We just leased a 2018 Toyota Highlander, which pretty much exudes quality on all counts. But the 0W-20 oil requirement for the sake of CAFE standard I find scary, especially coming from a turbocharged Subaru which beat up oil quickly. It's a lease so it will get the required 0W-20 synthetic sewing machine oil but if it were mine to keep, I might use something different.
Subes are prone to gasket leaks and eating oil..it's just how it is, and for the vast majority not an issue for a long time unlike more mainstream I or V engines. It's been going on for more than a decade before they switched to 0-20 oil, so I wouldn't let that influence you.
"Are you ready? Okay. Let's roll."- Last words of Todd Beamer
Great post. I took an international business transactions course in law school where we examined this very question. Disciplined focus is for sure a cornerstone of it but it goes deeper into their business culture.
American car manufacturers focus on the new. This all new design; this all new engine, this all new feature. Japanese brands do that too for the cosmetic stuff like electronics and appearance, but for the actual powertrain, frame, suspension, and critical components, the Japanese focus is much more on refining a good idea close to perfection.
If you look at the engine, transmission, small high wear parts of a Honda Accord, they’re probably very similar 20 model years apart.
So that’s what we learned. Honda/Toyota et. al. have a corporate focusing on, instead of “what’s our next big thing,” “how do we make our current thing do its thing even better.”
I’ve come to truly admire that business approach, which is why I’ve enjoyed seeing the significant refocus, refinement, and reinvestment by Beretta on the PX4 and 92 series.
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State Government Attorney | Beretta, Glock, CZ & S&W Fan
This is precisely the Porsche corporate motto. Refinement over Innovation. The Porsche 911 has been in continual production since 1963, making it the second longest produced sportscar in existence (Corvette since 1953). Arguably, the 911 platform was not significantly altered until the introduction of the 996-series watercooled cars in 1998. Since then, refinement of the watercooled cars has been the primary focus of Porsche AG. The engine in a 2018 911 is different from its 1998 counterpart in terms of size and turbochargers, but it's the same basic architecture introduced in 1996 with the Boxster.
Like the 911 the Boxster (and by proxy Cayman) have been in constant refinement since their introductions, until the latest update (the current gen 718 cars use a turbo flat 4, instead of an NA flat-6), the major changes were body redesign and transmission changes (e.g., Tiptronic to PDK, 5 to 6 speed, etc). Buying a ~2008 vintage Cayman/Boxster or even a 2015 car is just buying into a platform that was the focus of engineering refinement since 1996.
Between 1996 and 2016 the Boxster/Cayman had two body facelifts and continual chassis and engine refinement. Between 1996 and 2016 the BMW M3 has been through four different platform changes, each generation significantly different from the previous version.
Yes, the US is thoroughly driven by Quarterly Profits.
If you look at Honda, Toyota, BMW, VW they use the same engine blocks or engine family across a large product segment.
BMW has I-6 engines in the 3 Series, 5 Series, X-3, X-5 vehicles. Things have changed a bit with them being turbocharged and all of the engine down-sizing but you get the drift.
Honda and its inline 4s and excellent V6 - just like Toyota.
One thing the Japanese were (and are) doing is refining systems and subsystems to a degree not normally seen in the US.
BMW has done similar but still does not match Honda or Toyota/Lexus in reliability (subsystem, system or vehicle). They can produce one remarkable vehicle that the Japanese seem to struggle to match (the world struggles to match...) but with each passing iteration they get a little closer while BMW walks away from what they were once known for producing.
Interestingly, the largest single investor in Mercedes Benz is now a Chinese firm.
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