The fact is, American's DO make a better car than they used to. A LOT better. Case in point: My '01 PT cruiser. Purchased new in December 2000, traded in December 2006. Other than oil changes, brakes, tires, and wiper blades, the car never required repair. Nothing. Zilch Zero. Now, tell me, how is a Hon-duh or a Toyota's reliability superior to that? Case in point: My 2004 Dodge Stratus 2.7. 200 HP, 32 MPG on the highway. Bought it used for 11 grand, one year old (there's that crappy DC resale working to MY advantage...LOL). Sold it to buy my Xfire. Drove the car 40K miles. Nothing broke. Nothing. Zero. No problems with the car. Period.
Now i could go into detail about the Hondas i have owned, including the Accord that ate front pads every 15K miles, or the other Accord i had that blew it's tranny at 47K. So Japanese cars DO BREAK. IMHO, one of the greatest values out there is a 1 or 2 year old Chrysler product. (Like my Crossfire). The depreciation is murder, but the cars are good cars. A used Toyota or Honda is a crappy value. The great resale is a double edged sword.
Now, before i am accused of being "anti-Japanese, you should know i own a Subaru and a Toyota (Actually a Scion), so that is not the case. I just hate seeing people trash what i know from actual recent experience are good cars.
Oh, and Radnmanly...you had me laughin my *** off with this statement:
"The only way to turn heads with a Camry is to light it on fire".