What problems have I had?
I had a 1994 Trans Am that was at the dealership weekly getting something fixed, leaky windows, tailights and faded paint when it was brand new! Nevermind all the sensors that went bad, the opti, cracked factory plugs and at least 6 blown rear-ends.
For Dodge I had two trucks:
a 1998 Ram which the rear-end blew and the tranny wasn't too far behind, luckily I sold it before anything worse happened (and I never towed with this truck)
a 1999 Durango which was the biggest POS I ever owned. Loved the styling and size, but a brake job every 9-12 months? A new tranny and rear end. All new ball joints in the front end, (Dodge recalled all 2000-2003 Durango's for this, which was hundreds of thousands of them) I blew $10K on it last year alone before tossing it in the gutter. The gas mileage was horrible, most V6 trucks made more power than it.
My point is, if the big three would spend the money researching and developing parts that last past 5 years or 100K miles they would save them selves alot of headaches down the road when there cars are all POS. Ball joints and brakes designed for 4 cyl cars/trucks on 6000lb vehicles? Rear-ends in a 300-350hp V8 sports car the same size as 4cyl S10 pickups? C'mon where's the quality there?
Up here you can buy a brand new Ford Explorer for $50K Cdn, 6 months later the dealers are pawning them off at $35-$40K brand new on the lot, just to get rid of them? You can buy a new Escalade or Hummer H2 for $80K and pick them up used one year old for $50K
Mind you this is Canadian funds.
I love American cars as much as you guys, nice style, V8 power. But from an investment they can't keep up vs Toyota.