Hondas do have a great rep. I got stranded withing the first month of owning my RAV4 -- alternator busted while on I90 moving from NY to IL.
No probs since then, and Toyota fixed it for free and begrudgingly paid my $500 tow bill (towed it back to Syracuse, NOT the nearest station). Nothing but smooth sailing since then -- and some alternators just come off the line bad.
After owning a Z24 as my first car, I vowed never to buy USA again. My main problem is that I want a car designed to run 200K miles before major problems rather than one designed to run 90K miles. So, unless it's a Corvette, and H1 Hummer, or a classic old car (boy, those were GREAT), then no more Detroit iron (erm... plastic and fiberglass) for me.