Japanese cars take top seven spots in latest Consumer Reports survey

ll done Japan, doing what you do best, the best! I love my Japanese Cars.

A Japanese friend of mine and I both bought new cars around the same time 2 years ago. He wanted the "status" of an imported car, so bought a VW (not that there is much status in a VW). I bought a Subaru. His has broken down 3 times already, requiring extensive servicing. Mine, not one single problem.

He is now trying to sell his 2yr old Golf before shaken so he can buy a Japanese car.

From the driving experience, very few Japanese cars could match BMW 328, Audi A4 quattro or Porsche Boxer. If you owned these cars, the maintanace cost is usually more expensive than the Japanese cars, but they are worth it. Most of the Japanese car designs are poorly copied from European manufacturers and they are translated into flawed designs. This is why there are few collectors cars manufactured by Japanese companies. Japanese cars are reliable but their design don't age well after 10 years.

Nonsense. There are a number of Japanese cars that easily match European ones for luxury, driving experience and certainly reliability. The Evo, Subaru, Nissan GTR, most Lexus, Mazda Rx8, Nissan Infiniti, and i am sure plenty others give the Europeans a run for theitr money.

Yep. . . It will be loooooooooooooooooooooong time before any carmaker in US or any other placecan rival the quality and state-of-art technology characteristic of J CARS

But you don't buy a Ferrari or Lamborghini for reliability, do you?

even Yakuza is driving Lexus nowadays.

sfjp330Oct. 30, 2012 - 09:08AM JST From the driving experience, very few Japanese cars could match BMW 328, Audi A4 quattro or Porsche Boxer

I have many friends in Europe who disagree with you.

Papasmurf, I have a similar experience. While a friend of mine also bought a VW, she had to take it to the dealer for some minor problems during the first year. I drive a Subaru, too, and for the 7 years I have had it it has shown no defects, no problems at all. I love it!

yep I can feel another Japanese vehicle recall coming soon , the American auto industry will be plotting it as we speak. if you want reliability you buy Japanese, the rest are just bells and whistles. My mother owns a 1996 Camry after 200,000km the only problem it has ever had was a $2 part that caused the gear lever to stick, fixed in 10minutes that was 5 years ago. LOL

But you don't buy a Ferrari or Lamborghini for reliability, do you?

If I had that much money to spare, I could probably afford the servicing for it as well. : )

What would be nice is if the Japanese govt gave the go-ahead for the import of Euro diesel cars. Instead the Japanese market is stuck with the petrol only models.

very few Japanese cars could match BMW 328, Audi A4 quattro or Porsche Boxer

Really? Have you ever owned or driven a Subaru Legacy or WRX? They contain all the good points of the above cars cos Subaru bought the patents many years ago. The Porsche turbos and boxer engine. The A4 all wheel drive system and the BMW ABS braking system, plus the Benz multi-point braking system. If you buy a Sooob you get all three of these cars in one and more.

Ossan your friends may disgree but they could be wrong. Have they ever driven a GTR? Lexus IS-F? 3 Evo?

Japanese cars are reliable but not durable nor stylish or fun. They're made for owners, not drivers

German cars are durable, timelessly stylish, fun to drive but not reliable (except anything made in the heyday of the 70s and 80s) and require regular maintenance.

American cars are crap except for the mainstay pickups which are necessarily over-engineered.

French cars look good, but that's about it.

All the while South Korea will slowly chip away at all of them. Perhaps the classic marques like MB and BMW will continue to retain their status appeal for decades to come though.

What would be nice is if the Japanese govt gave the go-ahead for the import of Euro diesel cars. Instead the Japanese market is stuck with the petrol only models.

Government has nothing to do with it, it's that moron Ishihara. You are free to import your own any time you like. Oh and some J SUVs still run deisels

@Never Submit: My last 4 cars have been German - all new models. Never had a problem. Seems the same asking around my company. I think both Japanese AND German cars are incredibly reliable.

