This is usually how this works (at least my take on it):
If you maintain a car regularly and don't abuse it (unless there is a horrible design flaw) it will last as long as you need it to.
I find it funny that people say "imports are so much more reliable, i haven't had to spend a penny on mine". 10 years later the car is ready for a junk yard.
You can also go without maintaining a domestic car, the difference is when things start going wrong and failing the car will become unreliable whether it's an import or domestic, but the difference: domestics can be repaired for alot cheaper and there are more mechanics that know how to work on domestics (a higher number of people work on domestics) than imports, especially older ones, and as car parts and technology become obsolete it becomes even harder to find a knowledgable mechanic.
Age and mileage will deteriorate anything whether it's German, swedish, american, Korean or japanese, etc. A car is made of parts that fail no matter who builds it, it's just a matter of how you maintain it and not let things get out of hand because of poor maintainance and not wanting to replace common wear items.
I personally like american cars and that's my opinion, but japanese cars aren't all that bad, although i'd be reluctant to buy one or buy a japanese car badged as american just for the fact that parts are more expensive and it's harder to find them, especially when they become "obsolete" and no one has them anymore. Just my $.02
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'84 Mustang 5.0 LX
My car