Excellent synopsis SLAPS76, not just on the cars you mentioned, but on Consumers Reports too.
C.R. writers have always been "Masters" at stating the obvious. When it comes to rating cars, the only thing I pay any attention to in Consumer Reports is their Red & Black circles, which are simply a compilation of facts and records, which are pretty hard to dispute.
As AERO BLUE pointed out, I do think alot of American cars are making in-roads on the dependability issues, but have a ways to go to catch up with the Japanese.
I guess that's why that even though I really love our Crossfire, there's 2 Honda Civics, and a Miata in our garage. (Now, does that make me biased?) Probably.