For a generality, in my opinion all the Japanese manufacturers are among the top out there, most notably Toyota and Mazda. I've always liked Skoda (Czech) as well. My dad bought a new Mazda 626 in 1983 and the only money that was required to put into it until 1998 was for gas, oil and tires.lamb_of_god said:
"U.S. Auto" can go to hell. I have nothing against my country but the U.S. auto industry is way off the rocker. I will never buy a car from a U.S. manufacturer unless they majorly clean up their acts. I won't go on too much on this because that kind of discussion may not be the topic of this thread, but the U.S. is not concerned with fuel economy and lessening the world's dependence on fossil fuels or otherwise geographically-dependent finite fuel sources. No legitimate expert estimate gives the world's oil supply further than 2030 at our current usage, but most car companies won't explore alternative fuel until it is heavily profitably favorable. Further more; much of the auto industry's executives will be retired long before oil shortages actually are a possible reality, so what do they care? They won't need to deal with it--but their predecessors will. If the automotive industry didn't bail on electric car technology in the 1990s we would be much closer to a non-carbon based economy in 2007. The only reason the auto industry even got into electric fuel technology was largely because the State of California told them to or pack their bags. When the laws were loosened due to over-the-top governmental expectations, all research on electric fuel technology basically stopped. Over-consumption is a problem and lessening dependence on oil is an important part of future "damage control." Think about it. We don't just use oil to heat our homes, fuel our cars and turn on our lights. Oil is used to make plastics, asphalt and much of what we have grown to enjoy in life. The farm equipment that grows our food, the plants that process it, the fuel for the trucks that ship it to the stores and the roads that they travel on are all by-products of breaking down oil. Everything that we do to survive and be comfortable are afforded by oil, and we needlessly waste it at a far too high of a rate.
Toyota's monopoly on hybrid technology puts them in a very good position. So does Brasil's massive ethanol infrastructure. Most of the population in the U.S. is concerned with what other people think and so alternative energy and ultra-economic gas engines will never be popular until the car manufacturers bring sexy back. That's what sells...and it is necessary to lessen dependence on fossil fuels and progress toward a non-carbon economy.
Toyota's Yaris gets nearly 40 miles to the gallon, starts at a base price less than $13,000 and Toyota's track record can be assuring that the car will just be broken in at 200,000 miles instead of 2,000. That's where my money is going on my next car purchase. Of course, the Yaris has yet to "bring sexy" back, but I can deal with that. Just my two cents.
P.S. the phrase "bring sexy back" will now be stricken from my vocabulary; but it works so well for the purpose.
Sorry the post became so long winded. I know I promised not to do so at the beginning of it, but oh well. Damn sensitive subjects.
On another note, there isn't anything wrong with wanting to drive a big car that uses a generous amount of gas. As humans we are allowed to expect a reasonable level of consumption; but if the people with the influence don't push the industry toward a non-carbon economy at a much faster pace than we are currently seeing, we will only pay increasingly higher rates at the gas pumps. There is nothing wrong with driving that big SUV, but I personally prefer not to spend $100 each trip to the gas station.
