@Harold I loved my Audi TT, but it did have some stupid malfunction with the window. I have three Porsches right now, two bought in the last 2–4 years brand new, and each had some sort of thing that needed to be repaired. I bought a SAAB new about 3 years ago, problem with a leak where the coolant is contained, and the driver side window malfunctioned.
All of the Japanese cars I have owned, 2 Nissans, 2 Mazda, 1 Honda, 1 acura, have never had one malfunction. I did have a recall on one of my Nissans, although I never had a problem, and of course I just brought it in and the replaced whatever the problem was.
We have owned a few American cars, 2 Corevettes (1 never gave us any trouble at all like our Japanese cars) 1 Dodge Hemi Truck (the only thing that went wrong was a motor burned out in the seat, but otherwise it was a great truck to my surprise, we owned it for over 5 years).
I think the Korean cars have 10 year warranties, so I am thinking they have to be pretty reliable to offer that. My mom has not had any trouble with her car. She has had it for several years.