- Joined
- July 18, 1999
- Messages
- 8,839
- Reaction score
- 1
- City, State
- Annapolis, MD
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '97 Limited
I made the change guys, I will never buy another American vehicle again, at least until its playing with those Japanese brands at the top of that 5 year dependability study. Never, nada, never.
Majisto, In all fairness, you know thats a load of crap. The little scrap (if any ALL Japanese vehicles are underpowered compared to their American counterparts could not POSSIBLY make up for the vast difference in their reliability, be realistic here. The cars are just more reliable in the short term, and the long term. The raw unbiased data is there to show that. JD Power isn't alligned to foreign makers, if it were, then why would Saturn top their customer satisfaction charts?
I have had three Explorers, a 94, a 95 and the 97. The 94 and the 95 were great, but I traded them before they were over the warranty. The 97 has been a continual pain in my ass since the warranty expired. It has cost me $5000 in service in the past year alone. I had Lincolns too, two of them and they were a real PITA, and Ford staffs their Lincoln dealerships just like their Ford, and they're no help. I had the air ride fail 3 times on my 93 Continental, and the head gasket blow twice, all within two years. I couldn't make Ford fix these issues, so I bit the bullet and paid off my lease just to be rid of the POS, then I leased a Cadillac. It was very solid mechanically, the thing rattled, interior fittings FELL OFF, the leather wore and cracked, it just had zero quality. I traded it on the Lexus, and now the Lexus has TWICE the mileage the Cadillac had, and it rides and drives, as well as looks like new. It has NEVER been in the shop for ANYTHING but scheduled maintenance, never in its 125,000 miles. I also have a Toyota Sequoia with 55,000 miles on it, same with it, never in the shop, nary a squeak or rattle from anywhere. After driving these cars, its such a breath of fresh air. I will never go back.
Does this make me an ex patriot? No. Does it make me some rice loving lunatic? No. I have very little brand loyalty, I've only had the same model vehicle twice in my life and I've had many cars, I just buy what I like best.
Across the board, there is not a question in the minds of anyone who truly understands the industry that Japanese vehicles are more reliable, even Domestic carmakers admit that! It is not a function of power, I can break out the spec sheets, show you imports that are MORE POWERFUL than their American counterparts that are still more reliable.
The only time that power breeds unreliability is when you build a crappy car, or when you up the power so unrealistically that you're way outside the designed range. Saying that japanese cars are more reliable because they are less powerful is rediculous.
As for Japanese motors pulling as hard as American ones, I'll point you in the area that I have the most experience, the Lexus V8 vs the Cadillac Northstar. I had a Seville STS, 300hp and 300lbft of torque. My Lexus has 290hp and 300lbft. Not only does it do 0-60 a second faster, it pulls just as hard, if not harder.
Majisto, In all fairness, you know thats a load of crap. The little scrap (if any ALL Japanese vehicles are underpowered compared to their American counterparts could not POSSIBLY make up for the vast difference in their reliability, be realistic here. The cars are just more reliable in the short term, and the long term. The raw unbiased data is there to show that. JD Power isn't alligned to foreign makers, if it were, then why would Saturn top their customer satisfaction charts?
I have had three Explorers, a 94, a 95 and the 97. The 94 and the 95 were great, but I traded them before they were over the warranty. The 97 has been a continual pain in my ass since the warranty expired. It has cost me $5000 in service in the past year alone. I had Lincolns too, two of them and they were a real PITA, and Ford staffs their Lincoln dealerships just like their Ford, and they're no help. I had the air ride fail 3 times on my 93 Continental, and the head gasket blow twice, all within two years. I couldn't make Ford fix these issues, so I bit the bullet and paid off my lease just to be rid of the POS, then I leased a Cadillac. It was very solid mechanically, the thing rattled, interior fittings FELL OFF, the leather wore and cracked, it just had zero quality. I traded it on the Lexus, and now the Lexus has TWICE the mileage the Cadillac had, and it rides and drives, as well as looks like new. It has NEVER been in the shop for ANYTHING but scheduled maintenance, never in its 125,000 miles. I also have a Toyota Sequoia with 55,000 miles on it, same with it, never in the shop, nary a squeak or rattle from anywhere. After driving these cars, its such a breath of fresh air. I will never go back.
Does this make me an ex patriot? No. Does it make me some rice loving lunatic? No. I have very little brand loyalty, I've only had the same model vehicle twice in my life and I've had many cars, I just buy what I like best.
Across the board, there is not a question in the minds of anyone who truly understands the industry that Japanese vehicles are more reliable, even Domestic carmakers admit that! It is not a function of power, I can break out the spec sheets, show you imports that are MORE POWERFUL than their American counterparts that are still more reliable.
The only time that power breeds unreliability is when you build a crappy car, or when you up the power so unrealistically that you're way outside the designed range. Saying that japanese cars are more reliable because they are less powerful is rediculous.
As for Japanese motors pulling as hard as American ones, I'll point you in the area that I have the most experience, the Lexus V8 vs the Cadillac Northstar. I had a Seville STS, 300hp and 300lbft of torque. My Lexus has 290hp and 300lbft. Not only does it do 0-60 a second faster, it pulls just as hard, if not harder.
