I see a lot of American cars from the 80s still on the road, I don't see Japanese cars from the 80s though. This is a testament that American makers could build good cars. For some reason, American cars drop in quality after the mid 90s. Also, many Toyota and Honda vehicles built in the U.S. are extremely reliable. That tells me Americans can make great cars. It is the managment that care nothing about quality and have no loyalty that kill American cars.
While most of use will think new vehicles look nice because we drive cars 3-5 generations back, most cars from American makers start to fall aparts after a year or two. While the Beg Three focus on certain vehicles to win any rating, Japanese makers, particularly Toyota and Honda, keep quality up for all of their models. This is why most people can close their eye and pick any vehicle from Toyota and Honda with confident they will last. The same can't be said for Beg Three. I would not touch anything from GM and Chrysler built in the last 2007-2012 when most workers worry about their jobs instead of their performance.