If you're a glass half-full kind of enthusiast, the headline is that Ford Motor Company pulled the domestics up above the imports in this year's J.D. Power and Associate Initial Quality Survey (IQS).

If you're a glass half-empty kind of enthusiast, or if you're one of the posters who would never consider a foreign model over a Ford, Chevrolet or Dodge, the headline is that Toyota dragged foreign makes below domestic brand scores. All domestic brands posted an average of 108 problems per 100 cars and trucks. All Asian and European Imports averaged 109 per 100 vehicles. For purposes of the survey and this post, "domestics" are Ford, General Motors and Chrysler, no matter where their models are built. "Imports" are all the others, even Toyotas built in Kentucky and Mercedes built in Alabama. And before you domestic devotees pop the tops off your champagnes of bottled beer, you should know that the top four brands in the IQS survey, which entailed 82,095 vehicles sold between November 2009 and February 2010, are Porsche, Acura, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus. Yes, Lexus. Toyota division fell to 22nd, its lowest in the 24 years of the survey. Its previous low was 13th in 1998, and that year it was still above industry average. Cars, crossovers and SUVs from its luxury division, built in many of the same factories, did very well. New Toyota owners reported 117 problems per 100 vehicles...


Read more at Motor Trend: Toyota Imports