I'm on my second Suzuki motorcycle. Both have been as good or better than any bike that I have owned regarding reliability. If this translates to their cars, then they have very good cars indeed.

Our Lexus LS400 has 225,000 miles on it and here are some thoughts that have gone unmentioned.

Our car still has original shocks, mufflers, tailpipes, and all the rest that normally are replaced several times on most cars on the way to 225K. So, that's longevity.

Our engine and transmission seem to be like new - smooth and powerful. Now, due to the nicer gearing (this is an overdrive type transmission) when on the highway at 70 MPH the revs are at about 2000 RPM. Compare that to something smaller where the reves at that speed might be 3700 RPM. I would think, in my decidely non-mechanical way, that the engine turning at 3700 RPM is suffering more wear per minute than the engine turning at 2000 RPM. Just a practical guess.

I would also guess that most premium cars have better framework systems and would tend to stay straighter and more rigid over the miles, and so would be more viable for longer life than the lesser built cars.

= longevity

You fail to mention if your Lexus LS 400 has required $500 timing belt and water pump changes every 60,000 miles and another coming up soon at 240K miles. At 225K miles, this would be $1500 to date. Your location will dictate your exhaust system life. In a northern location, 225k mile exhaust system life may not happen.

Exhaust life is radically different on certain makes of car. I live up in the salt and snow belt (Boston) and I see people go through exhausts real fast on certain cars. However, I also see certain makes seemingly never go through exhausts because they're so overbuilt. One such example is BMW exhausts-they're insane. I see the body of the car and the coil springs in the suspension rusting through before the exhausts do. If you need to build a fortress or bomb shelter make it out of BMW mufflers haha.

You fail to mention if your Lexus LS 400 has required $500 timing belt and water pump changes every 60,000 miles and another coming up soon at 240K miles 

I haven't seen a 60k timing belt change recommendation on a car in over 10 years. Most are either 90k or 105k. The Toyota/Lexus is 105k miles.

And timing belts while may be expensive are still maintenance items. It is something to consider when pricing out maintenance cost. But if you do the work yourself (like I do)..the cost is minimal....usually less then $50.

We have never, to my knowlege, replaced either the timimg belt or water pump. I don't think we ever paid more than $800 for the periodic service checks so it would be hard, but not impossible to include the big dollar items you mention without notice. The only real hit that I can think of is about $500 for brakes, when everything is needed.

Yes we live in the sunbelt, so that certainly helps.

Your Lexus is generally acknowledged to be the best car made since the early 1980s Mercedes E class turbdiesels, probably one one the best cars ever built. However, as other point out, if your car has a timing belt, the required replacement cycle for both V6 and V8 models is 72 months or 90,000 miles. That's what my Toyota handbook says.The rubber in a Lexus timing belt IS THE SAME AS THE RUBBER IN A LEXUS BELT!

In other words, at 225,000 miles you are living on borrowed time if you have a timing belt and although Toyota and Honda belts have a good safety factor, you are on the last of its 9 lives! Please consult your owners manual and check for timing belt replacement.

I finally looked at the car's manuel and found that Lexus recommends timing belt replacements, buy only if the useage is categorized as "A" (= extreme use, heavy towing, harse climates). Looking at the "B" service, the timing belt isn't even on the chart.

Also people do not realize their suspension/shcoks is worn out. Especially non handling cars.

Given the number of Japanese made Toyotas we have owned, I would have voted them at the top for longevity. Now that they are made in the USA, I don't think their quality is that much better than any of the big three. My 2000 truck got caught up in the truck sales promotion and was tagged as a problem when none existed. Being blacklisted, our only recourse seemed at the time to buy a new truck. The new truck may run as long as some of the older ones but it is a mess, poor paint quality, the doors sound as if they will come off when you close them, poor mpg, and Toyota settled their frame corrosion problem by excluding salt caused corrosion from the warranty. If we taken more time to think about it, we would have purchased a less expensive non Toyota vehicle. I am hoping we can buy a second Prius before they are made in the USA too.

It's those lazy American workers that keep screwing up everything. Maybe when we get a good president and move to socialized medicine and government control over industry the workers will do a better job. Let's hope so.

Toyota had some quality issues during a recent period where they experienced heavy growth in sales and production. Having had a chance to re-focus on quality, I hope Toyota has resolved the quality issues.

The Yaris is made in Japan; otherwise, I probably wouldn't consider it either!

I got one word for you: Cuba. They are still driving around in chunks or iron made in the 1950s. Well some Russian cars too I guess. Meanwhile I put 200k+ on my old 1984 Subaru with it's pushrod, gear-driven cam, flat 4 and my 1994 Saturn with a dohc chain drive cams has about the same. The difference is that the Saturn has a lot less to rust away with it's composite body panels. Any car, (with the possible exception of certain French and Italian makes) will go forever if given enough attention. The thing is that people tend to neglect their cars. An excellent case in point is the aforementioned Saturn. As the cams are chain driven there is no timing belt to break but the chain tensioner is tensioned by oil pressure and it will stick if oil changes are not done at the recommended 3000 mile interval. It gets gummed up and the engine jumps timing and as it is an interference engine it destroys itself. This led to many terrible reviews of this otherwise excellent engine by boneheads who never changed the oil. All machines break. It's a simply fact of physics. Entropy. To give them longevity we need to merely to build them heavily and intelligently. However, they loose efficiency when built heavily. It's a trade-off. I think that if Subaru had adapted their pushrod / gear driven cam to modern fuel injection it would have done well despite being noisy and underpowered but the quest for power and silence won out.

My 1987 Volvo is so good, my wfe prefers it. It has 2000,000+ miles. It does not use oil in between changes. My most important was the alternator failed less than 50 miles ago

My 1987 Volvo is so good, my wfe prefers it. It has 2000,000+ miles. 

One too many ZEROS. Or does it really have 2 million miles.

It could have two million miles if it has a diesel engine.

The Guinness Book of World Records actually had a Volvo, a P-1800 set the record with 2.1 million miles! No info on how often the engine was rebuilt, but it does testify to the solid quality of the old style Volvos.

Consumers Reports agrees: Toyota used to be at the top. Given the condition of my 09 Tacoma, I can see the downhill slide. This one will never reach the level of satisfaction as any of my older trucks (Toyota) or mileage. What are they smoking out there in Fremont or where is the quality control administrator?

It depends....I do all my own maintenance and all my iron is US made. I get tired of them before they are wore out, plus my wife likes new stuff.
The deal is...someday they all break...and will the Swift repair be cheaper than the Ford repair...Who knows?
If you are gonna keep one a long time..and a lot of miles...you need to maintain it well from the start, no matter what brand.
My opinion is : run good gas, good oil and filters, and run it like you stole it.
Regards,
Paul