US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA

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Wed 5 Oct 2016 21:27
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - Steveieb
My son has bought me a copy of the US version of the Which magazine.
Needless to say the recommended models are mainly Japanese, Honda Toyota Mazda and Subaru.
German cars feature too in particular Audi and to a lesser extent BMW but very few Mercedes make the grade.
No mention of French cars as they are not imported as possibly they won't stand up to the lemon laws, and one Italian small car the Fiat 500 which is considered to have poor reliability.
Tyre choice is interesting with Michielin taking all the awards.
With the US having the toughest market to crack we may do well to take note of their choices.
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Wed 5 Oct 2016 21:38
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - SLO76
Yet US cars that've tried to crack the UK market have failed thanks largely to poor quality and dynamics. Chrysler Neon anybody?

Even their premium brands are built cheaply, Dodge Viper, Corvette, Mustang, Camero. All plasticky and lacking in polish compared to European rivals.

I'm always amazed they survive with such competition from high quality Jap and European manufacturers.

Maybe Mercs poor showing is down to some of their cars being produced over there? The original ML class 4x4 (built in Alabama) was a terrible thing. Egg crate quality.

Edited by SLO76 on 05/10/2016 at 21:39

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Wed 5 Oct 2016 22:09
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - RobJP
Maybe Mercs poor showing is down to some of their cars being produced over there? The original ML class 4x4 (built in Alabama) was a terrible thing. Egg crate quality.

That's as simplistic as saying that anything built in Birmingham (or the locality thereof) would automatically be terrible, as BL/Rover were based there.

They are just as capable of building good cars as anyone else. The problem has, historically, been the strength of the unions in the factories there (see the BL comparison again) has meant that you could be terrible at your job, but as long as you turned up on time and actually did your job, you were almost impossible to sack.

Those european / japanese / korean companies that have opened car assembly plants over there have found that the quality can be maintained, but only by stamping down on the UAW's power.

BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, MB, Mitsubishi, Subaru and VW all build cars in the USA. Interestingly, none of them have plants in Michigan, the 'traditional heart' of carmaking over there.

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Wed 5 Oct 2016 23:14
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - SLO76
Fair enough, design, staff training and quality of materials matter and location is of little relevance but the introduction of the first ML coencided with a real downturn in quality for Merc. The flawed partnership with Chrysler seemed to infect the firm with some bad ideas.
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Thu 6 Oct 2016 09:41
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - Steveieb
What is interesting is that they have either rejected all French cars and most Italian except for super cars.
The message has really hit home about the quality and desirability of these marque s.

But why haven't we woken up to this state of affairs? Is it the lemon. Laws that make life simply too difficult?
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Thu 6 Oct 2016 10:59
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - RobJP

We spent a couple of weeks out in the US this summer, in Washington DC and Maryland area. As a self-confessed car nut, I notice what's around, and what isn't.

Most of what we saw was American or Japanese brands. Honda, Toyota, Nissan, a surprising number of Subarus (compared to the numbers we see in the UK), along with Acura (Honda's luxury brand), Infiniti, not many Lexus around, however.

Hyundai have got a decent market penetration there, quite a few around.

A miniscule number of Tesla - I saw 4. Two of which were parked outside their showroom in DC, so don't really count. The showroom was open when we went past, plenty of staff in there, but nobody else.

The main european brands to be seen were Merc, BMW, Audi, Jaguar and LR, though they make up a tiny proportion of cars seen. The very occasional MINI and VW.

As to French, Italian, etc ... I saw a single Ferrari. Nothing else that would be 'mainstream' brands over here, like Renault, Peugeot, SEAT, Fiat, Alfa, Citroen, Skoda. Also not a single Kia.

The car advertising : The American brands are really on the offensive these days, pointing out in their adverts the problems that Toyota etc have had with airbags, VW with emissions, and the fact that the US brands are now picking up plenty of awards for quality.

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Thu 6 Oct 2016 12:30
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - Steveieb

Understand that Kia may have a problem in the US with the name as to many retired and serving military it has the meaning Killed In Action.

Perhaps that is why you didnt see any and why Hyundai the sister brand are being promoted.

