The history of cars goes way back, more than you would probably imagine. Of course the first car ever was nothing like the cars of today. For the most of early car, sources are so poor we can't even say for sure if they worked. So the first two cars are not confirmed but the general consent about the first car in the car history exists. In 1672 Ferdinand Verbiest builds the first steam powered car.

It took a long time for the next major breakthrough to occur. In 1806 Isaac de Rivaz makes first internal combustion engine. And almost a whole century later, in 1881 Gustave Trouvé builds a working three wheeled automobile that runs on internal combustion engine. From then on, car history and car development stepped up a bit.

In 1885 one of the "legends" from the car history first made appearance. Karl Benz built his first car and in In the next 8 years he sold 25 cars. This is also the time when Daimler and Maybach started their car bussines.

In 1893 Karl Benz makes first four-stroke engine and four years later Rudolf Diesel builds the first diesel engine. In 1902 Daimler and Maybach produce first car under the name Mercedes. This is also the year when the first Oldsmobile is produced.

Oldsmobile was the first car manufacturer in the car history to use some sort of assembly line in car production. This line was later improved to the max by Henry Ford. In 1914 Ford car came off the line every three minutes! By the 1930 most of the car companies that did not have production-line manufacturing disappeared. This was the end of the first era in the car history.

One of the most important criteria, if not the most important criterion, of automobile quality is reliability, that is, infrequency of serious problems, as few people want the annoyance, inconvenience, and expense of dealing with such problems. This article provides lists employing this criterion that will help guide consumers to the best small cars on the U.S. new and used car market.

The lists in this article include automobile models that are 180 inches (457.2 centimeters) or shorter in length. They include sedans, coupes, convertibles, hatchbacks, and wagons, but do not include sport cars. They also exclude those models with only a one-year data history, as a one-year data history may provide a poor guide of what a consumer may anticipate for more than one year.

The first list gives those small car models with a 2010 Auto Reliability Grade Point Average between 3.25 and a perfect 4.00 for the age range 0-to-4 years. These small cars are:

The Toyota Prius, a 4-door hybrid hatchback with a 2010 0-to-4-Year Auto Reliability GPA of a perfect 4.00,
The Toyota Yaris Hatchback, with a GPA of 4.00,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion xA, a 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion xD, a 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
The Honda Fit, a 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
The Honda Insight, a 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion tC, a coupe with a GPA of 3.75,
The Volkswagen Golf/Rabbit, a 2-door and 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 3.67,
The Toyota Corolla, a sedan with a GPA of 3.50,
The Toyota Matrix, a wagon with a GPA of 3.50,
The Honda Civic Sedan, with a GPA of 3.50,
The Honda Civic Hybrid, a sedan with a GPA of 3.50,
The non-turbo Subaru Impreza Wagon, with a GPA of 3.50,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion xB, a wagon with a GPA of 3.33,
The Ford Focus Sedan, with a GPA of 3.25,
The Hyundai Elantra, a sedan or wagon with a GPA of 3.25.

Of these 16, Toyota Motor Corporation accounts for 8 (50%), Honda Motor Company accounts for 4 (25%), and Volkswagen AG, Fuji Heavy Industries' Subaru division, Ford Motor Company, and Hyundai Motor Company each account for 1.

The second list gives those small car models with a 2010 Auto Reliability Grade Point Average between 3.25 and a perfect 4.00 for the age range 2-to-6 years. These small cars are:

The Toyota Corolla, a sedan with a 2010 2-to-6-Year Auto Reliability GPA of a perfect 4.00,
The Toyota Echo, a 2-door hatchback and sedan with a GPA of 4.00,
The Toyota Prius, a 4-door hybrid hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
The Toyota Yaris Hatchback, with a GPA of 4.00,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion xB, a wagon with a GPA of 4.00,
The Honda Fit, a 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
The Volkswagen Golf/Rabbit, a 2-door and 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
The Toyota Matrix, a wagon with a GPA of 3.75,
The Honda Civic Hybrid, a sedan with a GPA of 3.75,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion xA, a 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 3.67,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Lexus IS300,IS350, a 4-door hatchback and sedan with a GPA of 3.50,
The Honda Civic Sedan, with a GPA of 3.50,
General Motors Corporation's Pontiac Vibe (a Toyota-engineered product marketed by GM), a wagon with a GPA of 3.50,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion tC, a coupe with a GPA of 3.33,
The non-turbo Subaru Impreza Wagon, with a GPA of 3.25.

Of these 15, Toyota Motor Corporation accounts for 10 (67%) (including the Toyota-engineered product marketed by GM), Honda Motor Company accounts for 3 (20%), and Volkswagen AG and Fuji Heavy Industries' Subaru division each account for 1.

The third list gives those small car models with a 2010 Auto Reliability Grade Point Average between 3.25 and a perfect 4.00 for the age range 4-to-8 years. These small cars are:

The Toyota Corolla, a sedan with a 2010 4-to-8-Year Auto Reliability GPA of a perfect 4.00,
The Toyota Echo, a 2-door hatchback and sedan with a GPA of 4.00,
The Toyota Prius, a 4-door hybrid hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion xB, a wagon with a GPA of 4.00,
The Honda Civic Sedan, with a GPA of 4.00,
General Motors Corporation's Pontiac Vibe (a Toyota-engineered product marketed by GM), a wagon with a GPA of 4.00,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Lexus IS300, a 4-door hatchback and sedan with a GPA of 3.75,
The Honda Civic Hybrid, a sedan with a GPA of 3.67,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion xA, a 4-door hatchback with a GPA of 3.50,
The Honda Civic Si, a sedan with a GPA of 3.50,
The Toyota Matrix, a wagon with a GPA of 3.33,
The Mitsubishi Lancer, a 4-door hatchback and sedan with a GPA of 3.33.

