Originally Posted by
JonB_in_Glencoe
While I don't have the knowledge and intel that you have on the Big 3...I do have some anecdotal evidence that others who buy new cars don't have. I like cars and have a passion for changing up what I own ever few years...and I am thrifty/cheap whatever you want to call it, so I try to buy a used car cheaply enough to get that last 50K miles out of it, and consider the gamble of what repairs I have to make are hopfully less than monthly payments.
My current toyota and previous honda have had few repairs, both were bought with over 200Kmi. I sold the honda when it reached 254K and the rust was scarry...now my current car, the toyota has 245k.
American cars I've owned in the last two decades were, 98 Buick park ave, 3 different Jeeps from the 90s, dodge dakota, ford escort wagon, chev pickup, chev van...and they all needed more expensive repairs than the two japanese cars...and none of the American cars made it to 250k without being too scarry to drive on a daily basis.
Yep that is all anecdotal, so it is, what it is.
I may buy a American brand car again, but it has to 'speak' to me...if I'm just buying something to drive, it'll be a japanese brand...I've never owned a subaru...that may be next? But the current toyota I own ('05 matrix) is still in amazing shape, I expect it to hit 300K before I am too scarred to drive it.