@deathtrain
I can only go by experence...
90 Olds Cutlass Ciera (3.3L) *Died due to rusted out 101k miles*
Pontiac 94 Grand Am (2.5L I think) *Engine died, over heated on highway badly and rusted out pretty bad ~160k*
94 Ford Ranger (2.3L) *Fair body, cab corners rusted out, bad pri coil, rear leaf spring brackets rusted apart from frame, bad trans, and when changed couldn't get clutch system to bleed out ~220k*
85 GMC S-15 (2.8L) *Still have it as a yard buggie, rusted to hell, I'm told engine/trans/transfer case were rebuilt ~25k miles ago, not sure what it has total atm*
92 Chevy Astro Van (4.3L) *$100 special, was ment for the scrap yard, little rust, several doors didn't work (i fixed), ign cylender liked to get stuck on (fixed), ign system needed fixing (normal), went the the scrap yard because no one would give $450 for a van that drove well and ran well... best offer was $350, scrap yard gave over $500
something like 230k miles*
All my life before them my family always owned American cars, some good, some bad. Went to scrap out a 92 corolla that was flipped into a ditch with 180k miles that ran and drove yet (body trashed) and it drove the BEST compared to all the other cars I ever owned or drove. Went to buy a parts car, and mis read the listing... bought 2 92 Camry with 352k and 387k with 0 rust except a damaged fender and both ran well yet. Stuck with the Camry for a while, and now researching and looking at corollas, they are nearly as good.
Summary...
Camrys have a ton of features that make them a really nice car, ride great, and go for ever (can hit 350-500k pretty easy) only down side is mpg is around 26-28.
Corollas I view as a low end Camry, features are removed, simpler built some what, and ride not as well. My research suggests they last 250-350k pretty easy, not many go over that with orig engine/trans. It gets probably around 34-36 with out mods driving fairly easy (how I use to drive prior to this site/scan gauge).
Only other really good experience I have witnessed with American made is the late 60s to early 70s olds 350 and 455 engines (v8s), ran well, lots of torque, and lasted very well (my cuz's truck has 300k+ and has out-lived 3 trucks bodies, a couple wrecks, and 3 or 4 transmissions.). MPG is crap vs small cars, but when one is in a truck, it gets about the same as a car.
Kind of went off topic a tiny bit, but is semi related.