Wow....a flurry of replies..... I like this...this is interesting....
Tom - "As for saying the engine was better on the 323 is wrong. Plain and simple. Both engines were made in the same plant in Japan. You really think Ford would send thier engineers over there to make sure they are good? I don't buy that crap."
Again, I did not see/read that article, so I will have to take your word on that.
You don't think Ford would send some engineers over to the Mazda plant, that is making the vehicles that they are going to put their name on, to make sure they are being assembled/made up to Ford's standards? You're really serious on that? Man, if you are right, and that's true, Ford has some major problems. I mean, they are going to have to close a bunch of plants and lay off a bunch of people of they can't get their stuff together. Oh, wait, they're already doing that. 0K,...cheap shot, I know..sorry.
I cannot comment on how the auto industry executes "cooperation" between manufacturers, and what transpires in the dealings/business with each other, because I have never been directly involved with one of those type of transactions. But, I can comment on how the lawn care industry does their business.
I was working as an IT contractor at John Deere in WI for 5 years. John Deere made a deal with Honda to build X number of lawn tractors for them. As it worked out, Honda actually saved money by having them built by John Deere here in the states, and JD could make more money per unit buy building Honda's tractors for them, than they would normally make on building and then selling their own tractors. So, it was a win-win for both companies.
I won't go into all of the details, because this post would be 10 times longer than this one will be, and it's going to be long as it is....but talking about quality control.....Honda would not let JD put JD's standard engines in their tractors. Those engines did not meet their quality control standards. They wanted their own engines in them. So, they built X number of engines, and sent them over to the states to have JD install them in the tractors. After the engines were built, they were checked by quality control. Before they were boxed for shipment, they were checked again. After they were taken out of the boxes, they were checked again. Just before they were installed in the tractors, they were checked....and after they were installed in the tractors they were checked and, before they went out they door, they were checked again. I forget the exact number of Honda tractors that JD assembled made for them, but in was in the range of 14,500, and in that number they had 1 engine fail after installation. One out of 14K. That's pretty good.
Now, does Honda do that kind of quality control on the cars/trucks they make? I dunno, but I bet is is almost as stringent. Maybe that is why they have a reputation for producing reliable vehicles because...well, they are reliable.
Mud Flap - "I don't care to read the report since it comes from a source which uses auto manufacturer advertisements as their sponsorship. Money talks."
Mud Flap, you are NOT paying attention. You must be thinking of Edmunds. CR DOES NOT accept advertising money from ANYBODY, let alone car manufacturers. That is the only way they can be unbiased in their reporting. They finance their operations by private fund raising and subscriptions to their magazine and website. They do not accept money from any company/person who's product might make it to their test labs. Anyway...I'm surprised you don't want to read it out of curiosity.
Mud Flap - "Those who call a vehicle crap without having a bad experience with it (or personally knowing of one) are plain ignorant. Yes, IGNORANT."
I agree 100%.
NelsonOKC - "Frankly, I think the Ridgeline and my ST both are crap compared to the Toyotas I've owned.."
NOKC...
