21st Oct 2012, 09:38

I would rather impeccable meant reliable. Something the domestics and Germans could learn a lot about. A VW dealer admitted to me that German cars were more about expressions of technology than reliability. Which is fine, if you want to be a guinea pig for their crappy designs and waste time and money in their service bays. Of course, the cars are so complicated that even their own mechanics can't figure out what's going on, so you have to take it there 2 or 3 times to correct the same problem.

22nd Oct 2012, 10:50

I owned 2 Mercedes, and agree I went to GM. The new performance Cadillacs and Corvette are my picks. Truly amazing technology, extreme reliability and blistering performance. And yes, I said new Cadillac. Make mine a 6 speed! I drove mine on a track yesterday, and then drove it home.

22nd Oct 2012, 23:08

Japanese car companies lost the edge in reliability years ago. They are currently running on false impressions from the days when they actually were pretty dependable. No Japanese car can come close to the reliability of the new Ford and GM vehicles. Some GM dealerships are now offering lifetime unlimited mileage warranties. Japan would go broke if they did that.

24th Oct 2012, 12:26

Sorry, but saying over and over that Japanese car companies are now less reliable than they were a few years ago, when all reports still show quite the opposite, doesn't make this any more true than it was the other zillion times it was mentioned.

24th Oct 2012, 18:20

A friend of mine was in an accident with his Corolla on Monday. He was hit by a Ford Fusion. The Fusion had barely a scratch and was driven away. The estimate on the Corolla was $3500. It's made out of tin foil and crumples like an egg. I convinced him to trade it for a Chevy rather than fixing it. He's picking up the Chevy this weekend.

25th Oct 2012, 07:21

Not all Japanese companies... we mean Toyota new models. What has happened, especially the past 5 years? They are recalled so heavily lately. I would recommend a mid 90s or older with low mileage as a buy vs new.

25th Oct 2012, 11:00

You sure have a lot of "friends" who have owned Toyotas - simply amazing! Also, what a coincidence being hit by a Ford Fusion of all cars! All I can say is wow!

25th Oct 2012, 14:39

Using recalls as a means to prove that a car company makes less reliable vehicles isn't an argument or a means to prove anything. So Toyota has had recalls. So what. So too has every other car maker on the planet. Recalls or not, Toyota builds a more reliable product. Anything else?

25th Oct 2012, 15:41

According to Toyota's own company spokesmen, the quality plummeted after 2000.

26th Oct 2012, 09:01

"It's made out of tin foil and crumples like an egg."

How such inaccurate and arguably libelous statements such as this are allowed on this site is beyond me.

Obviously the Corolla is not made out of tin foil, and reading these repetitive (anti-Toyota) comments is very tiresome.

Sadly for me, enough is enough, and it appears to be time to find a new site on which to read realistic auto reviews, as this one appears to have been taken over by zealots intent on continually bashing Toyotas at every opportunity with these type of comments, many based on hearsay.

Thankfully there are other sites where actual owners are writing fair and objective reviews of vehicles they actually own.

Personally I believe that Steven Jackson is a great guy, who created a great web site, and it was a great read and a must-read for this retired car guy every day for about ten years. However now, each day when I look at the site, I find more and more of these types of comments, many of which appear to be written by the same person, whose intent I question.

For the record I do not, nor do any of my family members own a Toyota, actually many own Ford products. My immediate family owns GM & Chrysler products, but I find the direction this site is being led in with the pointless Import/Domestic argument over & over and over again, and specifically the constant anti-Toyota rhetoric, so distasteful, that I believe it is time to move on.

It is a shame that this site seems to be being headed down such a negative path where commentors can actually post that a car is made out of "tin-foil" when this is clearly not the case.

Steve, again I want to thank you for creating such a wonderful site. It was a valuable tool where folks could find good information from actual owners, until those for whatever their own reasons flooded the site with comments such as the above example.

26th Oct 2012, 10:28

I don't know how that solves the high degree of accelerated recalls that has plagued Toyota lately. It's not anti Toyota rhetoric; we call it former Toyota buyer remorse in our household.

26th Oct 2012, 10:32

Thanks for your kind words.

The tin foil and egg comment is over the top, but it's so over the top that it's clearly hyperbole. I don't think such hyperbole is helpful, as it's imprecise, and mostly just annoys people of opposing viewpoints, but it's a widely used literary device, and prohibiting its use on the site would be pretty draconian.

The reviews are very heavily policed for suspicious activity, so if you find the comments annoying, I'd advise sticking with the reviews and ignoring the comments.

P.s. As I've stated before, and contrary to what some people seem to think, there are a significant number of people on both sides of the import vs domestic argument. Some post more than others, but there is not one guy on either side who's driving these debates.

Steven Jackson (site moderator), steven@carsurvey.org

CSDO Media Limited.

30th Jun 2013, 01:21

Japanese engines are not boring, if you like driving a time bomb. They can blow-up at any time.

2nd Jul 2013, 15:04

Except that they seldom do so, and that's why they are always ranked at the top of the reliability lists.

3rd Jul 2013, 08:29

Except when the engines sludge and need to be replaced.

3rd Jul 2013, 11:04

The engine sludge issue seems to be a non-stop repeated thing on this site. That issue occurred back in the 90's primarily, and in the case that did occur, the result was almost always from lack of changing the oil at the recommended interval. As in people were complaining that their engines were sludging up after they had neglected to change their oil until 10,000 miles or more. I don't care what sort of car you own, if you don't change the oil when you're supposed to, you're risking the oil turning to sludge.

But like I said before - the engine sludging issue was resolved a long time ago. But even if that were a problem, it was taken into account with the overall standings of the brand. That is what overall quality surveys are about. Even with those issues taken into account, Toyota's 3 brands still are at the top of the list.

3rd Jul 2013, 16:02

Engines that sludge at 48,000 miles are far from reliable.

3rd Jul 2013, 18:12

I see lots of comments claiming Corollas are reliable, yet in real life I have never met anyone who got over 100,000 miles out of one without some pretty serious problems. Reality doesn't appear to match the hype.