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Thu 6 Oct 2016 12:50
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - NARU

Kia scored top in the US JD power initial quality reports:

www.jdpower.com/press-releases/2016-us-initial-qua...s

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Thu 6 Oct 2016 13:50
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - davecooper

I was in Ontario recently for a few weeks visiting my Cousin. I commented on the fact that the roads seemed to be dominated by the Japanese and Koreans, with relatively few BMW's Mercs or VAG group cars. He said that generally European cars were not considered particularly good value and not as reliable as their eastern counterparts. He also said there was not the same status symbol culture over there. As petrol head who has lived there for 60 years, he should have a fair idea.

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Thu 6 Oct 2016 22:51
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - Steveieb
Thanks for this DaveCooper. It's time we had a rethink about Kia and Hyundai if they take the top rankings in the US which is possibly the toughest market in the world.
When I remember one of my work colleagues in Soul in the 80 s reporting they were assembling the Cotina under licence and then they head hunted George Harriman from Chrsler Uk to help them produce the Steller.

And to dismiss Clarksons comment that we might as well go shopping for white goods in view of their lack of excitement and flair.
His other quote was would you buy a car assembled by someone who ate dog for breakfast.

This JD Power survey has changed my opinions on Korean cars and wonder why on earth we have bought nuclear power station from the French whose cars are so poor that the Americans won't even entertain them.When the Koreans have a working nuclear power station and the Edf efforts in France have failed so far to produce a working example.
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Fri 7 Oct 2016 11:19
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - galileo

Standard manufacturers' warranty here was three years till Kia offered seven (or 100K) and Hyundai five, unlimited. Toyota then offered 5 years to match.

GB has remarked that when working on new car delivery he was impressed with the detailing of brake pipes underneath these and appearance of quality of the suspension bits, I'd take his judgment over most motoring journos anyday.

Many people still go for badge kudos, styling and 'soft' plastic trim rather than reliable oily bits, fair enough if that is their choice.

Edited by galileo on 07/10/2016 at 11:20

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Fri 7 Oct 2016 12:55
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - Steveieb
Are the Koreans taking over from the Japanese in terms of quality and reliability?
Samsung TVs and phones lead the way and now cars.

Have we any feedback on whether they have been able to maintain quality and reliability when manufacturing in Europe. One element that the Japanese failed to do in France with Toyota and to a lesser extent in the Uk.

So how have the Koreans performed manufacturing in Eastern Europe?
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Fri 7 Oct 2016 13:58
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - RobJP
Are the Koreans taking over from the Japanese in terms of quality and reliability? Samsung TVs and phones lead the way and now cars. Have we any feedback on whether they have been able to maintain quality and reliability when manufacturing in Europe. One element that the Japanese failed to do in France with Toyota and to a lesser extent in the Uk. So how have the Koreans performed manufacturing in Eastern Europe?

Are you aware that Toyota actually started exporting UK-built cars to Japan a few years ago ? That Honda export UK-built Civic Type-R cars to Japan ? I don't think they'd do that if the quality of cars built in the UK was that bad.

To speak of their 'failure to maintain quality standards' in EU/UK built cars, you might want to have some data to back it up. Faiing which, it's no more worthwhile than Clarkson talking about buying cars made by 'people who eat dog', a vague generalistaion.

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Fri 7 Oct 2016 17:33
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - Theophilus
Are the Koreans taking over from the Japanese in terms of quality and reliability? Samsung TVs and phones lead the way and now cars.

Would these be the same Samsung phones that have been spontaneously going up in flames?

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Fri 7 Oct 2016 19:15
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - Steveieb
Am I right in thinking that Apple suffered the same battery problem along with the Boeing 787.

But back to the Honda Civic R built in the UK and exported to Japan, let's hope that they weren't fitted with the Spanish hand brakes that had the pawls out of kiilter that caused a number of cars to run away?
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Sat 8 Oct 2016 11:30
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - jc2

I hired a car in Detroit-I was given a Canadian-built Chevrolet.

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Sat 8 Oct 2016 16:54
US consumer reports - Best and worse cars in USA - Glenn 42

French and Italian cars were imported into America during the energy crisis years of the seventies, but they rusted badly in American winters and were unreliable and dealers very spa*** away from the cities, so were withdrawn. I don't think an American garage would be impressed with the complexity of a Renault Laguna, and owners would soon tire of the wayward electrics and expensive repair bills.

I still reckon the traditional Detroit iron of the sixties and early seventies were among some of the best cars of the time. They might have been very uneconomical by today's standards, but were powerful, luxurious and mechanically solid cars.

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