Eugeosyncline
Member
- :
- 2001 Protege ES
With problems now surfacing in the Mazda3, I believe this further points to what I consider a disturbing trend in the quality of contemporary Japanese vehicles.
Although they still present superior reliability over domestic counterparts, the release of several new Japanese vehicles recently has demonstrated a trend toward lesser quality and attention to detail-- A marked departure from those they used to build.
Examples:
* The aforementioned Mazda3.
* Toyota Camry was only average in reliability over it's first year-- Unheard of for a Toyota.
* Honda Accord has been rumored to exhibit a myriad of rattles in its first (2003) year, and is now rated as only 'better than average' compared to 'much better than average' (as good as it gets, in other words) for past generations. For the last 15 years the Accord has always been a 'much better than average' rated car. Until now.
* The CEO of Nissan has been quoted as saying something like, "We want to build quality but we don't want to overdo it". I consider that code for, "Build them as cheap as we can get away with and not piss too many people off".
*And from personal experience, my unreliable Protege (clutch, brakes, rattles, cig lighter).
There are whispers of shared quality concern sentiment out there on many other car forums, also.
Some cars have thankfully been rated extremely well, still; Like Corolla and Mazda6. But the other "best selling" mid-size vehicles from Toyota and Honda are seemingly going down hill. I find this distasteful and alarming, particularly given how much emphasis I place on my insistence for reliability.
I hope this does not demonstrate a change in Japanese auto build philosophy.
Although they still present superior reliability over domestic counterparts, the release of several new Japanese vehicles recently has demonstrated a trend toward lesser quality and attention to detail-- A marked departure from those they used to build.
Examples:
* The aforementioned Mazda3.
* Toyota Camry was only average in reliability over it's first year-- Unheard of for a Toyota.
* Honda Accord has been rumored to exhibit a myriad of rattles in its first (2003) year, and is now rated as only 'better than average' compared to 'much better than average' (as good as it gets, in other words) for past generations. For the last 15 years the Accord has always been a 'much better than average' rated car. Until now.
* The CEO of Nissan has been quoted as saying something like, "We want to build quality but we don't want to overdo it". I consider that code for, "Build them as cheap as we can get away with and not piss too many people off".
*And from personal experience, my unreliable Protege (clutch, brakes, rattles, cig lighter).
There are whispers of shared quality concern sentiment out there on many other car forums, also.
Some cars have thankfully been rated extremely well, still; Like Corolla and Mazda6. But the other "best selling" mid-size vehicles from Toyota and Honda are seemingly going down hill. I find this distasteful and alarming, particularly given how much emphasis I place on my insistence for reliability.
I hope this does not demonstrate a change in Japanese auto build philosophy.
. my family's a toyota family. zero major problems with any of them. my uncle used to drive an old '88(?) mazda 626, 214000 miles on it when he sold it. only thing he had to change out was the electrical system. that was it.
