I usually quash that arguement whenever it comes up with the very same thing. An American car may nag you to death. $100 here, $200 there, the same $100 again here... but if get it fixed, or can ignore it, your car will be there as long as you need it to.

Imports on the other hand, seem to be either trouble free, or prone to catastrophic failure, no in between. Plus, and this might be because they didn't have as far to fall, most 10+ year domestics hold up better, interior and exterior then imports.

With a coat of armor-all my 95' was just as tight, and squeaky as the day it was born, all my friends with 10 year old Camry's were going down the highway in pieces...

 

I consider myself an avid car enthusiast, and logical in my thought process. I have always had my high school 83 Z28 in the garage waiting for the day I have time and money to fix it up. My family has been loyal to a fantastic local dealer for well over 15 years, selling GM products. My wife and I both had new 97 Grand Am GTs - fun cars plague by little items - multiple window motors in both, bushing problems in both, a blown transmission in mine at 6,000 miles - all covered under warranty (until my wife's transmission quit at 85,000 miles). My 2001 Camaro SS went through 60,000 miles of daily service with the nagging of two window motor replacements, three hatch release motors, and two catalytic converters. My 2005 Cadillac CTS was my favorite car ever....for 3 years. Then, it developed a rattle under the hood, so I took it to the dealer. It was discovered that my car, which had an oil change one month earlier, had lost 3 1/2 quarts of oil, without any warning lights, indications, or visible leaks from my $40,000 car. Over the next 6 weeks of fighting with my dealer, Cadillac Corporate, and BBB, the final GM decision was that there was nothing wrong with the car (despite 75% of the oil disappearing in a month without a visible leak), there was nothing wrong with the electrical system (despite no Check Engine or Low Oil warning indicators), and the problem was "operator error" for not knowing my oil had vanished in a month. This cost me over $6000 in engine rebuilt and rental fees on a car with 17,000 warranty miles left. GM's comprimise through BBB was 1 year free oil changes...

Today, my 18 month old Acura TL has it's own little nuisances. The interior materials are far superior than my CTS, but my Cadillac was much more sporty and fun to drive. However, my heart, more than my head will prevent another new GM product in my garage. Logic tells me that GM is making better cars today than ever before, but after being burned badly, logic ranks second.

 

Wow, just wow. If I were you, I'd be making a lot of noise about that experience.

GM may be making better cars nowadays, but even in the rare case something goes wrong, it would seem like the right thing to do is honor their "best in class" warranty instead of screwing over a long time loyal customer.