I retired during Covid, but until then I drove mercedes. When I needed a new car, the new Merc dealer wouldn't even let me onto the lot, telling me he couldn't get a car for me for 12 months. Turned out, the only new car I could get immediately, was a Kia Sportage, and that was only because someone failed a finance application. That car was actually awesome, never a single problem, but I decided I didn't like all the screens because always fingerprints, so I sold that and bought a Hyundai because I had already gone through the tech learning curve (Kia and Hyundai are the same). That too, has been trouble free all the time I've had it, and I'm about to trade to another Hyundai. Converesely, here in Australia, I hear about Honda's being crap. I think Korean cars, actually made in Korea, are actually great cars. You Americans mostly get models made locally, which to me sounds like the problem. What you are saying, is American made is shitty.

The best car to get is one where the engineers actually thought of maintaining the thing over looks

To be fair, we've been very happy with our Kona EV. No problems after 25k miles.

My hyundai isn't electric but I've been very happy with it

They aren't terrible cars. I had a Hyundai and it ran well. Just didn't throw an oil light for me. Engine seized. My own fault really, but lasted like 180k