@NeverSubmit

stereotypes much? Japanese cars not stylish? Mazda Rx-7, Subaru WRX (not the recent one), Mitsubishi EVO, Nissan Skyline. Then you have the Japanese Lexus (not my thing) and all those models that never get exported outside of Japan. There are good foreign cars, but with the reliabillity, included gadgets, service etecetera of Japanese cars why by foreign cars? And foreign cars are bought here mostly just as a status symbol.

Seven??

I count eight or am I reading the wrong list?

BestScionToyota LexusMazda SubaruHonda Acura AudiInfiniti Kia

Good point about the Diesels, European makers are 5 to 10 years ahead and VW diesels get better mileage than the price, especially in highway conditions.

And yes, it was Ishihara who personally came up with the Metro area diesel restrictions, all because he knew that if the Europeans began selling their diesels here the Japanese makers would get hit hard in their home market.

BMW 328, Audi A4 quattro or Porsche Boxer. - yes the type of ownesr who feel the need for a Penis Enlargement and Brest enplanements

Really? Have you ever owned or driven a Subaru Legacy or WRX? They contain all the good points of the above cars cos Subaru bought the patents many years ago. The Porsche turbos and boxer engine. The A4 all wheel drive system and the BMW ABS braking system, plus the Benz multi-point braking system. If you buy a Sooob you get all three of these cars in one and more.

I'm not sure Subaru got patents from Porsche for their boxer engine, but correct me with pointing out the relevant info, please. What I know is that the Porsche engine is not a boxer, it is a flat horizontally-opposed engine where opposing pistons share the same crank pin. The Subaru engine has an individual crank pin for each piston and is much more refined than the Porsche.

I don't think you can gain a patent for merely lay out of the pistons. If so there would only be one company for each layout. (Single lined, V type, Boxer type)

BMW is the ultimate driving machine! (while it lasts). After the warranty is over, you need to trade it in or lease a new one. J-cars are more reliable, but no one can beat the fun to drive factor and utilility of a 4-5 passenger BMW sports sedan! (335 or M3)

I have owned a number of European cars which I felt was always over-priced. BMW was fine, Porsche's maintenance cost was ridiculous and Audi was rubbish although the sedan was not bad. Japanese automobiles are not as pricey as European automobiles and generally have a high resale value. They are the perfect choice for good quality and reliability. However the lower-priced Japanese cars aren't as enjoyable to drive as European cars. The American automobile company like Ford makes some acceptable cars especially the ones manufactured in Europe. Hence Japanese cars in my opinion retain their excellent reputation for near-flawless built quality and longevity. That's why I eventually purchased a Lexus again and am very satisfied and happy. But I must admit some of the Korean cars are looking pretty attractive.

Ive had 6 cars. 3 of them european Ihave never had a jcar dying on me But. God helps you with a European diesels. Theres no real economy if you calculate that European diesels wont last over 100K I got to the point to hate them.

Talking about Diesels. talking with EXPERIENCE. Small diesels are not real economy vehicles. Their engines suffer alot since diesel is twice stronger than Gas. Those modern European diesels will never last like a simple petrol engine. We are not talking about 18 wheeler trucks. When driving fast Diesels you are really killing your car. I had a Renault Magane, Mercedes benz D200, and Octavia 2.0(VW engine). all of them needed engine rebuild and for the Mercedes it was US$5,000, 6 years ago the magane had a US$3,200 engine rebuild. the octavia was sold

@ overchan -

my father had a VW Golf that had 278,000 miles (miles, not km) on it when it finally died. He used to show the odometer to people with pride.

He replaced it with a newer VW Golf that got to about 170,000 when he crashed it.

Regular servicing and careful driving was all it needed.

J-cars are more reliable, but no one can beat the fun to drive factor and utilility of a 4-5 passenger BMW sports sedan! (335 or M3)

Subjective and debatable. One man's fun is not an across the board thing.

Maybe it is just me but a lot of the issues that cars are facing are performance issues rather than reliability issue. For example Ford got knocked down on reliability because you can feel the shifting of the transmission they also got knocked down because the myfordtouch screen is not as fast in terms of bringing up the screen, in other words you touch a button and it takes about 5-10 seconds for the screen to appear. Those to me are not reliability issues but rather performance issues.

Subjective and debatable. One man's fun is not an across the board thing.

