Buhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha......... Seldom, if ever. Even worse, in anything auto related, for some reason being able to stick a key in the ignition and getting the car out of the driveway makes everybody an expert.

Of course on the flip side in the case of a poorly trained tech or sales person that old saying might not be far from the truth.

]"The customer is always right" is really code for "You will kiss my *** and like it peon"

 

Fair enough. Unfortunately my grandparents are sort of like that. They lived in Jersey for many years, and one of their sons (my uncle) got a job hawking Hondas after college. After having some issues with a few of their Big Three rides, and with a son selling the import stuff, they gave it a shot and have only had Hondas since (as has my uncle) despite the fact that he's been out of the auto biz for at least 20 years.

One time while discussing this at dinner, my grandfather pulled out the same argument you use above. I asked him how far back does one go, or how long after the "sin" do you give the company another chance. Because, as I pointed out, while he may have been having some issues with his American cars 30 years ago, another 30 years before THAT the Japanese (as a country) were our sworn enemies, fighting us to the death. He thought it was different, a company vs. a country. It probably IS different, in that a country and its people ARE the culture and beliefs of said people.

Corporate culture, personnel, etc. turnover more frequently than the very fabric that makes up a country, I'd wager. I'm not advocating that we treat Japan as our sworn enemy for their actions during WW2. But I am saying that, if we are able to give an entire nation another chance to the point of becoming quite interdependent, perhaps people (like my grandparents, who are EXTREMELY patriotic by the way, and a zillion other customers like them) could give something so small as a domestic auto company another chance.