That is at variance to what I hear on the mainly right wing American posters on alt.autos.toyota where there is only one decenting voice to the overwhelming majority who believe both Toyota and Honda are leagues ahead in reliability and longevity compared with domestic cars. Rust has been a thing of the past on Japanese built vehicles that have been imported here in the last 15 years. There was a time in the 1970's that they developed bodywork holes you could put your fist through within five years. That is historical and not representative of recent products.
European vehicles fare a bit better, but
Mass sellers always have cheaper parts. If European cars sold in enough numbers the parts prices would reduce in the same way that seldom needed Japanese parts have.
I am aware that huge American vehicles have a very low payload in relation to their size and weight compared to European vehicles but that is only a symptom of poor design by the big American manufacturers. Could it be that some of their problems and decreasing market share is related to poor and profligate design? Toyota is going to overtake GM this year in volume terms. In profitability it has overtaken GM long ago and customer retention is very high, which is a prerecuisite of increasing sales.
You are ignorant of wear factors affecting automobiles. A car reaches its operating temperature and wear is minimised.
Thus our
Tell that to the owners of Toyota and all the other Japanese vehicles who consistently lead reliability and longevity ratings all over the World.
Is that so? A whole lot of your country has a55mpg limit while ours is an universally ignored 70mph. Italy is inhabited by looney drivers and Germany has no speed limits on some roads. I know of one owner of a British built McLaren there who regularly drives at over 200mph on his commute. Here in the UK speeds are generally kept down to 90mph or so because the driving license is lost if speeds exceed 100.
This is
Heard it all before about various cars trucks plant machinery and everything and it is bollocks. Japanese and exotic European cars would not be so successful in America if this were true. Fact is the big American barges and smaller cars that just don't drive as well as Japanese and European cars are like dinasaurs, out of time. This is the reason Ford and GM are in such a hole.
Actually very many cars make it that far. At least European and Japanese cars do. I have a Mitsubishi Shogun that has 165000 miles on it that has towed highly illegal loads far higher than it was designed for that is only now slipping its first clutch. My Toyota is just on 100,000 miles in eight years and it has only needed bulbs [two brake lights] and a rear wheel bearing so far. Even the exhaust is like new. A friends Audi Allroad which was serviced every 20,000 miles if it was lucky crossed 200,000 miles and it is still running somewhere probably.
Your assertion that conditions are harder on cars in the USA is just nonsense as anyone who has travelled extensively will know for certain. Conditions are only really worse where roads are not metalled and where it freezes really hard for long periods. These things cause increased wear not your ridiculous assertion that long distance running causes it, which is laughable if it were not so sad in that you actually believe that you know your ass from your elbow.
There are huge numbers of pickups sold in Europe though a lower proportion of total vehicles than in America. Very few have a payload of less than one ton. The market for half ton payload trucks is almost non existant. OTOH very few pickups have more than a 1.5 ton payload and most then buy 7.5 ton gross forward control trucks which are driven without a special driving license.
Huw