Clearly you have never driven a BMW 335 or M3.

IMHO I believe the japanese car are unbeatable from a value for money standpoint: reliable, comfortable, safe, high performance, low gas consumption and more. Thus for lambda people - like me- , they are most likely the best car for the price.

But then, if you want something different, definitely, the german cars are one step ahead. But like in car racing - where the japanese cars are almost totally absent even though big investments - glitches are part of the game.

M3 the shockabsorbers are too stiff for my taste. Haven't rode a 335 since they are not imported here in Japan but if it's anything like a 330 then I say it's just preference. Nissan Skyline GT-R are less expensive and gives you a better performance.

BTW: prices are very subjective. I had an Infiniti 37 GX in Canada. There: 45,000 USD and in Europe 75,000 USD!

That was an as great car as the A6 2.7 Biturbo ABS I used to have before. Both excellent and performing in snow.

For the diesel fans.

It makes only sense for big cars driving long highway runs. Like Hybrids are good in town only. Small car and small milages does not require diesel, hence doe not make real sense in Tokyo. IMHO.

madcows: just jealous maybe!

I'm not a car addict but have had the chance to enjoy good ones. Now I am happy with my family Mazda Premacy too!

But if I can get a 535 any time, I will take it for sure!

samuraiblue: M3 too stiff! Are you kidding, this is a sport car! Obviously it is!

Now if you are looking for a car looking sport but soft, ... this is an other story!

Even sports cars have a limit in stiffness since I am not going to use it on a circuit for competition. There are also electronically controlled shocksabsorbers that changes it's stiffness depending on road condition, driving habits and whatnots but I guess I am asking too much for a 10 million yen car,,, or am I?

I bought an Accord.....and it's pretty boring. I went with the resale and reliability but I didn't realize just how much I wouldn't enjoy driving a car. It's not a bad car by any means, but I feel like I'm on anti-depressants when I drive it. Before that I had a Maxxima and before that I had a 1967 Mustang that I owned in high school and college. Even the Maxxima was a bit fun since it was the sporty model. The fact is, if I have to spend a single dime in repair or maintenance for this Accord then it's just not worth it. All of my import-crazed friends keep telling me it's a great car, but I notice we tend to take the "fun" cars a lot when we go out with a group and the Hondas and Toyotas stay parked.

Samuraiblue: M3 is the sport sport version of BMW. No point to buy it if you don't go on race track or don't like the stiffness

But that the problem of a lot of people, they want to drive GT cars to look cool while they can only enjoy the comfort of a plain luxury car.

It is not a matter of price. Assume your choice!

Overchan, sure you weren't putting petrol in your diesels? That'll kill them. I've had a succession of European diesels and get huge mileages from the engines. VW Golf, 170k miles, no problems and sold it on well. Audi A4, 220k miles, two broken bulbs and it sold on well. Currently have a BMW 1 series diesel in London, it's great. I've never come across anyone dissatisfied with the longevity of a European diesel, although I have met a good few who have killed them by miss fuelling.

Open Minded, my little BM gives nearly 50 mpg in town, that makes a lot if sense to me. Some of the smaller italian and french diesels offer 60 or more with stop/start fitted.

Dennis BauerOct. 30, 2012 - 05:51PM JST stereotypes much? Japanese cars not stylish? Mazda Rx-7, Subaru WRX (not the recent one), Mitsubishi EVO, Nissan Skyline. Then you have the Japanese Lexus (not my thing) and all those models that never get exported outside of Japan.

Japanese car designs are like fashions. After five to ten years, Most Japanese cars look outdated. If the Japanese cars are stylish, how many cars after twenty, thirty or forty years become a sought after collectors car? European stying evolves slowly and you will see alot of high end BMW M cars, MB SLS AMG, Porsche 911 Turbo , or Audi R8 that will become collectors cars for many serious investors.

DisillusionedOct. 30, 2012 - 01:53PM JST Really? Have you ever owned or driven a Subaru Legacy or WRX? They contain all the good points of the above cars cos Subaru bought the patents many years ago.

