Japanese Car, Made in Japan vs USA and Canada (Corvette, engine, Chevy)

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by mclasser

Some people believe Japanese-made cars are assembled with unicorn tears and fairy dust, therefore nothing can ever go wrong with them.

Honda has been making cars in the US since the 80s. The early-gen Accords made at the Marysville plant are considered some of the most reliable cars ever made. My Accord was made in Japan but the transmission grenaded, like many other Accords of the early-2000s.

The Lexus LS400 -- considered a paragon of Japanese reliability and worksmanship -- was made at Toyota's Aichi plant. The tight tolerances and panel gaps took the industry by storm and broke records. At the time, the 'Big 3' said there was no way they could match the precision with which the LS400 was assembled using their existing standards.

Nissan exclusively made their cars in Japan until 2004. when they started making the Maxima in Smyrna, Tennessee. That generation of Maxima was a dark time for Nissan as it was plagued with quality issues. These issues have been largely attributed to them moving their operations to the States.

The fact of the matter is it's difficult to make a blanket statement that Made in Japan is better than Made in the USA when it comes to Japanese car companies. What is true is that the cars of today overall are made to easily go 200,000+ miles.

Yep... Having owned a 1991, 1996, 2002 and 2004 Maxima (all manual transmission), I can definitely say that the 2004 was poorly built. My 2008 Altima, however, was pretty solid, so I guess they've improved their process.

[unit731]

Originally Posted by robr2

Robots don't care where they are located and the production systems employed are the same all over the world. IMHO, it doesn't matter where the car is made.

The Japanese did away with many of the robots by the way. Yes, some still used.
The Japanese found out that robots can't tell very well if a mistake is being made.

[unit731]

Originally Posted by mic111

As an engineer I enjoy reading about manufacturing processes. One article was on Japanese transmissions. When the same technology was exported to the states the transmissions were coming up with high percentage of failures. The purchasing specs were all the same. When they looked into it they found that the workers in Japan took the time to match the parts up with compatible parts. For instance if one part was a smidge larger than ideal they matched it with a corresponding part a smidge lower than ideal. All manufactured parts were within tolerance. In the USA the workers just reached into the bin and put on whatever came out. I was surprised that the Japanese workers were so detail oriented and the difference it made in the outcome.

Some don't wish to agree with this. But this is all true. It's a culture thing.

[MSchu]

Originally Posted by notbriancho

I know you can tell if a car is made in Japan by looking at the VIN number. However, can anyone comment on the quality differences between Japanese cars that are made in Japan versus those made in USA and Canada?

Absolutely you can tell... that is part of the VIN coding, country of Origin.

Also... ABSOLUTELY Japanese manufactured cars are BETTER made than their American made counter parts. Much of the time the metals are slightly thicker, and the fit and finish is much much better. of course the design is universal, but there does indeed seem to be a much higher level of quality and control out of japan than those cars made here or in canada.

[ukrkoz]

I'll buy ONLY made in Japan cars if I could. Every single one we ever had of them were superb vehicles. Reliability wise. Not so ones that were branded Japanese but made in say KY or AL. I just sold my Ridgeline made in AL and I could clearly see assembly sloppiness.

[sdlife619]

Well I can attest for Japanese quality control. My mother used to own a 94 Honda Accord, a pinnacle year for high quality built Hondas. The fit finish of the Japanese built Accord was awesome. The quality of materials, and the paint was top notch. No loose panels, or ill fitted gaps.

Flash forward to her American built 98 Accord, and it's a night and day difference. I am not sure if it has to do with where it's built, or what, but the 98 Accord lost a lot of what made the 94-97 model years so great, it's interior quality. The 98-2000's model years have a cheap feeling interior that uses more hard lower quality plastics, and lower quality materials overall compared to the previous gen Accords. Everything from the exterior paint, to the rubber seals and window motors are poorer in quality. They are still good cars, and run very well for their age, but it's the smaller stuff that is noticeably different between the years.

The Japanese are better disciplined it seems at building stuff, and they care more about quality and engineering than American companies. Well that's how it used to be at least.

It's actually very unprofessional and lazy to see how U.S. assembly plant workers are wearing street clothes to put together vehicles. It might not seem like a big deal, but if you're a car company trying to instill high standards among your workers and the company itself, having them wear "whatever they woke up outta bed to" is not the answer. All those people should be wearing outfits that shows pride of workmanship, as this can improve the attitude of assembly workers.

It's like if you worked in a high end office or a any professional setting wearing a T-shirt and shorts to work, nobody will take you seriously, it just sorta gives you a IDGAF attitude.

American auto industry used to be the leader at building quality cars with tight tolerances, with respected top notch craftsmen in the 50's-60's, then it's like "What the hell happened"? How can you go from building amazing quality built vehicles, to building the worst vehicles on planet earth? You think that progress would continue on forever and get better as time goes on, but in this case, the Big 3 went into the other direction while the Japanese went from building cheap shoddy cars in the 70's, to building quality cars that are reliable, and being the most innovative for the past 30 years and technically are still considered better than American cars even to this day although that can be up for debate.

Me thinks cost cutting and profits mattered more for the Big 3 in their dark days as they had the majority of the U.S. market then. It makes sense from the 50's-60's the U.S. auto industry was really trying hard to make the best cars and trucks it could as they were inspiring and good times for the country. It's Like being someone that is trying so hard to prove your worth in your job when you first got hired, you will do everything in your power to achieve that. Once you have claimed a certain status, you might tend to slack off a bit and not work as hard, this is exactly what happened in the 70's to the Big 3. They got lazy and rested on their laurels.

[incognitoe]

US and Unions laws make specifications such as quality less strict.

For example, a fender gap that is off by a few mm isn't allowed to pass quality control in Japan.

Here in America, it's a non issue.

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by scarabchuck

This thread proves how much perception really makes up people decisions. I'm in the industry, although not at the plant level and still can't see all that happens yet many of these replies from consumers make it sound like they were right their during the manufacturing practice and both a domestic and Asian OEM both here in the US, then MX and overseas. Interesting how the mind works, we see it in social media and mainstream media all the time.

I've been to GM's factory in Arlington TX and taken the tour. I've also seen plenty of Porsche factory line workers through all their promotional materials they send out, though I've never taken the factory tour personally.

But photos and videos don't lie.

Here are some photos of Porsche assembly workers.







And here are GM/Corvette workers.





You want to know why your car is a lemon vs your buddies car that has had no problems... this is why.

Cars being built in Japan and Germany, being an assembly line worker isn't thought of as a bad thing. They have pride in their work. Here... well, there's a million stories out there about bad union workers at the Big 3, and their lack of pride shows in their work.

[PDD]

Of course all foreign workers are better than American workers. So when your boss introduces you to the new Asian guy in the next cube, treat him nice because next year he'll be your boss.

[waltchan]

There's dramatic difference in quality and reliability between Japanese-built 1998 Honda Odyssey vs. American-built 1999 redesigned Honda Odyssey minivan. It was horrible, terrible, and very sickening in drop of quality, worst I've seen from any Japanese automaker.