[FRiSson]

Originally Posted by Chimpo

Actually a 1% failure rate (speaking within warranty period, but there is concern for afterwards since no one would expect a 4 or 5 year old car to have head gasket failure which would lead to you never buying a car from that OEM again under the perception they are junk) in this industry is horrific. An IPTV of 10 (which is 1%) would get A TON OF ATTENTION.

If one out of every one hundred cars needed engine repair (and now I'll make up numbers like you did) that was $1000 per car it's performed on (pull engine, remove timing belt, pull head, fix, reverse reverse) means $1000 of lost money per 100 cars built, which is $100000 per 1000 cars built, which is $1000000 per 10000 cars built. Suddenly a 1% failure rate adds up quick.

And again, don't forget the long term reliablilty. Making it thru warranty period is fine, but if the car falls apart after 5 years ain't no one buying from you again. And of course, in full disclosure, you're right if the issue didn't cause a financial blip, they may be more lax on fixing it (also depends on severity result of part failure... vehicle un-driveable, etc?)

Six sigma dude.