wrote:
I tend to think thay mfgs will put out a product of good quality until
it gains a good reputation, then they start cutting quality by putting
cheap parts a piece at a time until finally it becomes a piece of junk
and sales plummit .

Not quite. Business exist to make money, so they will put out the
cheapest product they can and still make money. Now, some companies
make quality products because they want to charge more or they have a
reputation.

Quality is mostly a competition driven. We didn't have reliable
American cars until the Japanese forced us to.

Mike