US built vehicles are always poorer quality than those built in japan. Why? Labor costs are higher so components are skimped on. The union autoworkers get paid too much to do what a monkey can be trained to do. I hope I get 200k from my OBW built in indiana.
We might agree on some points, but I've read that Hondas built here have the same freq. of repair records as those built in Japan. And I've also read that Toyota's most efficient engine assembly plant was the one here in the U.S. (though it was some time ago since I encountered those articles)
I think the Japanese have a different approach to engineering as well as some respect for their supply chain. I think quality may be a little less the direct issue of the workers on such highly automated lines as car manufacturing and more the engineering and management styles. Granted, the COST can be driven up by Union demands which will cause management to ask not "how can we make it better" but rather "how can we get it cheaper".
I dunno
Carl
I can attest that my Ohio-made '99 Accord EX V-6 seemed very well screwed together. I only kept it until just under 60K miles, but had only one problem: the CD changer died; and I'd say that's not the fault of the Ohio assemblers.
On the other hand, my Japanese-made '93 Honda Prelude had a bad manual transmission (grinding in gear shifts). Dealer tried to fix it with some new parts; didn't work. Finally I insisted on a brand-new, still-shrinkwrapped, Made-in-Japan, complete transmission, and that did the trick. At the time Preludes were considered even more reliable and trouble-free than Accords. I got the one that wasn't.
Aren't some of the top JD Powers initial quality surveys showing Buick as the winner?
I still would tend to believe the Japanese-assembled cars will excel. My Forester XT is a Japan-assembled car; our new '06 Legacy was made by Hoosiers. I guess I can run an experiment. I'll get back to you in a few years.
You pays your money and takes your chances, from wherever.
HW
Wrong and wrong again. Turn off Limbaugh for a second for chrissakes and thank the unions for your standard of living.
Florian
Unions breed laziness and mediocrity especially in manufacturing
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