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Every American Car Brand Is on the Bottom Half of CR's Reliability Rankings

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Re: Every American Car Brand Is on the Bottom Half of CR's Reliability Rankings

#271

Post by kube-system »

thedaemon wrote: post #233
freeflight wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny story about that, the US is actually metric [0] Still doesn't stop the nutters from opposing it because it's supposedly a tool by the NWO to take over the world, with the US remaining as sole resistance [1] [0] https://youtu.be/SmSJXC6_qQ8 [1] https://youtu.be/8jl5epgqHac

Funny story? Not a funny story. We are not metric. We would be metric if you bought items in metric. We do not. Doesn't matter what the scientist use. It matters what milk and bread is sold in. We buy drinks in liters and gallons. Those are not metric.

>It matters what milk and bread is sold in.

The FPLA requires metric units to be included on labeling.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Packaging_and_Labeling_Ac...

https://www.nist.gov/standardsgov/compliance-faqs-packaging-...

Re: Every American Car Brand Is on the Bottom Half of CR's Reliability Rankings

#272

Post by bluGill »

stephencanon wrote: post #166
taurath wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s so hard to get a proper vegetable conveniently in the US, while in Japan you can get it at a 7-11.

In much of the rural US, it’s easy (ask folks which farmstand they go to). In cities, it’s also pretty easy (asian or mexican grocery for non-organic, specialty produce shop if you want organic). The problem is the suburbs. Don’t live in the suburbs. If you must, get veggies at the farmer’s market.

Every suburb I've been in has a big box grocery store with a large selection of fresh produce. If you want something specific you might need to go to a specialty store, but there are plenty of vegetables where people buy groceries. You won't find them at gas stations, but nobody buys groceries at gas stations.

Re: Every American Car Brand Is on the Bottom Half of CR's Reliability Rankings

#273

Post by glofish »

juskrey wrote: post #110

I have travelled US a lot and have rented a lot of different cars. Honestly I don't know a much about reliability (except I got several problems with top Nissan models), but comparing to US cars, the rest of the world cars just don't drive and are not fun. And then you got Tesla which is crap inside but for some reason is super fun and you want to buy it immediately.

I agree, american cars have a driving quality to them that other cars do not. I drive Mazda (higher resale value) I wish I could "afford" american ("afford" in the sense of not minding a lower resale value).

The engine is usually smooth and powerful, cabin comfort, the ride very quiet, it sort of glides with you.

While I did not drive that many American cars, but I loved renting Chevy Impala, larger Fords

Re: Every American Car Brand Is on the Bottom Half of CR's Reliability Rankings

#274

Post by dajohnson89 »

AcerbicZero wrote: post #251

Its not a direct comparison, but having owned cars from Japan, the US, and Germany, watching the videos of cars being made by the major manufacturers makes the difference somewhat obvious. I've linked them below, but just looking at the factory processes, the workers, and the methods used it seems the German process is just designed to build cars with tighter tolerances. The cars don't move down assembly lines with h…

it's worth pointing out that a porsche 911 base MSRP is ~$110,000, while a corvette base starts around $60k.

Re: Every American Car Brand Is on the Bottom Half of CR's Reliability Rankings

#275

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

JPKab wrote: post #250
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked for years as an engineer and manager at a legendary Japanese corporation, known for their quality. It was a frustrating experience. Their obsession with quality made even the smallest tasks difficult and tedious. 3,000-line testing spreadsheets, where even one failure pooched the whole deal. But you can’t argue with the results. Good quality is difficult and tedious. I like to think that the work I do is of…

It's funny, because this is the kind of philosophy that makes software engineering in Japan so difficult, but is very ideal for automotive mass production.

Yup. It hobbled our software engineering efforts, but they make excellent hardware.

I quickly learned never to use the word "agile" in Tokyo. Frowny faces everywhere.

Since leaving that company, I have gone to "ultra-agile" methodology, but quality is still one of my principal axes.

Re: Every American Car Brand Is on the Bottom Half of CR's Reliability Rankings

#276

Post by Marsymars »

souterrain wrote: post #245

I’m quite pleased with my 2017 Ford Fiesta SFE with its German engine and French gearbox and Mexican assembly. Unfortunately, Ford is eliminating the Fiesta in the US.

Yeah, I like my Fiesta too, but Ford won't be making any vehicles I'm interested in going forward. Looking at Mazda/Subaru/Audi/Genesis for potential replacements when my Fiesta conks out.

Re: Every American Car Brand Is on the Bottom Half of CR's Reliability Rankings

#277

Post by toomuchtodo »

hailwren wrote: post #268
toomuchtodo wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GM knew of an issue with ignition key switches that killed 124 people and required a recall of over 30 million vehicles. Tesla definitely has fault, but legacy automakers have faired far worse in safety standards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_ignition_switch... Ford has had to recall over a million trucks due to engine block heaters that would cause your engine block to catch fire. https://www.google.…

I don't think anyone is arguing that they're the absolute worst carmaker. A comparison to Toyota or Honda would have been a better choice. I don't want a power plant that is advertised as "more earthquake resistant than Fukushima" in my backyard.

Can you compare Tesla to a manufacturer who innovates very little (Toyota or Honda) and simply churns out the same internal combustion engine 10 million times a year? I don't think so.

All depends on what you're optimizing for. I can't get an EV from Toyota or Honda (at least not one that competes with our S and X), so I deal with some fit and finish and reliability issues. Powertrain has been rock solid. Charging network has been rock solid (having driven coast to coast in the US in both of our Teslas).

Re: Every American Car Brand Is on the Bottom Half of CR's Reliability Rankings

#278

Post by Marsymars »

post_break wrote: post #270
souterrain wrote: post #245

I’m quite pleased with my 2017 Ford Fiesta SFE with its German engine and French gearbox and Mexican assembly. Unfortunately, Ford is eliminating the Fiesta in the US.

That's surprising considering that car has the worst transmission in car history. Unless the SFE is the one with a stick.

AFAIK every trim level of the Fiesta has been available with either automatic or manual except the ST (i.e. the hot hatch version) which is manual-only.

Re: Every American Car Brand Is on the Bottom Half of CR's Reliability Rankings

#279

Post by arkades »

rtpg wrote: post #5

This is a bit flame bait-y but I really feel like America is getting a super Galapagos effect compared to the rest of the world. Everything is super different and weird and kinda bad, and nobody seems to notice. I go to peoples houses in the US sometimes. Some of these houses are multimillion dollar homes. The doors are all terrible. The plumbing is crap. The furniture just feels bad. The cheapest studio apartment in…

It certainly depends on what you’re comparing to. I’ve lived up and down the USD east coast, and spent time in London and Reykjavik, and traveled through Italy, Spain, and Portugal.

I was always left with the impression that everything in Europe except for trains and windows (why do Europeans have such nice windows and we do not?!?) is rundown crap.

I’m not saying I’m necessarily objectively correct. But I’m definitely not endorsing your subjective impression, either.

Re: Every American Car Brand Is on the Bottom Half of CR's Reliability Rankings

#280

Post by Marsymars »

huffmsa wrote: post #52

> CR says Chrysler’s Pacifica was one that contributed to the drop in rankings thanks to the minivan’s infotainment and transmission issues. Every single "downgrade" I read about is either infotainment or transmission or both. Except Honda, which apparently has shit locks on it's kid hauler. I'm a bit skeptical of consumer reports after actually reading it. My car, a Subaru WRX is given low marks for "stiff ride and…

I dig the WRX, but I would love if the engine were quieter. IMO a quieter engine is always desirable - akin to how I always want my computers to have quieter fans for any given level of performance.
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