I have AAA Premium so I had the Ford Escape towed to the dealership at no cost to me after I lost power steering.  AAA even offered my a free rental car if I needed it but I declined.  The way things were going with this Ford vehicle, I might really need it at a later date.  When the tow truck driver arrived, I explained the problems I was having with this Escape and asked him what vehicle he recommended.  He said purchase a Japanese car.  He then told me to buy a Toyota RAV4.  I asked why.  He replied that the Japanese workers have pride in the cars they build.  They believe it is their car that they are building.  He then described the US worker has no self pride in their product.  I then asked him how can I determine that I am getting a Japanese car?  He walked me over to the Escape and opened the drive door and pointed to the sticker on the door frame.  He said take note of the first letter or number.  That tells you which country it is made.  The Escape had the number “1” as the first digit which indicates the United States.  He then told me to buy a car the has a “J” which means it is made in Japan.  I asked him why he liked the RAV4.  His reply was a bit remarkable.  He told me that he has never had to tow one.

I get Consumer Reports and as soon as the tow truck driver left with our Escape, I went inside the house and found the Consumer Reports Buying Guide 2014.  I looked up “Used Cars: The Most Reliable Models &* The Ones To Avoid”, page 180 and 181.  Under the “Best of the Best” was listed Toyota RAV 4 and it was listed twice!  On the facing page was The “Worst of the Worst” and not one Japanese car was on that list but mainly US vehicles and a couple from Europe.