Unfortunately, there are ppl who wish to dwell on the -ve, pessimistic, sob stories,... and these ppl don't even own the car!
I suppose he is doing a research on his next car purchase. But he's like what you said, too pessimistic despite having us sharing our experience with out cars with him. Luckily he's not deciding on a Pug308. That'll scar him for life looking at the issues the 308s have.
sramesh, bro you seem to have decided against the VW from your posts. I'm not saying VW is the best. All car marques & models have their individual issues. Name we one that does not. It's really the matter of how much of it can you live with.
There are plenty of Alfa lovers out there despite their reliability issues. But their love & passion for the Alfas drive them to another level which a non-Alfa lover would never understand. I suppose you can say the same about VDub lovers like us here.
Same for the hardcore Honda & Toyota fans too.
VDub lovers will go all out to ensure our DSG trannies & TSI engines are well maintained even if it chalks up higher servicing bills - hence you will see/hear alot of us sending in for interim servicing on-top of our regular check-ups at SCs.
At the end of it, you'll have to decide with what you want to live with & can live with. You mentioned you had good experience with Honda & Toyota and the Accord is one of your options. I can tell you I've had friends having issues with their Accords & Honda's service. I personally had bad experience with Honda - the Civic and Jazz & their SCs.
Just remember that everyone's expectations are different.