterion. This creates an inefficient car economy, the result being lower-quality American cars.
Also, this assumes that "American" or "Japanese" or "European" means anything specifically. My parents had a Chrysler van, assembled in Canada, with Mitsubishi motor (who knows were that was made). A lot of Toyotas, Hondas, and Benzes are being made in the US now.
Another issue many American companies (and I assume European ones also) have had with increasing quality is the opposition by unions to incorporationg technological measures which would increase quality but decrease the need for human labor. Japanese manufacturers have embraced automated manufacturing and have much higher-quality products as a result.
I've owned both foreign and domestic, and while I've had several serious problems with both a Chevy and Pontiac over the years, my real problems have always been with domestic car DEALERS, way more than the cars themselves. I had a bought-new Saab for years, and and it did have a couple of electrical problems. But when I brought it in, the local Saab only dealer fixed it first time, no prob. Once that dealer was eliminated by GM and absorbed by the local Cadi dealer, I immediately noticed a big difference. They right away started BSing me about different things, deja vu back to my Chevy owning days. Anytime things went wrong, they wanted me to talk to the "Service Mgr" i.e. the person who could exert the most pressure on me. I always felt like a profit center who should be preyed upon. I wouldnt rule out buying another American car were it not for the high pressure dealers.
