Japanese vs European Car Reliability

[n2knee]

early MB's and BMW's are pretty reliable...ang tagal masira. ewan ko lang now

ngayon? powertrain is reliable. they just have electrical gremlins

[momoyster]

japanese of course.

[seonadancing]

I can take our Corolla anywhere, baha, bagyo, tanghaling tapat sa init but I'd think twice of using the BMW under those conditions. So i guess mas reliable yun Corolla. But then again, i think that after certain number of years, lalabas na talaga yun mga sakit ng kotse, Euro man o Jap.

[arif_moin]

For South Asian conditions, European cars are the CLEAR winner. For East Asia, it's the Japanese car. I'm comparing an Opel Astra with a Toyota Corolla. I've had both. The ride in the Corolla was only good on the national highways. On village/town roads, it ate dirt. The clutch plate wore off real fast because of this (at 15,000 kms) and it was a royal pain to get the parts. The rides on the Corolla on town/village roads was a nightmare. It was bumpy as hell. I needed to do computer alignment very often- it was just a plain pain. And the A/C never worked decently until I reached 50kmph at least- which is a practical impossibility in our towns.

Not so w/ the Astra. Even at crawling speeds, the A/C was very, very good. The Astra handled the town/ village roads much better. I can actually sleep while the someone else is on the wheel inside towns. 85,000 kilometers so far. Not a single major maintenance problem. I dunno if this is a generalization but I find Japanese cars are way too lightweight. If 'ya ask me, I'd say European because the cars adapt better to our conditions.

[basti08]

For South Asian conditions, European cars are the CLEAR winner. For East Asia, it's the Japanese car. I'm comparing an Opel Astra with a Toyota Corolla. I've had both. The ride in the Corolla was only good on the national highways. On village/town roads, it ate dirt. The clutch plate wore off real fast because of this (at 15,000 kms) and it was a royal pain to get the parts. The rides on the Corolla on town/village roads was a nightmare. It was bumpy as hell. I needed to do computer alignment very often- it was just a plain pain. And the A/C never worked decently until I reached 50kmph at least- which is a practical impossibility in our towns.

Not so w/ the Astra. Even at crawling speeds, the A/C was very, very good. The Astra handled the town/ village roads much better. I can actually sleep while the someone else is on the wheel inside towns. 85,000 kilometers so far. Not a single major maintenance problem. I dunno if this is a generalization but I find Japanese cars are way too lightweight. If 'ya ask me, I'd say European because the cars adapt better to our conditions.

i wish you could say that to an Opel Vectra and some early Volvo 850s that cant seem to adopt our tropical whether....

[Jun aka Pekto]

Oh. In regards to the thread title........ After a thorough test drive of many 2006 cars, We bucked the trends and decided to buy a 2006 3.3L Hyundai Sonata. After 7 months and 10.2k miles of hard driving, I'm still quite taken by it.

Reliability-wise, Hyundai was an unknown to us except for the crap reputation back in the 80's and 90's. So far, we're (still) delighted with the Sonata. First time something goes wrong, you'll hear it here, first.....

[orly_andico]

StraightSix was right on the money.

"European" ought to include Seat, Skoda, Peugeot, Citroen, Renault, Rover, Opel, Fiat..

Sebastian Loeb notwithstanding, the above-mentioned brands aren't exactly marquee brands. In fact I keep wondering why Citroen does so well in WRC (and the Mitsubishi Evo keeps dropping out due to mechanical problems) but on the street, in reality, Citroen's are worse reliability-wise.

When you say "European car" in the Philippines you always end up with a BMW or Merc. Which is not representative of European cars at all. Pinoys in the Philippines who buy Euro cars don't want a Seat or a Skoda, they want a BMW or a Merc. Hence the bottom-of-the-barrel sales figures for Peugeot locally.

[jnglzl9498]

first time to post a reply. Anyway I've been reading your posts, all of them of course are valid. But it really depends on your experience with the car. I have a 94 Honda Accord and a 2003 BMW 330ci. Reliability wise I would still go with my Honda (that's why I still have it). I probably have bought a lemon Bimmer but another friend of mine that owns an X3 never had to bring it to the dealer except for the scheduled maintenance. My 330ci had been to the dealer more than 5 times for unscheduled repairs for the past 3 years. I think the more electronic gizmos you got in your car, the more chances of having any of them breakdown. Hondas have more mechanical stuff than electronic that's why they don't break down easily. And that's why they are more affordable. Well, as they say back home, "In Fairness" to the bimmer, it's really the ultimate driving machine. You pay for the brand, and the handling. I would still buy another one if I get the opportunity.

[momoyster]

let me narrate my recent experience. 2 weeks ago, i went to makati medical center to accompany my mom. the car stayed under the heat for about 4 hours. as i preferred not to have our e46 tinted, the interior of the car was really hot when we finally left. habitually, i open all the windows in order to let the hot air escape, to aid the a/c cool down things. alas, when i was going to close the windows na, the right rear passenger window wouldn't go up and close. from makati to the dealer in libis, tiis kami sa init at usok kasi na nakabukas yung window. i have done this several times with our jap cars and a problem like this never occurred with them. i love our bmw, but the one thing i observed with it was that small quirks like this happen talaga every now and then. paid for that window regulator for 8k pesos

[OTEP]

Going back to the topic, it is hard to attribute reliabilty to what continent your vehicle came from or what badge it wears. It will always be a case to case, car to car situation. Though 'Asian' vehicles are deemed more reliable by a lot of non-car people. I'm assuming that this fact is associated with the ease of serviceability and abundance of third-party parts and services. Just recently, the tailgate actuator of the Volvo malfunctioned. How much is a replacement? Php18k. If that was an Asian vehicle, you'd probably be paying Php3k max for a door actuator (OEM from dealership). Php18k for the Volvo was not even at the dealership. It was from a third-party specialist (dealer charges more) and did not include instillation.

