Are Japanese cars really as good as they say they are?

Question

Honestly, I've noticed that the Japanese cars that i have owned have not been better than the American or European cars. I've noticed more problems with the Japanese cars than any other cars. I think we as owners take more care of foreign cars knowing how much parts cost, which in turn makes them last longer. With American cars we look at them as disposable and beat them up, thats why they develop problems. How many Japanese cars would you trust out in the snow, most are small with small engines?

Whats your input?

Answer 1

a coulpe weeks ago I rented a toyota prieus good car 25 bucks will fill it up and you get 600 miles and better on a tank overall toyota is pretty good

Answer 2

Truth, No they are not, I worked 44 years as an ASE Master Auto Tech and engine builder in independant shops. During those years we repaired all makes of cars and trucks. The Japanese cars 50,000 to 200,000 miles needed repairs three to one over American and German cars. And until 1998 when Federal law made all auto makes go to the Chrysler OBD II computer system with GM diagnostic 12 prong port ther computers wher a junk nightmare to repair. TODAY there is no real differance in quality. Chrysler holds a bit of an edge because they make the best engines and use Benze drivelines and suspenions.

Answer 3

As far as reliability they are statistically better than American an European cars. That doesn't mean all American/Euro cars are unreliable or all Japanese cars are reliable. I would trust a Subaru out in the snow and those are Japanese.

Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans are mostly FWD so they are fine in the snow. The Nissan GT-R also has one of the more advanced AWD systems in the world.

I'm not saying Japanese cars > everything else(I personally prefer European cars), but you can't just judge a whole area of cars as good as bad. There are some great American, Japanese, European cars and bad American, Japanese, and European cars.

Answer 4

We owned a good few American cars as they fitted into our budget,although being in our budget meant buying older models not really old but not classed as new.And all they seemed to do is break down all the time and needed constant repairs to stay on the road.

After being car less for a short while we was given a Japanese car it had mileage of around 220,000 and we was shocked it was like driving a new car the engine was great and smooth and overall a great car after that we now always stick with Japanese cars in our budget a little more expensive and parts are also but both go wrong alot less in fact touch wood we haven't had one break down yet.

Engine wise yes they are usually small engines although there is no denying the power which can be produced so them some reach some scary bhp limits.And in many counties like the US is getting now but fuel cost have been high for years so these engines are ideal sizes as where i live the higher the engine size the higher the tax also.

But iam sure someone has had some great American cars and fair play to them.But our own experience and our budget

Japanese cars have suited us better.

Snow wise every year i have to drive in the snow ,i admit it does scare me but its only because my cars are usually RWD,but my Hicas system is a major help.

Answer 5

It's not that they are so good.  They are what they say they are and are built to not break as much as American cars.  I just think their pride in their product is higher than domestic car makers.  Ford and GM especially have such a high and mighty attitude that hurts them.  It's not like Japanese cars don't break.  When you pump out mass numbers of any product, there will be defects.  It's how they take care of it and make you feel that makes a difference.  Domestic car companies just have a lot to learn about customer service.  I have a Subaru (3rd one) and love it.  Never had any problem.  My dad drove many cars and had nothing but trouble with a Ford Bronco, Chevy Suburban and a Volvo wagon.  Never been let down yet by a Japanese car though.

Answer 6

Oh heck yeah they are.

AWD is made for snow and Mitsubishi, Subaru and Nissan are probably the biggest 3 names in all wheel drive. Nissan has Attesa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATTESA, Subaru doesn't really have a name for their AWD system to my knowledge and Mitsubishi doesn't either but if its a VR4, GSX or Evo - it's AWD.

The most expensive thing to fail on my Nissan during the time I've owned it (with over 120K miles) was the window regulators (the things that move the windows up) which cost me about $100 a piece. The most noticeable problem was a high pressure power steering hose (probably 14 years old) sprung a leak and I couldn't keep power steering fluid in it. Nothing so bad that I couldn't drive it though - still felt like it was doing most of its job.