My Top Picks:
Honda.
My first vehicle was a Honda CB550 SuperSport. It was well worn when I got it. I beat the bark off of it and it never let me down. I sold it to a friend and it kept soldiering along. I am sure it is still wailing away somewhere.
Since then, I have owned many Honda cars and motorcycles. Not one ever has stranded me or let me down. All had excellent resale. I looked forward to driving/riding every one every time I walked up to it. Honda has fabulous engineering and never goes over the top with anything.
Toyota/Lexus
My first car was a 1974 Toyota Corolla 1600. When my Dad bought it, all we heard was "Like that thar little car ain't never gonna start in the winter, eh! (HAHAHA!) It never failed. It went to 250,000 MILES before the body rotted out and that was 13 years later. It cost $2500 new. It never had more than brakes and tires. It went from Vancouver to Montreal many times and toured many the logging road with my canoe on top.
When you work in a repair garage, the only cars you see who truly astronomical mileage are Toyotas, Hondas and old VW diesels. Toyotas are exceptionally well engineered. Bolts come off, threads don't strip, everything is accessable.
Volkswagen
This is emotional. When a VW is new, there is hardly a better car to drive. They have fantastic driving dynamics, fantastic interiors and always get a lot of attention. However, when the warranty expires, the "GM of Europe" philosophy comes to front. More hassle than I am willing to put into a car.
Hyundai-Kia
When I travel to Small Town Canada, I am surprised how many Hyundais and Kias I see. They have become the new Chevy. The offer a decent ride at a decent price. Not everybody can (or wants to) pay the premium for big brand. The owners love them and buy another one which is the best testament of all.
The Bad:
Ford
Fix or Repair Daily. Cars like the Tempo and Taurus were so singularly awful that they should have never been produced. If anybody ever wonders why the Japanese makers got such a major share of our market, look at the wonderful stuff Ford made in the 1980s, when the Japanese were making their names here. Even when the US government protected the US makers, they still continued to make junk like the Escort.
GM
I grew up in GM family. We worshiped at the Alter of the General. I vividly remember when my Dad bought a brand new 1979 Impala with F-41 and a 350 under the hood. Mechanically it was great but the interior was crappy in the extreme, panels didn't fit and the paint job looked like a drunk did it. GM then used its reputation to flog off gems like the Citation and the Celebrity. These rolling abominations were the biggest advertising Honda and Toyota ever had.
I worked at GM for years. The corporate culture is completely inward focused. GM doesn't really listen to customers or care about what they want. They dream up some model that they think will make them lots of money, produce it as cheaply as possible and advertise the living daylights out of it. When the thing starts to fall apart (and that doesn't take long) they will grudgingly fix it under warranty but never really address the issue such as strut tower bearings (all FWD), bad brakes (Malibu, Alero), steering shaft (trucks), a/c condenser (Cobalt), and worst of all, the Dreaded Intake Manifold Gasket (all 3.4 litre).
Chrysler
This is a mixed emotion. The 300 is a fine car for the money. The mini vans are the best value on the market. It is just the rest of the stuff they make is junk. Get yourself a Ram 1500 4X4 and see how the U-joints go out of it the day after the warranty is up. Same for the ball joints on the 3500. The Cummins is over priced and a nightmare when it does break. Find out that Chrysler designs these cars to be recalled to get them into the dealers to upsell labour. When the Dakotas and Duangos had to upper ball joint recall, Chrysler did the campaign in January so the dealers could upsell brakes in the slowest month of the year. They had known about the problem for months.
