Quote:
|
Originally Posted by kman10587
Those charts aren't the be-all-end-all of automotive reliability; they're just good guidelines. One important thing to note, though, is that the Japanese brands are at the very top of both.
The management in the Japanese companies is simply more disclipined and professional than that of the American or European companies, and that's why their cars end up being built so much better.
|
This is exactly what I was talking about. Yes, a Japanese company (Lexus) tops the JD Powers survey, but the only other ones that rank above par are Toyota, Honda/Acura, and Infiniti. Chevy, Ford, and Chrysler dominate the likes of Subaru, Nissan (who did horribly for how they should have done), and Mitsubishi. Your kind of thinking is horribly flawed. American cars, while not quite as reliable as Honda and Toyota, are generally very reliable cars in today's market. Just because Nissan comes from the same country as Honda doesn't mean that their cars are anything alike.
To say that Japanese companies are better disciplined and more professional is one of the most misinformed things I have ever heard. Yet again, I will point my finger at Mitsubishi, who is losing money very quickly and is quite probably headed towards bankruptcy. Overgeneralization absolutely kills your arguements. While I suppose you could say that Toyota/Lexus is "professional and disciplined" (or completely soulless) please stop saying that ALL Japanese cars are good cars, because they arn't. Subaru, Mitsu, and Nissan are all riding on the coattails of companies that have become of Japan's auto industry.
The problem with the CS and JD reliability surveys lies in peoples expectations of the cars they buy. People have grown not to expect as much from a Mercury or Buick, so they are less likely to take them in to fix smaller things like a visor light not working etc. People expect alot from brands like Mercedes-Benz and Audi, so they will take cars in to fix almost everything that goes wrong. There is a massive difference in equipment in a modern luxury car compared to a regular car that isn't reflected well by these surveys. Compare the standard features and options in a Toyota Yaris to a BMW 5-Series. Things like the traction control and IDrive in a 5-Series are much newer technology then anything in the Yaris, and thus are more likely to go wrong. I have endless respect for Lexus' ability to be at the top despite its features list, but one shouldn't look down on Mercedes and Audi as much as JD Powers shows. Another problem can be seen in that the JD Powers survey only lists problems per 100 vehicles, but not the cost of the problem. For all we know, every single Lexus engine block could be snapping in half, but because they don't have lots of little electronic problems they might rank better then Land Rover who could have flawless engines, but might have lots of little inexpensive problems (disclaimer, I'm not saying this example is necessarily true). Finally, labeling reliability by company presents another problem in that not all of a company's cars will be equally reliable. Many of BMW's reliability problems stem from the IDrive systems in the 5, 6, and 7-Series. I would be willing to bet that if you only looked at the 3-Series (without IDrive), it would rank closer the average of Infiniti.