[Bungleau]

Most important thing, IMHO, if you go for a new car is to get it from a good dealer. I had a 1989 Dodge Shadow that I refer to as my Christmas car -- over its life, the dealer replaced (sing with me now...)

Three power modules
Two alternators
And a battery under the hood

I kid you not. One time, I picked it up, drove half a mile, and turned right back around.

Then I moved and started the song over with a new dealer. The service guy looked at all my invoices and told me he'd have to go through the same series of events. But he also promised he'd only stop at each one once. He also pointed me to the right place in Chrysler to get them to pay, since the car was now just out of warranty.

Fourth trip they replaced the wiring harness. Problem disappeared.

Prior to that second dealer, I never would have bought a Dodge again. Thanks to him, I have since bought two, and I've got my "good" dealer out here.

And for reference, the JD Power car ranking system, whereby they rate a model with a number... the best numbers out there are around 50. The worst are around 200. What's the number mean? Number of problems per 100 vehicles. So with the best cars out there, you've got a 50/50 chance of having a problem of some kind. It's the dealer who handles it that can make the big difference.