Japan carmakers top 9 of 10 categories in U.S. Consumer Reports rankings

Wednesday 28th October, 01:35 PM JST

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usaexpat at 12:43 AM JST - 29th October

ca1ic0cat: The Miata does rock, I had a gen 1 for 13 years and only sold it because my family expanded. That said excepting the Miata, the WRX and The Evo, Japanese cars are still boring appliances. Enjoy that Miata though, most fun for the money.
JohnBecker at 01:07 AM JST - 29th October

@usaexpat: my RSX Type-S begs to differ. :-)
Pachipro at 01:13 AM JST - 29th October

I own a 2002 Toyota Solara here in the US with 147,245 miles (236,961 km) on it! Not once has it ever been into the shop for any reason. Same belts, same brakes, same everything. I only changed the spark plugs at 120,000 miles not because I had to but because I felt I should. Unbelievable quality!

In the last 20 years we have had one Celica, three Camrys, and the Solara and not one ever needed to go to the shop for any reason and neither did one ever break down. 2 Camrys and the Celica had more than 150,000 miles on them when sold.

Friends who own American brand cars have had something that needed to be fixed like the tranny, thermostat, clutch, brakes, air conditioner, etc. Nothing but J-cars for me!
usaexpat at 01:41 AM JST - 29th October

JohnBecker, OK you got me on that one, and you can add the S-2000. I should have been broader and just bagged on Toyota who gets no props since killing the Supra. The golden age of Japanese cars was still the early 90s though, think 300zx, Supra, Rx-7, NSX. The eco boom will only make it worse and I will have to drive collector cars. The only eco car I could drive and be happy is the Tesla but I don't have that kind of money.
sfjp330 at 03:18 AM JST - 29th October

They should have top ten safe cars. You won't see such cars most of the Japanese imports such as Honda Civic, Honda CR-V, Toyota Yaris, Prius, a body made by recycled Coors ligh beer cans that can be hazardous your safety. Do you notice how thin the beer can sheetmetals are on Japanese cars? These cars are dangerous in the U.S. freeways.
usaexpat at 04:50 AM JST - 29th October

sfjp330: If you want safe you buy Swedish, Saab and Volvo are always at the top of the safety ratings followed by the Germans. I always buy Saabs and they finish horribly in JD Power surveys. This is my 3rd and they've been great, reliable, sporty, efficient, and safe cars.
usaexpat at 05:11 AM JST - 29th October

Well I should have read the full Consumer Reports list Saab finished 11th and ahead of all other European premium makes except Porsche. Also ahead of Mazda which while I liked the styling my wife's Protege 5 was a piece of junk.
bdiego at 06:38 AM JST - 29th October

This is fairly accurate. At each price point, they also top in safety. Ironic that Yaris is mentioned considering it's safer than the vast majority of non-Japanese cars mentioned. Sadly.
sfjp330 at 08:36 AM JST - 29th October

Small cars simply don't stand up well against the weight of bigger vehicles. A crash between a Toyota Yaris and a larger Camry is violent enough to tear off the driver's door off the smaller car. If you compare a violent freeway crash between Chevy Tahoe and Yaris, one is well and alive and others, maybe six feet under.
usaexpat at 11:36 PM JST - 29th October

bdiego: Certainly not safer than the Saab 9-3 which takes the top honors in the EuroNCAP as well as many other studies, safest car in the world at the moment.
WhiteHawk at 06:26 AM JST - 1st November

JohnBecker:

my RSX Type-S begs to differ.

A front-wheel-drive car?

I miss my Miata. First-gen with the 1.8, it was a blast. A friend has an RSX T-S, but we never ran them side-by-side. Still, I can't see how a fwd car can be as much fun as a rwd car, no matter how much faster it is in a straight line.

sfjp330:

They should have top ten safe cars. You won't see such cars most of the Japanese imports such as Honda Civic, Honda CR-V, Toyota Yaris, Prius, a body made by recycled Coors ligh beer cans that can be hazardous your safety. Do you notice how thin the beer can sheetmetals are on Japanese cars? These cars are dangerous in the U.S. freeways.

