Stan, so much of it still comes down to perceptions based on personal experience. I know I sound like I'm beating a dead horse with my comments about the guy with the Toyota that needed 8 warranty repairs in 3 years while my Chrysler products have needed one in 8 years, but that is his reality and my reality. In all honesty, his reality isn't doing a hell of a lot to sway my perceptions.

I used to work for a guy who an S Class Benz. The thing was in the shop every month to have something fixed. A good friend of mine will never buy another Nissan because the Maxima he owned was a pile of crap, and he got no satisfaction from the dealer. Same goes for a BMW owner I know, and Honda owners as well. But that is ALL anecdotal and none of it something one should base a decision on.

I remember as a kid listening to two neighbors debating various car brands, one of whom would never buy a GM product because every one he ever owned was, in his words, junk. Yet the other neighbor would never own anythng but a GM vehicle because he'd always had such great luck with them.

And there's the word - luck. Toyota has recalled literally millions of cars in the past fews years, and they're overall quality rating is slipping. That doesn't make them junk, of course, but it certainly doesn't make them flawless.

Now Hyundai used to be junk, no doubt about it. But what a turnaround they've made. In all honesty, I wouldn't mind owning one at all. Not something I would have said with any degree of seriousness just a few years ago.