To the original poster - That's an amazing shot. Thanks for pulling it apart so we can have a look!
The import vs. domestic debate will never end. People just look for different things in cars, and everyone knows someone that's had one or the other that's fallen apart. Personally I had a 92 Grand Am (3.3L Buick motor) that ran like a champ up till I got rid of it at 165K. Didn't use a drop of oil, didn't leak, great power, a ton of fun. I liked it so much I got another Grand Am.. a 98 3100 SFI GT sedan. The car was so poorly built - both under the hood and inside - that I got rid of it after only owning it 5,000 miles. The whole experience soured me on GM so badly that I swore I'd never go back (the way they handled the constant repairs was the worst part). So now I just kind of chuckle when I'm crusing around in my Civic getting amazing gas mileage with nothing going wrong (yet anyway, I'm only at 40K miles), while my mom puts up with the electrical gremlins in her 02 TrailBlazer and my brother deals with the 97 Blazer 4.3 that eats belts every 8k miles, which GM has declared 'normal'. No wonder Toyota sells more cars now.
The import vs. domestic debate will never end. People just look for different things in cars, and everyone knows someone that's had one or the other that's fallen apart. Personally I had a 92 Grand Am (3.3L Buick motor) that ran like a champ up till I got rid of it at 165K. Didn't use a drop of oil, didn't leak, great power, a ton of fun. I liked it so much I got another Grand Am.. a 98 3100 SFI GT sedan. The car was so poorly built - both under the hood and inside - that I got rid of it after only owning it 5,000 miles. The whole experience soured me on GM so badly that I swore I'd never go back (the way they handled the constant repairs was the worst part). So now I just kind of chuckle when I'm crusing around in my Civic getting amazing gas mileage with nothing going wrong (yet anyway, I'm only at 40K miles), while my mom puts up with the electrical gremlins in her 02 TrailBlazer and my brother deals with the 97 Blazer 4.3 that eats belts every 8k miles, which GM has declared 'normal'. No wonder Toyota sells more cars now.