What's Wrong With This Picture: Spot The Turnaround Edition

Recipe for a Do-It-Yourself Consumer Reports auto quality survey: Go to three independent mechanics. Ask them one question: What does your wife (or significant other, or mother, or daughter) drive? My observation has been that Toyota and Honda will come up more often than Ford or GM.

There was an issue of Car and Driver in which they praised Porsche for not changing the looks of the 928 for nearly twenty years and they highlighted the mechanical and panel interchangeability from the current model to one of the early iterations. In the same issue, they condemned Chrysler for not significantly revising the Lebaron for five years. Maybe in their minds, the Lebaron needed a refresh though the Porsche did not, but it appeared as though anything from Detroit needed help and anything from the Black Forest was gold. I do read Consumer Reports and use the publication as a guide line, however, they appear to me to be biased towards Toyota. Materials they have claimed to be class leading are materials for which I do not care and believe them to be no better than Ford, GM, Chrysler, Nissan, etc. We are all affected by our experiences and preferences. My preferences are toward American nameplates (not because they are associated with “built in America”), rather I generally prefer their handling, overall feel and looks of their products to the competition. I have had a Nissan Xterra and a Jeep Wrangler, and while the Wrangler handled better to me (very subjective), I would say the Xterra feels slightly more mechanically solid. The trade off is that the Xterra is more expensive to maintain and repairs are much more expensive, so at the end of the day, one is not better to me than the other. I would select between those two based on purpose, not CR recommending the Xterra and not the Wrangler. I have driven and ridden in many Toyotas, Nissans, Hondas, Chevrolets, Fords, Chryslers, and KIAs and each brand has had vehicles with which I can easily find fault and they have also had ones that are magnificent vehicles. I have talked to mechanics that favor different nameplates for different reasons and the majority of them have admitted to me that Toyota, Nissan, and Honda are not as likely to have a mechanical failure as the Detroit three are, however, when they do require repairs, they are much more difficult to work on than the domestic nameplates and have increased cost for the same repairs.