What I have an issue is people pushing the idea that reputation alone is a viable measure of real world reliability. Real word reliability is dynamic, and it always changing. Looking at the data you posted, how many of those brands ranked above toyota were once considered unreliable brands?
Amateur, club racing race cars are actually one of the best measures of a car's real world reliability, since they are ran hard, and maintained on a end user budget. Often the only modifications are, safety equipment, suspension (will add more chassis abuse), and wheels/tires (will add more chassis abuse).
The collective abuse, and data gathering of reliability is more than any manufacturer regardless of size could obtain, and continues well beyond any manufacturer will even support their models.
So Miata's are reliable. Their simplicity is why. Included in that is their low-tech, low horsepower power plant.
High horsepower engines tend to be less reliable. Also part of the Toyota "recipe", as they have mostly stayed away from very high output engines. Their last regular production "real" sports cars for the US market were the MR2 Turbo and Supra Turbo of the mid to late 1990's, I believe. Both models, even 20 plus years later, are highly sought after and still carry a premium price. Why? RELIABLE. I owned another 90's era Japanese supercar, a Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4. When I owned it the car was about 5 years old. What a piece of junk money pit. And my experience is not uncommon (thats the beauty of the internet allowing shared experiences), versus my ownership of a 1995 Turbo MR2 that was FLAWLESS in terms of reliability, even with aftermarket parts and being run hard.
Not ALL Japanese brands are created equally.
Even Lexus's high horsepower sports car offerings are tame compared to their competition, ie BMW M cars, and Mercedes AMG.
BUT - the Lexus products retain the reliability their loyal customers demand.
Not hating on Mazda's, they make some stylish and fun cars. That said, I will stick to my guns that across the board they are not as well engineered, built, and reliable in the long term than Toyotas.
Many, many, many people have owned Toyota's of different models, and taken them over 200k miles or more with nothing but basic maintenance. Same thing applies for Hondas, especially Accords and Civics. I have personally owned a Toyota Tercel that had 220k on the clock when I sold it, with nothing but regular cheap maintenance. NEVER a mechanical breakdown. Also owned a Toyota Celica GT convertible that had 150k on the clock when sold, same solid ownership experience.
I contrast this with the many American cars, and Nissan/Infiniti products I have owned over the years, and NONE of them came even close to being as trouble free.
Reputations ARE important.
They are earned for a reason.