Some European vehicles (e.g. MB W123 series) are inherently reliable and are very serviceable. The cost of maintenance is nowhere near that of, say a 2006 Civic. But they don't make Mercs like that anymore.

Some reactions:

kelangan kasi pumasa sa standards ng U.S. like most of jap cars in pinas are unfit for U.S. highways

The U.S. does not set standards for reliability. Cars are modified to pass safety and emissions regulations only. And frankly, sometimes the results can be ugly. That's why ex-EUDM Benzes are still preferred over ex-USDM Benzes over here. Some models even required reverse engineering just to comply to NHTSA standard. The situation was even worse in the 80's. Imagine having to dump excellent E-code headlamps so you could force-fit crappy sealed beams? Well, that was the law then.

And most of these vehicles come from the same factory anyway. The guy on the line just happens to put in a different part depending on what he sees on the build sheet. Much the same as the Land Cruiser plant in Japan builds the LHD, RHD, Oz, Mid-East spec, JDM Land Cruiser. They're the same guys just slapping on different parts.

The Toyota Prado is Lexus GX series in the U.S. and they are built at Toyota's LC120 factory. The Nissan Patrol is not suited for the U.S. primarily because it will compete with other Nissan Products developed specifically for the U.S. The U.S. SUV market does not care about live axles, difflocks, dual fuel tanks, etc. They just want a cushy ride, good power, and the most LCD monitors you can cram into the cabin. Nissan already has the Xterra, Pathfinder, and Armada. The Patrol will simply not fit in with their strategy. Nor would they want to 'water-down' a Patrol as it is immensely successful in most other parts of the world and almost rivals the Land Rover Defender in its presence in developing countries, civil conflicts, and military usage. Btw, the Patrol was never designed and tested to be federalized. Hence, it is wrong to say that 'it did not pass'.

By the way, the MB100 is not European, it's Indonesian

The MB100 is only called the "Istana" (Indonesian for 'Palace') but it was made by Ssangyong in Korea. However, the Korean Istana is heavily based on the European MB100. Most of the changes from German to Korean involved cosmetics (including a totally new body and interior). But the bones are basically the same.

diesels are also banned on passenger cars,vans and suvs.

Diesels are not banned in the U.S. It's just nobody is selling them considering the stringent standards, the higher price of diesel, and the low volumes they expect to sell. However, Mercedes Benz, Volkswagen, Jeep and a host of other carmakers do offer diesel-powered models from time to time.

its a piece of **** in the US, like the focus which everyones talking about.

We have the European Focus here. I don't like cars much, but to conclude the Euro Focus as a P.O.S.?

euro vehicles that you see in pinas are from korea

Our 850 came from Sweden. The Merc took a boat from Germany.

[seonadancing]

Tag ulan na naman, yun corolla namin kahit hangang bumper yun baha sinugod ko pero yun BMW malakas lang ulan takot na ako mabasa yun computer box. =(

[ronald_m]

Tag ulan na naman, yun corolla namin kahit hangang bumper yun baha sinugod ko pero yun BMW malakas lang ulan takot na ako mabasa yun computer box. =(

bmw= computer box+ sensor.

[ronald_m]

If we're talking about RELIABLITY japaneese handsdown. But if we're talking about riding in style ofcourse German car.

[topgun]

japanese are the best in quality look at lexus and infiniti their quality is at par if not better than BMW or BENZ

[wulf]

reliability is relative

you can RELY on a japanese car to be relatively easier & cheaper to maintain
& you can RELY on a euro car to take you there in a style no jap brand can

these are, of course, relatively speaking

[jarhead]

as my experience.... german cars ako like mercedes.. we have an old mercedes 123 body 240D model, 1982. til now it stil runs good and mas reliable i.travel compare sa japanese cars we have... mura lng din ang parts compare sa japanese... but meron naman din euro brand dat is like the japanese quality... but hindi naman well known d2 sa pinas...

[ronald_m]

as my experience.... german cars ako like mercedes.. we have an old mercedes 123 body 240D model, 1982. til now it stil runs good and mas reliable i.travel compare sa japanese cars we have... mura lng din ang parts compare sa japanese... but meron naman din euro brand dat is like the japanese quality... but hindi naman well known d2 sa pinas...

Those were the exceptions, w123 body especially diesel is a BULLETPROOF.I can tell you right now 1998-up Mercedes are headaches.

[Jack-POGI]

ako loyal ako sa Japanese Car....para sa akin Mercedez lang at BMW ang ok na brand kung EURO Car ang bibilhin mo other than that crap na lahat....why? kasi bagong-bago ang kotse pero ang makina tunog taxi na.....dami kong nakakasabay lagi sa freeway turnoff talaga ang condition ng mga makina nila....cost of maintenance and ownership naman Japs Car pa din mas mababa ang road tax .....by the way i own a Honda Civic pala.

[theveed]

I don't think it's even debateable, worldwide, consumer satisfaction surveys are universally similar, Toyota/Lexus tops the list, so does most Japanese cars... Hyundai rates so much higher than Mercs in reliability.

As for 70's and 80's car, why are we even bothering to compare those? Reliability of those cars are dependent on one thing only... MAINTENANCE.

For every proud pristine W123 out there, I can find you 20 that are crap.

[oliver1013]

A friend once told me if you need an everyday car, get japanese. If you are the "Im a passionate car owner" type and have the money to spend go euro. By the way he drives a bimmer and a camry.