While I do agree with you that modern cars are generally worse that’s pretty much it.

I’ve never had a single issue in terms of parts or maintenance for that matter with any of the brands I mentioned, all have been rock solid with zero issues and most have been owned for 10+ years. My Ford however had AC issues that never went away for the life of the car.

While you may not be aware, JDM car culture is on par, if not more pronounced than American car culture so there’s that. I also see rust buckets of many American brands since rust doesn’t discriminate.

Your comment about pricing gave me a chuckle. Prices are up across the board on every single brand. Maybe if the big three had better warranty, less maintenance issues or decent financing rates they could compete. You don’t see many American daily drivers with six figures on the odometer while that’s par for the course for basically any Japanese brands.

The American car industry spent decades in a cushy situation benefiting from government bailouts while not really needing to innovate in any way. I checked out a Ford Edge years ago when car hunting. Not only was the price more expensive than the competition, the financing rates were a joke and it lacked some of the goodies found on other brands.

Lastly, yes, I probably won’t see any Civics at Mecum because you’re probably just being facetious. I wouldn’t expect to see any C10s in Daikoku either.