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There are examples of many cars that are exceptions to the norm. Some people take better care of their cars, live in more hospitable climates, or are able to repair their car constantly despite the problems and can therefore maintain a feeling of reliability. Reliability is a very subjective thing after all, one person may have an Fiat that breaks down once a year, and that might be what that person considers reliable. There are those who put hundreds of thousands of miles on Yugo's, but I dont think anyone here would use that as an argument for overall reliability of Yugos. The simple truth is that IF a certain car has a reputation or history of being more reliable than another, it will demand a higher resale value, get higher ratings, etc. On average, how many times do you hear about someone beating the crap out of a Honda and it still runs vs. the number of times you hear the same about a VW? VW's are notorious for electrical problems, among other things. VW doesn't advertise it, but one of their biggest money makers is their parts division, making more profit than any other car maker... not exactly something you want to brag about out in the open though. If confronted, VW will simply tell you that certain parts are MADE to break down on purpose for routine upkeep of related systems... sacrificial parts. POS is more like it to me. But Im sure such info will make VW fans get all bent out of shape, start talking about how their ride is the most reliable car ever, post up pictures of their example, refute and deny. If chevy's were the most reliable cars on the road, they would have the highest resale values, demand higher MSRP's, have a reputation in popular culture to match, and not need a bail-out from the government due to crappy sales.
Now, while I am willing to believe that there are exceptions to the rule, and that the new Camaro may be one of the best cars Chevy has ever built, time will only tell if it is true. On average, it takes 10 years for an auto make to turn around its quality and then build a reputation on it. Likewise, like Mercedes in the 90's, it takes about 10 years for a brand's image to catch up if its quality takes a dive. One of the best built makes on the road right now is Hyundai... many didnt see that one coming, but Honda, Toyota, Ford, etc... those execs know it. A few years ago even, you couldn't convince me of the turn around that they were going to pull off. It took the help of outside companies like MSX to revamp their line and quality control (MSX also does Fiat, Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Ford, which is better quality than Toyota now, but thats not saying much since Toyota slipped as well). The 94 Camaro I drove was a flaming POS though. It started out well enough, but its body integrity gave out within a year and it twisted the body like mad with every rev. I got rid of it as fast as I could and it was only a year old. Not abused. Not a lemon. Not breaking down. I saw the writing on the wall... it would fall apart on me.
There is a risk in owning a Camaro that your warranty may simply be smoke in a few years. Nuf said. Im willing to give the company a shot though. Im in a position where I really wont worry too much since whatever I get will likely be a one, maybe two-owner car that puts on miles and ends up in a dump fast.
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