The Quality of Several Import Vehicles Has Slipped
Japanese cars--and many European makes--had a reputation during most of the 1980s for unparalleled quality. But recently the quality ratings on some of those imported and domestically built foreign cars have been taking some hard knocks.
The Center for Auto Safety recently put together a list of the most significant lemons of the 1980s, with some surprising results. Of course, there were the Ford, Chrysler and General Motors cars that you would expect--cars such as the fire-prone Pontiac Fiero and the GM X-cars of early 1980s vintage.
But on the list, along with the worst cars produced by Detroit, were some of the Japanese cars with the best reputation, including the Toyota Camry and the Honda CRX. The center, a nonprofit group supported by Ralph Nader, said this about the Camry: “Toyota touted the car as the most trouble-free, but owners found otherwise. Defects in the transmission, brakes, timing belt and cruise control put this car to shame.”
The Honda CRX “won” in the “most fragile” category because its plastic bumpers “were so flimsy that owners forked over $1,000 in repairs after toddler-speed 5-miles-per-hour impact.”
Other imported cars on the lemon list were the Suzuki Samurai, Peugeot 505, Sterling 815 (a Honda derivative from England), Renault Alliance, the Maserati Bi-Turbo and the Yugo. Import lemons took eight of the 21 positions on the list, a showing that is disproportionately large since import sales amount to less than a third of U.S. auto sales. In addition, the respected Consumer Reports annual auto issue for April shows that both Honda and Toyota are beginning to slip in their quality rankings.
What does this mean? Simply that buying a Japanese or other foreign car is no longer a guarantee of quality, if it ever was. American producers are beginning to catch up in quality and the Japanese and Europeans are beginning to slip. It was inevitable that this would happen, because the Japanese and European reputation for quality had risen to an unsustainable level.
“It is not a valid assumption anymore that a Japanese car is better than an American car,” said Clarence Ditlow, director of the Center for Auto Safety. “If the best auto maker in Japan can produce a car as bad as the Camry, then the marketplace is not what it used to be.” At some point, U.S. producers may catch up with their foreign rivals, even though the marketplace will not realize it immediately. At that moment, American cars will be bargains.
In the meantime, it pays to exercise caution, because there are still plenty of American-made lemons being sold. The Center for Auto Safety lists the GM-A cars, Chevrolet S-10 light truck, Chevrolet Camaro, Cadillac DeVille, Cadillac Allante, Chrysler Imperial and Ford Aerostar minivan as among the American lemons of the 1980s.
Q: I have a 1980 Volkswagen Vanagon with an air-cooled 2,000-cc engine. I had a major engine failure last year and suspected that the motor was running hot. So I installed a temperature gauge on the engine and found that the head is running at a reasonable 120 degrees. But the oil is a ferocious 275 degrees. My question is: Would a synthetic oil help? The ads claim that synthetic oil does not break down at high temperature.--M.H.H.
A: The temperature is not abnormally high, especially considering that your engine is air-cooled. Oil sump temperatures on most engines run 235 degrees to 260 degrees. The current top of the line oil, SG, is capable of running at 350 degrees for 64 hours.
The synthetic oils are also good, but keep in mind that it is the additives that tend to break down in high heat, and the synthetics use many of the same additives. If you are worried about the viscosity of the oil at the higher temperature, you can also run a heavier oil, such as an SAE 40 or SAE 50.
And finally, if you are still worried about the problem, you might want to consider an after market oil cooler.
Q: We recently bought a motor home and would like to buy a small used car to tow. We are finding that you can’t tow just any car. Is it better to use a tow bar, a two-wheel dolly or a four-wheel trailer?--J.N.
A: The manufacturers of many front-wheel-drive cars warn against towing the cars with the front wheels on the ground for more than a few dozen miles. The problem is that without the engine running, a transmission may not receive proper lubrication and can overheat.
The solution is to use a two-wheel dolly rather than a tow bar. The problem is that the dolly does use more space when parked and involves more work to hook up. If you want to avoid the hassle and stick with a tow bar, the only way you can safely buy a car that can be towed on the ground is to check the owner’s manual before you buy it.
