On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 05:37:14 -0800 (PST), Dano58
<dan.dibiase@gmail.com> wrote:

>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

Styling seems to be a very much North America vs the rest of the
world. Cars 'styled' for the North American market are generally
considered hideous elsewhere.