Originally Posted by Jordo!

Until recent years, Toyota was pretty much the undisputed king of reliable cars (they dropped the ball a bit as they became the largest automaker), with Hondas generally ranked a little better.

In terms of fit and finish, Honda generally had and has Toyota beat (of course, they also tend to be a good bit more expensive...), but Toyotas are stil generally good, with the exception of some squeaks and rattles.

Nissan, Mazda, and Mitsu all typically trailed, but tended to fair somewhat better than US cars; on that note, Hyundai has come a looooong way in terms of overall reliability and polish.

US cars tend to be more reliable of late, but often still suffer from poor interior design and materials.