The real reason why some cars are good and others are not.
- Good quality parts make good cars. Common sense huh? Yes, but not to all automakers. There are specifications that each manufacturer has in terms of how long a part has to last in the field on average. The higher the spec the less often it will to be replaced given all else is equal. Some companies pay more for parts than others so that they can get higher durability.
- Good quality experienced engineers design good quality parts. Again simple enough. Some companies though rotate their employees from job to job so often that the individual does not have time to become an expert. The result is that you see first timer mistakes that slip past management.
- Good quality assembly results in a better product. Duh! Well many union facilities have rules that prevent workers from being terminated for doing a poor job. The workers in fact see themselves as working for the union not the company.
- Finished product needs to be inspected. Many companies do not do this to 100% of cars. The good ones though check the functionality of each feature and drive the cars on a track to test for squeaks and rattles prior to shipment. If any "bugs" are found attempts are made to quarantine any other cars that might have the same problems.
My recomendation to you is to
- Don't buy first year models. The bugs typically don't get worked out until year number two. Even the Japanese have first year bugs so beware.
- Avoid cars built on Mondays and Saturdays.The workers don't want to be there on those days. Thus they tend to do a worse job. VIN number coding will tell you what day your car was built.
- Avoid speciality models as the parts will be expensive and the dealer won't have much experience fixing that model.
- Don't buy a low volume product built at a high volume plant. The workers typically have the same cycle time in which to do more work which means a greater chance of error.
- Avoid low volume vehicles that attempt to compete in price with high volume vehicles. The high volume manufacturer achieves good costs via efficiency of scale. The low volume producer can only compete by cutting cost on parts and reducing profit. Do you really want a lower spec car? Think of Accord (450K units/year) versus Galant (70K units/ year). How do you think Mitsubishi is able to compete on price? By cutting corners.
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