On Nov 18, 2:15 pm, High Tech Misfit <m...@privacy.net> wrote:

> I agree with you as far as long-term reliability is concerned. If the media
> is talking about initial quality, the argument holds no water; any car can
> do well at that. The last 2 incarnations of Malibu, from what I read, had
> below average reliability, even despite the last version getting an initial
> quality award from JD Power! And the fact that Fusion/Milan is made in
> Mexico is cause for concern there.

Well, not necessarily. My '96 VW Jetta was built in Mexico and was an
excellent car quality-wise. No issues at all, other than problems with
the door bump strips, easily rectified with double-sided tape. And
that was when the car had 90k miles on it. The German-made GTI's had
the same issue.

I like the design of the Fusion, too bad you can't get the V6 with a
manual trans. It's a lot less bland than the previous-generation
Accord. And less ugly than the new generation.

But the point about buyer wariness is right on - after decades of
building shit for vehicles, Detroit can't just win everyone back
immediately. They need to establish a positive track record. I have to
say, from a styling perspective, the new Detroit cars are much better.
The Fusion, Malibu, Charger, CTS - they are all very cool-looking
cars. OTOH, they still make clunkers like the Sebring, Avenger and
Focus.

Dan D
'07 Ody EX
Central NJ USA