I agree with valiant67, having worked at a dealership that carried multiple brands (Dodge, MG, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz) the levels of fit and finish were interesting. Mercedes was the best, the Dodge Colts were next, Jaguars were hit and miss, Dodge and MG about the same. When you were paying as much as a Jaguar cost in the late 70s and the sunroof had wind noise when closed, or one of the doors didn't line up it was a concern. The Japanese showed us that quality can be had at reasonable prices, so why can't we build quality here? Automated assembly lines help, once all the small bugs are worked out they will hopefully be self correcting. I spent as much as 8 hours going over and adjusting one Jaguar XJ6 and spent about 4 hours fixing a strange glitch on a Mercedes-Benz 300SD (turn on the automatic climate control and the wipers would come on) which turned out to be an improperly tightened ground point. The wiring diagrams we had weren't up to date (one year older) and didn't show the combined ground wiring.
No one is perfect, but a pattern of sloppy assembly on visible components causes me to question workmanship I can't see.
