That's not fair. I've never been a fan of Ford (prefer the General), but you can't pin Volvo's and Mazda's decline on Ford. The old model of producing safe, reliable, but stodgy cars isn't viable any more. £1.30/litre fuel and BIK tax blew that model out of the water.

Well both of those things are the fault of the Government, so blame them for poor car reliability. They've changed the market and carmakers have to act. Just as we reached the pinnacle of reliability, the goalposts move and the industry has to change and develop new things.

People want everything from their cars. Cheap to run, super reliable etc. It wasnt that long ago Britain echoed to the sound of spluttering Austin's on a Monday morning, in an age where if a car worked half the time we viewed it as good going!

I dont see why you're a 'fan' of GM though. I dont mind them but i just find them rather uninteresting.

Pretty much every problem i've had with my mazda 6 is something that ford had input in.

The 1st gen mazda 6 (02-07) had a lot of electrical faults - never seen before in a mazda (or even a Jap car for that matter). The 2nd gen mazda 6 (less ford input) has proved to be more reliable in terms of electrics.

The S40 when it came out - so many electrical issues (not normal for a volvo). The 2.0D even had probs with the throttle body which is apparantly a well known ford problem.

I do like the XF, even the one with the Subaru head lights. That has to be the best looking saloon Jaguar ever. I can't remember what it replaced. I don't think the previous one sold anywhere near as well.

Edited by 475TBJ on 31/01/2012 at 22:25