You know I'm not interested in debating why I like car X more than someone else likes car B, but I think generalizations should be taken to be exactly such and exceptions should always be minded.
In direct response to the commentary about my knowledge of audio, I can't dispute that my audio knowledge is relatively dismal. With respect to motor vehicles however, I have designed, built, tested, and driven small scale formula cars while I've also been exposed to and driven high performance cars in a track environment.
I won't dispute the fact that the performance advantages of German cars aren't *necessary* any more than a $30k system is necesary over a $1k system. If it's good enough for a user and it makes him(her) happy then I wish them the best. However, it's another fair generalization that a high performance car brings benefits to lower echelons of the operational envelope. Many audio parallels can be drawn here and I will leave illustration to the users unless specifically requested to elaborate.
None of my claims have yet spoken poorly of Japanese cars from an objective standpoint. However it seems a popular opinion of users thus far that as a whole these cars are somewhat bland, of high quality, and appliance-like.
With regard to JD Power and their awarding process, this organization sells the results of their studies to manufacturers. This kind of behavior is heavily discouraged and is not tolerated in this particular community (i.e. dealer plugs in the form of "reviews" and "i'll give you a 30% discount if you refer 3 friends"). I have no intention of directly questioning the integrity of JD Power, but even if their tests are unswayed by market conditions some of the award categories are a little questionable and probably unnecessary. I am reminded of a Chrysler commercial a few years ago (maybe 5 or 6) where one of their vehicles was ranked "Number One in Initial Quality". If I'm going to leave my car on the showroom floor I suppose that's fine. If I'm going to drive it I would prefer to see a better measure of the vehicle's ability along with a pedigree of high performance engineering.
