I have to disagree with your statement about how the import vehicle’s reputation is “self created”.
From 1998 until 2006, my job required me to drive my own vehicle & I usually put around 3-4k miles per month. I was very anal about routine maintenance & take pride in how my vehicles look & run. I do not like to drive a POS. Now I have a company car (2006 Dodge Grand Caravan - it needs constant service, because it is falling apart at 41k).
Let me just compare a few vehicles I have owned during that time…
1991 Pontiac Grand Am SE Coupe (2.3L, auto, 4 wheel disks, etc) - this car was a bucket of shit from the time I first bought it. Of course it had a few miles on it, but only around 80K. 2 water pumps, head gasket, motor mounts, 3 sets of front brakes, rear calipers, 4 new rotors twice, interior was falling apart/rattles.
1990 Beretta GTZ (2.3L, 5 spd, loaded) - this car was a bucket of shit from day one. Headgasket, water pump, motor mounts (liquid filled=expensive), clutch @ 60k, two sets of brakes, 2 sets of tires, exhaust twice (dynomax cat back fell apart in 2 years), starter, alternator, PS pump, rack, interior rattles/falling apart, etc. I bought it with 40k on it & traded it with 75k on it. I used it for three months at my current job before parking it because I nearly had to work on it alomst everyday to be able to goto work the next morning. This was one of the least reliable vehicles I have ever owned - next to my '83 Trans Am. At the time, I had an '84 regal with a 305 that I drove when I parked the Beretta. It was dead reliable & rarely ever gave me trouble. It was not stock & I had put alot of work into it over a 2-3 year time frame (originally a 3.8 V6 car that the cam went & the same time the trans went, so I put a 305/th350 from a '78 Omega in it). Paid $5k for the Beretta & got $800 on a trade for the Subaru below.
1998 Subaru 2.5RS Coupe (bought it with 9k on it) - this car had the shit beat out of it. I took it off road, did some high speed rallye-type driving on some back roads, generally drove it as hard as it could be driven. I sold it with almost 80k on it. It had one set of front pads installed & 2 sets of tires. I did a timing belt when I sold it, as it was due at 80k. This car never gave me one bit of trouble. No rattles & no falling apart. The 70k+ that I put on it was in 3 years. Sold it for $4k less than I paid for it.
1992 Honda Civic Si hatch (bought it with 96k on it for $2500 - kinda hammered, but I needed a cheap car at the time) this car needed some work when I got it, but no major mechanical work. It needed an exhaust (I got a used Si exhaust for free), steering column (turn signals did not work because of a shitty aftermarket steering wheel that was locked on the shaft - I found a stock column/wheel to replace it, again free), and a stereo. I drove it to 170k with little to no work. Routine maint - timing belt, brake pads, clutch @ 145k & a set of rear rotors. Also replaced all suspension bushings with polyurethane ones due to the original being worn out. I hammered this car pretty bad, too. I sold it when I was done with it for $3000.
1995 Acura Integra coupe (bought it with 182k on it) - put rear brakes (calipers, rotors, pads), timing belt/water pump, muffler. Sold it a year later with 198k on it for $500 more than I paid for it.
I always bought GM vehicles before the Subaru & nothing else. My truck had a broken crank @ 26k, my Typhoon had a bad trans @ 49k, other Beretta was a POS, too, Cavalier - junk, Chevy 4x4 - broke down alot, Jeep Wagoneer - rusted away to nothing, '83 Trans Am (biggest POS I have owned), 5 different Grand Prix’s (decent, but still issues), 2004 GTO - lots of problems, etc. As you can see, the import cars are much more reliable. Not just a “self created” reputation. I was a “buy american” type guy before buying the Subaru, and I felt the imports were junk. Now that I know better, I feel the opposite. I had a few more imports over the years. I usually get rid of them because I am bored & want something different, not because I’m afraid they won’t last.
I just bought my frist Chrysler product (Jeep Grand Cherokee) & so far I’m not impressed with it either. Transmission controller went out a week after I bought it. I’ll probably go back to an imort for a DD if the Jeep don’t work out.