You speak of maintance and that brings up an interesting angle I didn't think of...
Maybe those peeps buying their little rice cars get all the service done at dealers cause they are light in their shorts. Hence the cars last longer with fewer problems.
The guys owning the domestics, do it themselves but much like many others are just dumb. Fuck it all up and therefor tuck their shit and go back to the dealer with problems/failures. Failures just like how they live their lives.
Then the few domestic owners, like myself, that know how to service a vechicle or two and get good use from their vechicles.
Hmmmm.... I may be onto something...