One of the best, and yet most difficult, things auto investors can do is research the quality and performance of vehicles. With the U.S. new-vehicle market slowing, competition will become intense and better long-term reliability and higher quality will increasingly impact consumers' purchase decisions. In other words, automakers with higher quality have a better chance to protect valuable market share and pricing -- more important than ever for automakers such as Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) and General Motors (NYSE: GM).Since it would be near impossible for any single investor to accumulate research spanning the entire industry, it's of great value to take information such as J.D.