When did we ge so reliability obsessed?

Some years ago I remember reading a report put out by the US equivalent of our AA (whatever it is called) that statistically listed the warranty claims for new vehicles by make.

It would be interesting to find that site again.

Hmm, based on the Euro cars in the greater family and friends, there is a reason why Toyota is the no1 selling car in the world.- eg
Range rover - new computer in a 5yo vehicle (new NZ) - havn't seen the bill fo rthat one yet.
Previous rangerover - needed new rockers around 100000km.
Citroen- had 2 of them - very different cars, Loved them but the Toyota that replaced it had no repair bills, unliek the $6k my BX cost over 5 years or so.
New VW Polo owned by friends - lemon with lemon icing. Bought new a couple of years ago which replaced a $1000 Starlet that finally started getting worn out, VW sold within a year after spending months in the workshop.
Workmates BMW with it's ABS fault, wiring faults, etc.

In comparison, the Hilux keeps rocking on at 200,000km, with a little rust from being parked outside all the time. Since 1994-ish, it has had a radiator repair, and the indicator switch and ball joints replaced (wore out).
, the Nissan Avenir wagon I used to have was free from my old job, and cost $900 for repairs such as new shocks when I got it. Had over 330,000km when it was traded in - mostly as a commercial reps vehicle with no love whatsoever. Still running well but it leaked oil (must be British.), and it is still going. Never got less than 50MPG of deisel either.
The 1988 Toyota Corolla GTi as 290,000km, burns no oil, and repairs since 1995have been a clutch, some rust in the window frame, and a motor mount. Not worth selling, it burns no oil and runs perfectly.
1998 2.2l Camry wagon - huge space, handles like a trolly, but has never had any repairs, and parts are common, it is easy to fix, good access to the motor and
That is the reason people buy Toyota.
OTOH, The mazda diesels (capella supercharged dog being the worst we had - it was a work car) make any euro or even a Lada look like champions

Me too geoff I have had a fair old smattering of different vehicles from all around the globe over the years including Mercedes Benz & BMW and lots of British makes and some French as well and the make I have had most of is Toyota .
I've had brilliant runs and comparatively few stoppages of note, mostly routine run of the mill regular maintenance items which you'd expect, most expensive fix was a leaking airbag on a MS137 1990 Crown I had years ago.
The next dearest replacements believe it or not on ALL my other Toyota's were in fact tyres & oil changes.
But in saying that I have found .even in my motor trade days that Toyota's tend to be more tolerant of "miss treatment" particularly in the farm 4WD vehicle and off roading scenario where some others tend to require lots more attention.Personal experience in ownership and in the motor trade fixing all makes has proven that beyond all doub't
I know where my faith in car makes lies and it's with the worlds #1 car maker/seller and for good reason TOYOTA.
I am also speaking from vast experience which comes in from both sides of the spectrum.jazz. i.e. 1, owning /driving them & 2, repairing them.
One Toyota .a Cressida I once owned years ago I found out recently is still going strong at nearly 800,000km .that car I sold with over 400,000km traveled, 150,000km by me with not a scrap of trouble, amazing also was the fact that I never had to add oil between changes on that old girl.
She just went and went and went, never stuck me up anywhere ever.
I don't reckon I consider myself reliability obsessed it just happened and that's just good fortune and trust in Toyota I guess.
Obsession and fact don't neccessarily coincide at all.
Reliability fact tends to spread knowledge to those that look for it and lots of folks tend towards those makes with that very reputation.Worlds Number one seller says it all really.
Each to their own though but I know where my allegence lies.

Okay only read the 1st post.

Ihave a car that I can turn the key & it starts everytime (so far) but am thinking that when things even out I am going to find a old bomb of a EB civic & remove all the rust (stop laughing guys) & weld in some plates & refresh the motor for a fun runner cos I love those old EB civics & want to have one in my shed for my kid to learn to drive in.

Personally we now live in a time where people either can't work on the car cos it's too tight to swing a ratchit (sp) or it's a time thing,for me the cars are just too far past my level of knowledge & my family don't know or understand what is under the hood these days. Hence love the older cars.

We are not reliability obsessed, we are cost obsessed, and Jappas do have the better track record, get over it and stop forcing your point to everyone. You have an opinion, in stark contrast to a lot of others to the contrary.

interesting reading. evreyone has there strong and well plain stupid points

over the past even 20years motor vehicles have come a long long way, and all the old sayings are slowly dieing away

the whole range of vehicles from every country has picked up there bar and places it higher every year.i am looking forward to where we are heading in the future thants for sure

we should all be glad hitler did not have his way or we would all be in VW beetles. ???

The point is lost on you. People buy these grossly overpriced vehicles thinking they are going to save money when a bit of very simple math will tell them quite the opposite is true.

You have it in a nutshell, the vast majority of modern vehicles are reliable. Yet we still have people being scared by "The Dog and Lemon", their uninformed mates and others into only considering reliability at the cost of everything else.