This. Look, the reality of consumer ratings is out there, and every year the top 5 are Toyota, Honda and the next 3 or 4 are usually also foreign. Automakers in this country allowed themselves to be out-engineered, out-manufactured and out-visioned into insignificance. THEY did that, it wasn't done TO THEM. For further reinforcement of that, just look at resale figures for vehicles, which are based on real quality and longevity, not perception.
Resale values are absolutely based on perception. Perception ties directly to demand. You are right about Automakers putting themselves were they are now. Ford has changed though; if you are making car-buying decisions based solely on make instead of model you are making (ha-ha pun) a mistake. From consumer reports: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...reliability-findings/reliability-findings.htm Ford still has a way to go in the perception department. They have to continue to show that they've changed their ways. As that happens their resale value will increase.
That is actually a pretty sharp looking car for a domestic. This is coming from a guy who bought a VW 2 years ago and will NEVER drive anything not German again. Next year the woman gets this car (2008 Rabbit) and I get a GTI. When the Raddit is paid for (in 2012) she wants a 1 series BMW or an Audi A4. Man, we are gonna be in debt...LOL! That Harley truck is sweet but it's only worth it if you don't use it for what a truck is supposed to be used for and if you are not going to use a truck for what is supposed to be used for then why buy a truck.
Consumer ratings are a nice starting point, but if one bases their purchase entirely on those ratings, that's a little sad. I'm happy as hell with my Mercury Mariner, and had I followed the consumer ratings, I would never have test driven it.
I won't even try. Google "2010 Ford Taurus Reviews" and they'll do it for me. People have to stop basing their ideas of Ford on the past. This is a different car company that's not only taking on the imports, but beating them at their own game. A testament to Ford quality is my own car. I've had it four years and put 37K miles on her, the majority of them hard, and I have not one squeak, rattle, anything.
