[QUOTE=Hatterasguy]I have yet to see a GM, Ford, or Chrysler car that by 100k miles wasn't falling apart. The body panals all have wide and ever changing gaps the paint is failing. I have lost count of the number of Lumina's and Neons I see with no paint on the hoods, trunk lids, or roofs. Also every Ford crown vic or Lincoln I see seem to emit blue smoke from their exhuast even very new looking ones. 4.6 or 5.0 valve seals heading south?
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I'll call your first statement... you obviously are not looking very hard. Granted if you look at a Geo you might not see it going that long - but your exaggeration of the supposed lack of quality kills me. I guess working for the largest Saturn retailer in the US and escorting vehicles through the serice department (At the philosophy stores, Saturns are escorted from the customer to a parking area, and then by the same porter to the service bay, from the service bay, thorough the cleaning, to parking in the outgoing lot, to the final customer presentation), and seeing a majority of the cars with 100K+ on the Odo in for routine maintenance sways me. That or the fact that my father's business has 2 delivery trucks, 1 with well over 100K on the odo, and 1 with nearly 250K, and neaither has EVER been back to a dealer.

GM and the other americans had an issue switching to water based paint in the '90s.. I will give you that.

And the Ford 4.6 has low compression rings which cause this. It is a problem that developed with time, and can be fixed by running a heavier oil in it, as has been changed on the latest 4.6s by Ford.

I'm not here to argue that Mercedes are not quality, because they are, and I plan on being a long term owner, but don't put down the other makes with blanket statements.
~D.J.~