It comes down to a perception of quality. The big 3 burned alot of bridges in the late 70's and 80's when they made cars that were mostly crap. They've closed alot of the "quality gap" but Toyota and Honda still have great reputations for being reliable cars. I bought a Dodge Dakota new and it took three trips to the dealer to get them to find the poorly machined throttle body that was whistling. Contrast that with the Honda Civic I had that just ran and ran and ran. I still kick myself for letting my exwife keep it. I don't understand the Korean car love, but I will say I've been tempted by them - lots of features at a low price and they're assembled in Alabama.