Everybody wants quality, but few people want to pay for it. Few car companies want to pay for it, either, because quality is the result of using superior materials and applying greater attention to detail during the manufacturing process. Quality requires craftsmanship, and craftsmanship requires money, which cuts into the profit margins. When you’re General Motors, spending an average of $1,500 for every car you build on the pensions and health benefits of thousands of retirees, quality is clearly what suffers to pay for the overhead. Don’t despair, however, because some car companies manage to provide quality without asking much out of the consumer’s pocket in return, and if you assume that it’s the Japanese that delivered in this comparison test because of their long-standing reputation for doing so, guess again.

Chevrolet Cobalt SS Supercharged: Fourth Place
Perhaps not surprisingly, the 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt SS Supercharged is bringing up the rear in the quality race, and yet it’s a huge improvement over its ancestor, the Cavalier Z24. However, this is a comparison test between the Cobalt, the Honda, the Scion, and the Volkswagen, and the Chevy is the dumbest guy in this particular room. Let’s start the complaining with the glossy, hollow-sounding, low-rent plastic GM is using to construct the majority of the Cobalt’s cabin. It contrasts sharply with the decent leather on the seats, the soft padding on the upper door panels, the nice mesh headliner, the appealing pillar covers, the attractive gauges, and the solid knobs that control the stereo and climate system. The silver trim on the dash looks OK, but fits poorly with visibly rough edges from the manufacturing process.

In terms of build quality, several parts and pieces will pop out and off when a little pressure is applied – they are clearly designed for easy assembly rather than longevity. To GM’s credit, it’s hard to find many seams inside the Cobalt that don’t line up properly, and the exterior is put together decently. Even so, the doors didn’t fit well, especially the front passenger’s, and the rear fascia was bowing out slightly on each side. But what really put a bad taste in our mouths was the clunking, rattling noise that the front suspension developed after turning 25 hot laps at the track.

Our last remaining domestic car makers, Ford and GM, seem to think that design, marketing, and performance will help them to recapture sales lost to the likes of Honda, Nissan, and Toyota. Wrong. The answer is quality. Until the American car buyer can trust that a Chevy is going to run for as long as a Honda, with as few trips back to the dealer as a Honda, and with as nice an interior as a Honda, the American car buyer is going to choose the Honda over the Chevy – no matter how fun it is to drive, how good it looks, or how vigorously Chevy waves the American flag in an effort to win sympathy votes.

“Pretty low-rent interior; shiny plastics prevail. Flimsy e-brake handle, tinny fake alloy trim, cheap but soft leather. Outside, the front fascia is loose, B-pillar stickers show orange peel effect of paint underneath, and there are big gaps where the body kit has been glued on.” – Blackett

“Dash plastics feel like bad plastic, seat leather feels like good plastic. Silver dash trim looks like someone cut it into sections with a butter knife during assembly.” – Chee

“Plastic looks low grade, and feels cheap, too. Whole front fascia is loose, side sills are loose, and gaps are uneven inside and out.” – Perry

“It’s like all the crappy plastic left over from the current-gen Silverado has been trucked over and dumped off at the Cobalt factory. The leather is good for the price point, and some materials – like the mesh headliner – are actually quite nice, but the overwhelming preponderance of glossy, hollow, rough-edged plastic bits makes you feel like you’re slumming it.” – Wardlaw

Scion tC Supercharged: Third Place
More than most Toyota products, the 2006 Scion tC Supercharged contained details that reminded us of its relatively low starting price – things like the wafer-thin sunroof covers and the flimsy panel that hides the stereo from view. However, it was the tC’s sloppy detailing on the outside that caused it to sink so far below the other two cars in the test as to land in third place for quality.

Most of our staff thought Scion did a terrific job of making the tC feel upscale on the inside. The textured pattern of the dash and door panels, the blue-hued “technical” pattern in the seat fabric, the silver trim panels, and the stylish metal OBX gear shifter all imparted a look of understated substance. Combine this ambience with parts-bin Toyota switchgear – some of which is shared with Lexus models, too – and an elegant headliner solution where it meets the sunroof, and the tC looks and feels like a quality piece of work. An examination of our test car’s exterior, however, dropped the Scion in the rankings. First off, the stick-on “TRD Supercharged” badges look like they came out of a box of Cap’n Crunch. Our car also had a front fascia that was bowing out under the left headlight, uneven hood gap tolerances, and minor variance in door fit. But the most egregious issue was the adhesive used to attach the rear spoiler to the hatchback lid. It had leaked out on the right side, and looked awful.

Still, the Scion is a big step up from the Chevy in terms of quality. It just couldn’t beat the Honda or the VW in this particular test.

