I have owned Fords, Toyotas, Mazdas, and a Saab. Some held up better than
others. the Corrolla was the worst, the Mazda 626 perhaps the best. My
current car is a Sable with the 24V 6-v (1996) and its no rocket but it
still has good power compared with whats out there. My F-150 (300 CI 6
cylinder) Has run great and been used like a truck, I move metal lathes,
Mills and what ever weekly, the 150 still looks good and still runs great
gas milage is a joke. My wifes Contour with 166,000 miles on it runs fine in
fact its still a fun car to drive and handles great, so to say Ford or
American cars don't hold up thats crap. We looked at some used A4 s and if
they had many miles on them had a list of expensive repairs done, brakes
$1000, new suspension $1500, timing belt $1300.
As to the Subaru I had one YEARS ago that was good but it was a whole
different car. A good friend of mine sold his outback wagon because all the
problems however it had the 4 valve per cylinder engine they used for just a
few years that had problems all over the board. he had a burnt valve at
70,000 miles.