Man...I hate getting in on these kind of topics, but, slamming the US automakers is just a bunch of IMHO. I'm so sick of hearing about it....the day a car company sells a vehicle and doesn't need a service department is the day I'll buy into all the propaganda.
As IF Honda Nissan Toyota aren't in trouble...the whole industry is in trouble because...oh yeah...the whole world's economy is in trouble. It has so very little to do with product and so very much to do with credit and a crippled economy that has been built on buying more and more and more...and economy that devalues the very things it wants you to buy, as soon as you've bought them.
Sorry...haven't even read most of this post...but the tidbits I see just got me to the point where I couldn't resist.