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I had two grandfathers that worked for the American auto industry their entire lives-- one for Chrysler and one for GM. They both fought in WW2. They both were vehemently opposed to Japanese cars.
I find that I have this same bias, though Japanese cars have been demonstrated time and again to be reliable and affordable to own. When I look at cars, I never even consider Japanese cars. I know this is silly, as many are now made in the US, but I can't shake it. Am I nuts? I also find that I really don't like the design of most cars, and Japanese cars tend to be pretty unimaginative when it comes to that. So I have an aesthetic bias as well.
How do you feel about Japanese cars? Does this even matter anymore in 2014?
Love them. My first time owning a Subaru was my first time in a Japanese car. I'm now on my 2nd and will buy another when the time comes. Ford and Chevy have brought reliability up the last few years, but there's still no reason in my mind to buy domestic over Japanese.
I've owned an Infiniti for 8 years and it's proven to be the most reliable vehicle I've owned so far. i also own an American car (Mustang) which is as reliable, but heavily modified by myself so it's tough to judge.
I'm a huge WW2 buff, and understand the bitterness towards the Japanese today by many Veterans. While there was some sort of "honor" when fighting the Nazis, the Japanese did no such thing and were very cruel. Still, that was 69 years ago. We are losing more and more people each day who were alive during that time.
Pretty much every company circa 1945 that exists today was involved in the war effort. BMW and Mercedes were very active, and VW was founded in 1937 by a Nazi labor union. Many many It's tough to let politics play a role in product selection, but some people chose to and that's fine. Their choice.
some are good, some are bad. I had a toyota that was flawless. Another toyota with some interior quality issues and a couple other small problems. A subaru that has domestic level reliability but with japanese part costs
Generally though, I'd look at a japanese car first.
Same way I feel about American, Korean, and European cars.
Individual models are much more important to me than where a company happens to be headquartered.
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Originally Posted by Merc63
Yup. Same here.
put me in this category also. i am a car enthusiast, and while i prefer fords, i do like cars from other makes, it doesnt matter where they come from. for instance one of my favorite cars from the 70s is the datsun 510 sedan. its a neat little package.
To me Japanese cars (at least the main 3: Toyota, Honda, Nissan) all lack character. They are boring to look at and boring to drive. By this I mean the mainstream models, not the FRS, GT-R, or any of the sporty models. I also feel like you pay a price premium for perceived quality, not actual quality. While the quality of Japanese cars have been pretty much consistent for the last 20 years, Detroit and especially Korea have caught up and surpassed them in some cases. I currently have 2 cars. My 2012 Focus which although has never broken down, it has had some quality issues with trim and a strut bearing but I'm confident the car will last me 10 years without major problems. My wife drives a 2013 Elantra which is a very well built car and was very reasonably priced. Before that she had an Accent that over the 18 months we owned it needed absolutely no trips to the dealer.
My first experience with Japanese cars was a 1976 Honda Accord. Drove that car all through college and it was passed down to 2 younger siblings. It was a great little car. Much better gas economy, as compared to my 1972 Camaro, but with the exception of the gas shortage, I didn't worry too about mpg.
Many decades later, I am happily driving an Infiniti FX45.
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