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Do U.S. Cars Get a Bad Rap?

We received an email recently from Josh Ferguson of Portland, OR, who wrote:

I'm tired of hearing people rip American cars, mainly GM, when they don't deserve it.

I grew up in a family that was big on foreign car ownership, mostly Toyotas and Volvos. My parents started buying GM in 1998 and we found that they have been more reliable than the Japanese counterparts for less money. I've owned 31 cars in my 14 years of driving. I do not work for GM.

I'm a little confused. Are my numbers wrong, or is GM the best make by you web page?

Turns out Josh had meticulously gone through our Web site counting all of the complaints that relate to safety or quality. Here's what he came up with:

We're impressed with Josh's work and we think he may be onto something. However, there is one major flaw -- namely, we publish only a tiny percentage of the complaints we receive, generally speaking. However, we keep an eye out for the unusual, creating an occasional man-bites-dog entry.

In other words, we get so many complaints about Fords and Chryslers that we just look for ones that are typical. However, if we get a beef about a BMW, Mercedes or other currently revered brand, it gets more attention and quickly finds its way onto the Web site.

We have noticed that we receive relatively few GM complaints. That, plus GM's once again winning the Top Consumer Loyalty rating from R.L. Polk & Co. makes us think Joe may be onto something.

What do you think? Drop into the Consumer Forum and share your experience.

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