injunraiv: The PERCEPTION is that Japanese cars are more fuel-efficient. The Big Three have to pump up their own efforts. GM is doing it, but it’s so cheesy.

tripleonefive: is some cases, the domestic is better, and in some cases, the Japanese is better. Bot you’re right about JD Power not being trustable.

pmpvtkc: “Just look at what kind of cars are still on the road and what cars are lying around in any junk yards!” I second THAT!

steve333: the Corolla is a horrible car. The The Mazda3 is great!

Later…

All that said, my experience is that japanese vehicles are not as good as we’ve been led to believe, and domestic cars are not as bad. There is a mindset I heard expressed this morning from a customer who has both GM and Toyota vehicles in his family fleet. His son drives a Sequoia, and tends to forget about the little problems he’s has with the thing. The hood latch breaks, etc. Granted these are minor problems but his dad says he is constantly telling people he’s never had a problem with the truck. I’ve seen the same mentality, and it always puzzled me.

Now that I’m back in the biz, I look at the quality of the domestic fleet and am amazed how far things have come in just a few short years, both in foreign and domestic vehicle manufacture. Interestingly, while I find quality has shot through the roof, I find that these cars no longer attract me the way they used to. There are very few interesting cars anymore, they pretty much all look alike, and they all ride the same. And as it happens, most of the cars I would have in my garage are American, with some european and a few Japanese vehicles in the mix. None of those would be the appliances that some would call cars.

So while you may consider yourself an auto enthusiast, I consider myself an auto professional. And I wonder which one of us has really been brainwashed…

Oh, and 1115: No, I’m not giving you a lesson in auto finance today.

I’ll grant you this. I was talking to one of my wholesalers a couple of weeks ago. He told me he can make silly money on used imports because people believe they are infallible. And I’m talking about 150,000 mile Camrys people are willing to buy for $5,000. Are they worth it? Not in his eyes. But he’ll sell them…

I could go into a tutorial about the car biz, but that would only serve to make you think you know something. You know, ‘a little knowledge…’

BTW, took a nice Honda on trade this morning. Interested?

You can see it for yourself in this thread:

Need4SSpeed: “Asian car manufacturers have always offerred more fuel efficient vehicles”

pmpvtkc: “Unless they offer more fuel efficient and more reliable cars, this trend will continue”

When I see crap like this spouted like it is fact, I will continue my attempt to counter. I see it as a huge issue, reaching far beyond which car you choose to drive.

steve333, explanation I think is simple. Corolla is smaller and more fuel efficient. But that was not reason 4-5 years ago, because even then Protege or 3 was a better car. There are more Toyota dealers then Mazda. Most of people go to dealer for maintenance. Also, Toyota dealership staff may be more polished then Mazda, but may reason is in numbers.

As far as mileage argument: it is somewhat shallow. Malibu maybe better by 1mpg then Accord or Altima, but Accord is a bigger car with better handling and much more powerful (in the case of EX or simply more powerful in case of LX) engine with better accelaration. After all you don’t drive numbers, you drive car. And don’t forget the service: in Honda and Toyota dealerships I experienced less pushy and more pleasant salesmen. They may not negotiate much on price, but if you buy a car for 5-7 years, $500 don’t mean much. In the case of the lease – numbers are the same. Also, 70-80% of Accords, Camrys, Altimas are 4 cylinder; Malibu is presented as a 6 cylinder car, because 70% of them come 6 cylinders from factory. I could not test drive one 4 cylinder easily and after I did I thought it has ways to go to catch Accord.

The thing is, it’s not about logic and numbers. You can’t RATIONALIZE people’s choices – consider the fact that a bucket of cum is loaded with protein. Why do people eat other stuff like candy and chocolate then? <– well, everyone except you and your mom, both big fans of the cumbucket

And noname, I said ‘apples to apples’. Did you notice what Hondas sold in record numbers? The Accord. Since the Accord and the Malibu get similar mileage (actually, the Chevy gets BETTER combined mileage, 25 to 24), the economy argument gets thrown out the window.