The best cars... my take (which I'm sure nobody will read) on this matter.
In the short span of my life, I've noticed something. When I was really young - Japanese cars were a joke, a company who makes piston rings is going to make engines? People mocked them. Japan went from a curiosity, to a cute economy - to one that genuinely threatened the US with their superior productivity, quality and low costs. From the late 80s you could see Japan trying to show the world they wanted to be technological leaders. Hell, even my Honda scooter from 1984 had build quality and components that were a decade ahead of other offerings. But then, sometime in the late 1990s, Japan seemed to become complacent, or maybe they became more American - demanded more, produced a bit less - because they were padded by their previous achievements.
South Korea to Japan in the mid 1990s was Japan to the US in the 1980s. Made junk - but they got better, worked hard, went out to prove themselves - and now people don't compare Hyundais to weed-whackers while laughing - they now go up against Toyotas, Hondas and Chevys providing difficult decisions for consumers.
We'll be laughing at Chinese cars soon for the same reason... however it'll be very short lived, because they will rise to the top faster - as it's very easy to improve product, when you've got hundreds of millions of consumers living in your own country. Tack that along with massive infrastructure producing everything else the world already buys... Then Korea can join Japan and US in reminiscing about when they built the worlds best...
I drive a small German car, it's NOT 100% reliable - stupid window regulators, assy little devices. But I enjoy driving my diesel Golf, and drive train wise, has been very reliable. Germans seem to be out to prove things to themselves. Under the hood of a Toyota, you see efficiency, minimal material for maximum return. Not very pretty, not built like a tank - but built exactly to the level required for operation. German cars, seem to be built by engineers trying to impress other engineers with their clever designs. Pretty to look at, fun to figure out, and a royal @$$pain to work on. I think that's why I like them, I'm a glutton for punishment.
But yeah, small car, look at countries that value technology while embracing efficiency, I doubt you could go very wrong with something from Japan or Korea. Maybe even China in 5 or so years...
