[onewhippedpuppy]

It's a very interesting topic. I've read that the biggest fallacy in these surveys is that they report the occurances, not the severity of complaints. So a loose panel in your Honda ranks the same as a broken transmission in your Chevy. Also, it doesn't take into account consumer expectations. Do you have the same standards for a $15k Chevy Aveo as you do a $60k BMW 5-series? Of course not. The more expensive the car, the more likely you are to expect perfection and nitpick small issues. Where as the Aveo owner might just ignore the small rattle in his dash.

My favorite way to find out about cars is simple consumer reviews. Not just a survey, but a written review with numerical rankings. You can read through them, key on the low ones, and see exactly why the consumer rated it as they did. It's also a great way to spot failure trends. Edmunds is great for this, there's normally a large number of consumer reviews for most cars.