I actually like Subaru WRX STi. It's a great handling and serious performance car, but it's a very stiff car. The suspension is not set up for comfort on a long trip. If you have 6 cylinder BMW 330Ci, you can go low as 1200 rpm on a fifth gear on the manual transmission, and it will not bog or kill the engine, and has excellent linear power range all the way to top rpm without shifting a gear. You can't do that on most Japanese cars and I know that you can't do it on WRX. The engine will die.

There's a lot of nonsense being talked here. What is comfortable, or stylish or dynamic to drive for one person is not necessarily for another. Someone who wants to sink into a fluffy chair might feel 'comfortable' in French car or a one of those bland Japanese saloons. Someone who drives more enthusiastically would tell you a GTR or an M5 is 'comfortable'. They're both right and wrong. The consumer reports dircetor was quoted about Audi “They’re out-BMWing BMW, easily, in terms of the driving dynamics,” I would say that's bollox. I've driven boih and nothing could be further from the truth.

Yes, Japanese cars have come on in leaps and bounds since the 80s, but the people here who are rubbishing good brands because their friend had a German car that broke down whilst their Japanese car never did are not thinking clearly. There are just as many people around the world who had a lousy experience with their Japanese car falling to bits in 5 years whillst their VW never gave them any bother for 200,000 miles. I admire some Japanese cars. The new Toyota Type X looks, and appears to be, great. The affordable Skylines are marvellous. The Madza Roadster is probably the best convertible ever (in terms of fun/reliablility/value for money) But my brother had a Subaru WRX in the UK and it was just a fast tin box covered in tacky plastic. Sure, it was very 'reliable', but I couldn't have lived with it for more than a week any more than I would live with vinyl shoes compared to leather. "Quality' is subjective. To some it means the car is shiny. To some it means they hear the right sound when they close the door. To others it means that it doesn't ever need serviced or repaired.

There are some very good 'quality' cars from Japanese makers in terms of value for money. But if you want something Japanese at the higher end, you will really have to pay for it and it won't have the style and 'feel' of a similarly priced European car - from which most of it's features and design cues have been copied anyway. Just look at the more attractive Japanese cars and then see where the design features have come from. If you look at more Japanese design you end up with something really weird like a Toyota Prius or a Nissan CubeThe Japanese luxury cars are not always, but often, a mainstream cheaper model in a fancy suit. That can not be said of the better German brands who design for the top model and then remove the luxury. That's why they feel so much more involving to drive - to some.

The figures for 'reliability' are also easily skewed. They are based on complaints. People who buy a Benz or a BMW don't expect anything ever to be wrong so they certainly complain loudly if it is. Those who buy a Honda or a Mazda probably have lower expectations, and less likely to get as angry if their door mirror rattles.

cierzo98 Oct. 31, 2012 - 09:55AM JST People who buy a Benz or a BMW don't expect anything ever to be wrong so they certainly complain loudly if it is. Those who buy a Honda or a Mazda probably have lower expectations, and less likely to get as angry if their door mirror rattles.

Just like all cars, Benz and BMW does go wrong. However, people who buy Benz or a BMW tend to have better income and do have more expectations for buying a quality car. They also know that typical repair cost will likely cost double to three times that of the Japanese cars, but you enjoy the balance of the cars. If you have less money and looking for a quality vehicle, you might be better off buying fully loaded Honda Accord EX-L V6 or Acura TL then buying a entry level C-class Benz for the similar price. For the high end cars, the Lexas LS460 might be a better buy than the BMW 750Li. High end Lexus sedan is a great car. If you want a sports car without paying too much, the $70K Z06 Chevrolet Corvette will wipe out most of the European cars on any tracks. For Porsche, MB, BMW, or Audi to compete with Z06, you have to pay more than twice as much as the Corvette.

"Japanese cars are reliable but not durable nor stylish or fun. They're made for owners, not drivers

German cars are durable, timelessly stylish, fun to drive but not reliable (except anything made in the heyday of the 70s and 80s) and require regular maintenance."

how to become reliable without durability?

Subjective and debatable. One man's fun is not an across the board thing.

Clearly you have never driven a BMW 335 or M3.

Clearly you are missing the point.