“CHEAP! Rubbery plastic on the dash and doors has a weird grain, and the plastic on the instrument cluster is tinny. The center armrest and stereo panel cover are rickety, the steering column cover is loose, and the rear pillar covers don’t fit flush. Glue is showing around the rear spoiler.” – Blackett

“Nice materials, nice grain, nice buttons with nice tactile feel. Mouse-fur headliner, C-pillar covers are falling off, and molding on driver’s side doesn’t match up with the sheet metal at the wheel well.” – Chee

“Plastics and faux aluminum trim look cheap, and the leather on the steering wheel looks like vinyl. Interior gaps and tolerances are good, and the rear deck lid fits perfectly. Hood gaps are off, and the glue tabs for the rear spoiler are exposed.” – Perry

“Terrific graining for the dash and door panels that juxtaposes nicely with the blue pattern on the seats. Center console and lower door panel plastic looks and feels cheap. Stylish gear shifter, and high-quality switchgear throughout. Sunroof covers won’t last long, but silver trim looks good. The stereo cover panel feels fragile, but interior build quality is decent. Huge hatch gaps are even but spoiler adhesive is leaking out from the right side, and the “TRD Supercharged” decals look and feel terrible.” – Wardlaw

Honda Civic Si: Second Place
Despite rave reviews of the 2006 Honda Civic Si’s interior materials, the car slotted into second place in this category because of half-hearted execution. Build quality inside and out was not what we’ve come to expect of a Honda, with rough-edged seams, misaligned parts and pieces, loose bits of trim, and an obviously crooked trunk lid that each of us mentioned in our notes. Nevertheless, most potential customers will be knocked out by the standard suede-like materials decorating the seats and door panels, the upscale mesh headliner, the soft-touch dash and door panel surfaces, and the Acura-grade gauges and switchgear. It is in these areas, critical visual and touch points, where Honda is making sure that the Civic Si impresses, and to great success. We just wish greater care had gone into assembling the final product.

“Nice suede-like seats, mesh headliner, soft-touch dash and door sills, and leather-wrapped steering wheel. The driver’s seat creaks, the rear pillar covers are loose, and the trunk lining is starting to separate. Big gap differences around the trunk.” – Blackett

“Overall, nice interior materials. Rear pillar covers are loose and misaligned. Trunk lid is crooked, fascias and sheet metal don’t match up perfectly.” – Chee

“Suede seat fabrics and door inserts look and feel good, and the leather-wrapped steering wheel is great. The navigation/audio system isn’t centered in the dash, and there is a sharp, exposed edge where the suede door inserts meet the plastic trim. The trunk lid exhibits fitment issues.” – Perry

“Suede trim is nice but shows every speck of lint. Silver plastics display some rough edges like the Cobalt. Lower dash plastic a bit glossy, but the best of the four cars. Beautiful metal shift knob. Acura-grade switches and controls. Excellent perforated leather on the steering wheel. Luxury grade finishing where the headliner meets the sunroof. Inside, there are more rough seams than befits a Honda, while on the outside the rear fascia and the trunk lid didn’t fit well.” – Wardlaw

Volkswagen GTI: First Place
Assessing the quality of a new car isn’t the same as predicting how it’s going to hold up over time. Reviewers must concern themselves with the specific vehicle being reviewed, not what the historical data says might happen – especially when dealing with a completely redesigned model that has a different powertrain under the hood. That said, Volkswagens have not been known for durability over time, but based on our examination of the 2007 GTI, that might be changing.

We needed to look hard to find problems with the GTI’s build quality, which ranks among the best we’ve ever seen on any car. With few exceptions inside and out, gap tolerances were even, the parts fit together flush, and everything was tight and solid. Still, at least one member of the test team heard numerous rattles inside of our sample GTI, which doesn’t bode well over the long haul but falls right in line with previous experience in VW products. At least the interior won’t make you feel like a cheap chump while you listen to them chatter over bumpy pavement. This car is a premium ride in all but its name. Even the plaid seat fabric looks good.

Quality is a Volkswagen GTI strong point when the car is new. Just don’t forget to consider the historical data when making your own decision about how it’s going to age once the warranty expires.

“Quality seat fabric, mesh headliner and pillar covers, and durable low-gloss plastics with matching grains. Center armrest plastic is a little loose, and the driver’s seat base plastic cover pops off easily. Rear hatch shows uneven tolerances.” – Blackett

“Excellent materials that feel sturdy and durable. Gaps are tight and consistent, except for the rear hatch.” – Chee

“Cloth upholstery looks to be of high quality, lots of padded plastics inside, and trim appears to be real aluminum. Very tight gap tolerances inside and out, but the left hatch shut-line is much wider than the one on the right.” – Perry

“Premium all the way. Nothing about the interior says cheap, and the plaid cloth gives the car an added dose of character. Lots of little rattles inside this car, but the interior shows near perfect fitments to the trim and panels. Almost flawless exterior build quality, with hatch tolerances a touch off.” – Wardlaw