What exactly is utter nonsense? You seem as above agreed in everything I have posted… 
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We were visited in France by an old colleague newly divorced accompanied by his new ( somewhat younger ) lady friend and his new all singing all dancing Porsche which had wings on the back and no ground clearance .He took me for a drive to demonstrate it’s numerous benefits but it selected 2 gears at the same time and ground to a shuddering halt half way up Mt Ventoux . It departed on a trailer back to the UK where a computer malfunction was diagnosed and eventually repaired gratis .
He spent the rest of his holiday driving around in a much more sensible Audi.
He eventually got rid of the Porsche and now drives an electric Jaguar but still has the same girlfriend .
I drive a Skoda and just put petrol in it now and again
Regards
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…and good on you! 
Peter
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The Japanese car manufactures have long used a technique called Six Sigma. This is a very clever method of effectively reducing errors and failures. They apply this to all their production lines and give everybody the ability to stop the production line if a quality issue occurs. Once the line has stopped it is not started again until the problem is solved with a hundred year fix. Both management and shop floor staff take an active part in this process.
Most of the Far East manufacturers are operating very close to Six Sigma, which means they are achieving less then 3.4 failure/errors per million opportunities. By contrast the British and Germans manufacturers are struggling to achieving even 4 Sigma (6,200 errors per 1,000,000 PMO), and most are at around 3 Sigma (67,000 errors per 1,000,000 PMO). This is why Japanese cars tend to be so reliable.
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Six Sigma is actually a US invention (with Japanese predecessors) and got big at General Electric. I believe you might be referring to the Toyota Production System and its “Jidoka” and “Andon” principles.
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Yes, started by Mr W Edwards Deming at the end of the Second World War. I think he gave birth to most of the modern ‘quality’ production systems.
I was, before I retired, a six sigma black belt and spent over 30 years in manufacturing. I was reminded by my CEO that I’d managed to save the company a little over £25m in ‘leaning’ out the business.
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I hope they gave you a considerable part of that 
All introduced to Japan in the 1950s by Dr Deming …an American who understood quality control and was embraced by the Japanese…after being ignored by the USA
Edit
Bugga you beat me to it
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It seems from the above posts that Japanese cars are the most reliable, by coincidence I have a Nissan Note (the original style). Its not without history of some repairs, however its lovely to drive and very practical for space. Surprisingly its quite a fast car, faster in reality then the specs imply, and when I overtake Range Rovers, BMW, Audi’s and Mercedes I can imagine the drivers of these cars doing a double take that a poxy Nissan Note has just overtaken them on the third lane, stuff of dreams…!
Yes, thank you. I had a great time travelling the world. And it made my journey to a big Naim system much easier financially.
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Many cars struggle up Mt. Ventoux! 
(for interest…in your friend’s case, was it south side road up or north side up?)
I am not a petrol head and a part of the enjoyment in the journey is listening to music along the way. (And I don’t blast the system until I can’t hear what’s going on in my surroundings.) Nothing worst than not reaching the destination because of the hassle of break down or accident. I hope these un-reliability we are referring to are minor inconveniences, not things that could result in fire / sudden lost of power / accident. That is just non-negotiable, unacceptable.
@Canaryfan, thank you for sharing. I wonder if technological differences have narrowed over the last 20 years. Anyhow, most things including Naim are built for a price.
Issues are not limited to German car makers. I do find it hard to forget about dieselgate with VW - toxic NOx emission. Cursed Takata airbags affected many car makers across the globe and tens of millions of cars. Thousands of engine fires amongst US made Korean cars that US auto safety regulator will begin an investigation.
Safe ride.
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We’ve had a Merc for 4 years now. It was bought new and we’ve never had any issues whatsoever. Before that 2 BMWs which were also faultless. Think you can be unlucky with anything, doesn’t matter if it’s Chinese Japanese or whatever. I never owned a Japanese car but I know someone with a new Mazda that has had no end of problems.
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All I remember about Emsworth that there was a huge military barrack there when I passed thru? Is it still there?
The recalls for faulty brakes on some 9 million vehicles 2009-2011 cost Toyota some 2 billion usd (including stopped production, lost sales etc), not to mention the deaths.
As recently as 2019, Toyota recalled millions more vehicles for faulty brakes. Even the best at the reliability game get it wrong sometimes.
It’s disappointing but it happens so I would be inclined to give Naim a pass on this occasion, as long as it is addressed satisfactorily.
Oh well, apart from a screen and a CD drive in a 5 year old UnitiLite which has just been repaired I’ve never had an issues with Naim equipment right back to 1991. Perhaps I’ve been lucky or need to wait and see what happens the the new streamer which is due next week.
I’m glad I stuck with the 252!
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Sorry @Gandalf
Your Nissan Note may zoom past my BMW but if you want a really fast vehicle, possibly the fastest of them all, you will need to look elsewhere.
Yes, if you wish to travel 20mph faster than anyone else at all times, 30mph in thick fog, heavy rain or several inches of snow, then you need…
A clapped out, 1.5 litre diesel, red, Royal Mail Vauxhall Corsa van.
Another trick you can apparently do in this wonder of the motoring world is to overtake on blind bends with no risk to yourself whatsoever.
I would get one myself if it wasn’t for the fact that I need the rear seats my vehicle has but are sadly absent in the Royal Mail Corsa. Surely a major design oversight?
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We have rear seats in our ex Royal Mail Combo (Corsa Van). Fast it ain’t - limited to 70mph. My bike will do more than that in 1st gear 
Hi @davidng,
I suspect you are right in that technological differences have narrowed between the European & Asian cars over the years. The huge price difference between the prestige German makes & the Japanese competitors of 20/30 years ago has narrowed substantially this century. I suspect this reflects the increased sophistication of the latter’s products compared with the German brands.
Your point about quality control issues affecting all brands over time is well made.
Another factor affecting reliability is, I believe, who actually drives the cars. From 1978 to 1989 I had a company car & the company concerned ran a fleet of 300 vehicles, mainly Fords, for most of that period.
My car was always purchased by a member of staff when the time came for a change whereas the majority were simple taken back by the fleet dealer. I was always told “aren’t you lucky, your car never breaks down & always look like new after it’s allotted 40,000miles”. The fact I didn’t thrash it to within an inch of its life all the time, washed it weekly & got any strange noises investigated immediately, rather than saying “oh well, its not my car” & simply turning the radio up, didn’t seem to occur to the potential buyer!
In the UK it is common for Japanese vehicles, Nissan, Toyota, Honda etc. to appeal to the more mature buyer who is probably paying with their own money & values a longer warranty more than a younger buyer values style & performance over long warranty’s & whose company are paying for the car. The Japanese cars are therefore driven with a bit more care, cover lower mileages & are service according to the manufacturers specifications. Hence the apparent improved reliability over European models.
This may be over simplifying the situation but, never the less, I do believe there is still a fair bit of truth in it.
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You’ve been short changed.
You should have purchased one from round here, Cornwall!
In any case 70 is pretty fast in conditions I consider safe at no more than 40!