Have you seen the video on YouTube of the new Chevy Malibu having a head-on crash test with a 1959 Chevy Bel Air? Size and sheet metal thickness aren't everything.

usaexpat:

If you want safe you buy Swedish, Saab and Volvo are always at the top of the safety ratings followed by the Germans. I always buy Saabs and they finish horribly in JD Power surveys. This is my 3rd and they've been great, reliable, sporty, efficient, and safe cars.

Saabs are safe because you never get to drive them, as they're always in the shop. I had a 9-3 for six months, and it needed $3,000 in maintenance. IN SIX MONTHS! I have friends who own Ferraris who don't have to spend that much on maintenance. And they get to drive around in Ferraris. So I traded the Saab for an XJ6 and that has been a terrific car. And it's British!
sfjp330 at 09:23 AM JST - 3rd November

Have you seen the video on YouTube of the new Chevy Malibu having a head-on crash test with a 1959 Chevy Bel Air? Size and sheet metal thickness aren't everything. Whitehawk;

The '59 Bel Air was made similar to today's F150 and full size Chevy Pickup. They had large strong frame (body and Frame design), compared to weak unitized body for most of the Japanese cars and American cars of today and the Malibu is no exception. There is no comparison to the strength of Bel Air and Malibu.
dontpanic at 06:57 PM JST - 3rd November

"They had large strong frame (body and Frame design), compared to weak unitized body for most of the Japanese cars and American cars of today"

Large strong frame and tough body equals extreme deceleration. While the vehicle may look like its largely survived, the poor buggers inside suffer disastrous internal injuries. Modern cars with crumple zones and variable strength steel frames make a great fist of sacrificing themselves to save the occupants. Theres no comparison in survivability.

I agree theres no way for a Yaris to survive a big stump with a much heavier vehicle but with its full set of safety equipment, great steering and handling its unlikey to be hit by the Tahoe as it wallows out of control into oncoming traffic.
sfjp330 at 04:19 AM JST - 4th November

dontpanic;

Agree to your statement. 50 years ago, these cars did not have many safety features for major accidents, such as air bags, side bags, high seats with seatbelt/shoulder restraint, bumper that aborbs sudden impact, fuel shut-off, roll over frame strength, better center of gravity, tires, suspension, brakes, etc. Whitehawk was comparing only the damages to the car from '59 to todays Malibu, disregarding the injuries to the driver and the passenger.

Comment regarding Yaris, you indicated "unlikely to be hit by the Tahoe", (or large SUV or truck). Even if you are a careful driver in Yaris, there are too many drunk drivers in U.S. and everyday, somewhere, somebody gets major injuries or killed in a compact car. They are unsafe and offers little protection at high speed, regardless of safety equipment, great steering and handling. You really can't compare modern full size SUV's with alll the safety features to Yaris in a accident.
dontpanic at 06:14 PM JST - 4th November

Modern US SUVs are little different from their predecessors.

I've already said a Yaris, even with its safety features wouldnt fair well if hit by a much larger vehicle, thats simple physics. My point was that modern unitary construction cars are not less safe than separate body/frame construction vehicles, thay are in fact much safer and a Yaris fitted with all the safety kit available to it is one of the better ones.

The majority of drunk driver crashes are into stationary objects. In this situation the occupants of a Yaris are safer as the car will crumple and bend around the occupants reducing speed more gradually than any vehicle with a solid frame can manage. If there are so many drunk drivers careering about the US, I'd suggest its irrelevent what you drive as a crash with one at high speed is likely to see you off whether youre in an SUV or not.

As an aside, I think if I were a pedestrian hit by a drunk driver I'd also rather be hit by the Yaris with its softer front end.