Of these 12, Toyota Motor Corporation accounts for 8 (50%) (including the Toyota-engineered product marketed by GM), Honda Motor Company accounts for 3 (25%), and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation accounts for 1.

The fourth list gives those small car models with a 2010 Auto Reliability Grade Point Average between 3.25 and a perfect 4.00 for the age range 6-to-10 years. These venerable, durable small cars are:

The Toyota Echo, a 2-door hatchback and sedan with a 2010 6-to-10-Year Auto Reliability GPA of a perfect 4.00,
The Toyota Prius, a 4-door hybrid hatchback with a GPA of 4.00,
The Honda Civic Sedan, with a GPA of 4.00,
The Toyota Corolla, a sedan with a GPA of 3.75,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Lexus IS300, a 4-door hatchback and sedan with a GPA of 3.67,
The Honda Civic Si, a coupe and sedan with a GPA of 3.67,
The Honda Insight, a 2-door hybrid hatchback with a GPA of 3.50.

Of these 7, Toyota Motor Corporation accounts for 4 (57%) and Honda Motor Company accounts for 3 (43%).

The final list gives those small cars with at least a 5-year data history which have achieved a 2010 Auto Reliability Grade Point Average between 3.25 and a perfect 4.00 for all of their age ranges offering data. These both meritorious and venerable small cars, together with their overall 2010 GPA, are:

The Toyota Echo, a 2-door hatchback and sedan with a overall 2010 Auto Reliability GPA of a perfect 4.00,
The Toyota Prius, a 4-door hybrid hatchback with an overall GPA of 4.00,
The Toyota Corolla, a sedan with an overall GPA of 3.81,
Toyota Motor Corporation's Scion xB, a wagon with an overall GPA of 3.78,
The Honda Civic Sedan, with an overall GPA of 3.75.

Of these 5, Toyota Motor Corporation accounts for 4 (80%) and Honda Motor Company accounts for 1 (20%).

James Bleeker has a B.A. from Carleton College in mathematics, a J.D. from Northwestern University, and an M.S. from the University of Minnesota in mathematics. He has practiced law, and taught Introductory Statistics, Calculus III, Business Calculus, Finite Math, College Algebra, Introductory and Intermediate Algebra and Foundations at various universities and colleges. He currently has two websites - Auto on Info at http://www.autooninfo.net/ and Cars on Info at http://carsoninfo.net/ - which provide detailed auto quality information for cars and trucks sold in North America. For much of the 2000s, AutoOnInfo.net has been the dominant provider of auto reliability and durability information, some of it gathered from its own online surveys and questionnaires.

A new car does not need any car interior repair but as it grows older, you will need to pay special attention. The dashboard, leather items, carpets, seat covers, door panels, etc. need to be either replaced or repaired.

Start the car interior repair from painting the dashboard. First of all, remove all the parts that you can and wash them in warm water with dish soap added to it. Use a soft cloth to clean the other interior parts such as steering wheel, door panels, dashboard, etc. Cover the other areas then rub the plastic parts and affected area with a fine-grade sand paper. Again clean up and apply good quality of primer on the areas you want to paint. Allow to dry and finally apply the proper re-paint color that is specially designed for your car type. A vinyl repair kit is the best option or dash cover is good choice in case of ample damage. Many dash covers are available that can match the carpet color in your car.

The loose headliner at times may be irritating and awkward. The fabric headliners in old cars were not a big problem, but the flabby headliner in modern cars may be disturbing at times specially while driving the car. If not repairable you need to change the whole set and it might cost you a big amount if done from a specialist. The headliner material and replacement kits are easily available in the market and you can easily fix the problem without hiring the professional.

The carpets in your car play an important role in car interior repair. The faded and damaged carpets in your car give a dull feeling inside the car. Replacing the whole carpet on your own can be a good option. Its easy job and many replacement carpets are available in the market that will perfectly fit your car model. You just need to remove the seats, door still plates, center console, and seat belts. The old carpet can be easily removed if not pasted originally. If bonded with some material it may take some time. Finally clean up the floor surface and install the new carpet. You can even follow the detail instructions in the manual provided while buying the carpet.

The car interior repair is incomplete without repairing the damaged leather seat covers. If the tear is small, the vinyl sealant can simply do the job. A vinyl repair kit is available for larger tear. These kits are provided with filler paste in a variety of colors that can match your interior. Also, you have the option of fabric repair kits for small holes in your seat cover. Protecting your seats is vital because it plays a major role while selling the car. The impressive and well-maintained seat covers can always add a great value to your car.

It is not always the case that you need a professional to do the car interior repair. The minor problems can be solved on your own. All types of company kits and manuals are available in the market. Well, one thing is sure the minor problem is the cause of major difficulty in future. Hence, it is important to detect them and repair in the first stage itself.