why is it that many nigerians are always fund of japanese cars like honda,kia,toyota,mitsubishi,nissan...etc aside fuel economy maybe cheaper parts in market.
i still have respect for german cars and american cars like mercedes benz.bmw,volvo,ford,...etc.
i believe they give far more better driving experience in terms of handling,acceleration,stability and longitivity...
i stand corrected.

am glad u understand d engineering of machines and comfort in what u buy and what good driving experience entails ,but what surprise me is that these cars are cheaper in nigeria compared to the japaneese cars flocking our nigerian road which are very expensive these days...
can we sum it as penny wise pound foolish?
bcause of wht local mechanics have made people believe

yosmen: am glad u understand d engineering of machines and comfort in what u buy and what good driving experience entails ,but what surprise me is that these cars are cheaper in nigeria compared to the japaneese cars flocking our nigerian road which are very expensive these days...
can we sum it as penny wise pound foolish?
bcause of wht local mechanics have made people believe

They aren't cheap as new and tokunbo. They cost more. But the problem is they don't have resale value in Nigeria. Thats why they are cheaper as used cars in here. Not really because of the mechanics influence, but this thing "Everybody does it". Even when their so called the most RELIABLE brands are draining them dry with repairs, yet "the car doesn't give me problem", they would claim.

Take a look at all the threads in this newly created section, do the counting. 75, if not 80 percent of threads with various car issues are all Japmobiles, as Siena would call them. I now wonder, " whats the defference with the issues they are having from the Euro and American autos?" Its just a mindset, if you ask me.

Yes. Globally, the Japanese vehicles are know to be very reliable. Not disputing the fact. But like Siena has always pointed out, people would jump from Japmobiles to Euro/Amercian cars, with the same maintenance strength, not knowing that they are not toys to be played with. The next thing you will hear is "these brands are nightmares!" Whose fault it is? One needs to step up his maintenance finacial strength and with more attention, for one to really keep the western mobiles on the road and in good shape, unlike the Eastern mobiles. They are not bon-boy cars.

Another point is that the Japanese car electrics are simply, not as complex as the Euro cars. So they can take some of the electrical abuses Nigerian rewires dish out on them, but not the Euro ones. Make that mistake and your nightmare begins.

But i do respect one Japmobile brand. That is Nissan. When it comes to performance cars, they are good at it. As far as am concerned, they stand out from the rest of the Japmobiles. Talking about Nissan Skyline. Even some of their family cars are good as well. The Koreans are really catching up. If care is not taken; if the Japanese takes Koreans for granted, they will overtake them, with serious speed and gap, i tell you!

Ikenna.

Some would also claim that Asian cars conserve or consume less fuel than the Euro or American cars. I would wonder, "which generation do they still live in?"

In 2010, someone very close to me hired a Peugeot 406 (Auto Star Transport company) to move her stuffs down to East from Abuja. It was fully loaded. According to her, the driver only refilled the fuel tank once before they took off from Abuja. 406 full tank is 70 litres,by the way. The car A/C was on throughout the whole journey. And accoding to her, not even once was the A/C switched off till they arrived Anambra state by 1pm, a journey they set out by 7am. They did not stop to refill the fuel tank on their way. Even though she told me, when i asked, that she didnt check the fuel guage to know what was remianing when they got to their destination, but it was clear that there must have been enough fuel left in the tank for the driver not to have bothered to drive into any fuel station on their tway. Remember, with A/C constantly on. And the journey was about 600+ km. Unbelievable!

People still use old E-class benz (flat boot and V-boot) & Peugeot 504 as yardstick that Euro cars drink fuel like fish. Sorry, they have step up in their games too. Its called Technology! I dont recall Asians having Patent on the word Technology.

Ikenna.

japanese

You also need to understand how cars are built based on the environment the car will likely be driven on.

In America, most will drive on the highway which requires you to go from 40mph to 70mph very fast.Most car are V6 and luxurious ones carry V8 you get to drive 80mph at 1500rpm so fuel economy average is more of highway mileage. This was normal when oil was cheap but now they are going to turbo 4s and most have deleted the V6 options from their sedans and and turbo 6s on full size trucks, the snafu here is that turbos cost ~$1500 to replace.

The Japanese drive mainly with the city and they don't really have a lot of oil, so they build their cars with fuel economy in mind so have smaller engines.

Germans with a mix of city and highway, no oil build aspirated small engines more wit power of V6 on a 4cyl engine.

Reliability can be resolved by following manufacturers schedule and the more gizmo that comes with your car the the more you are likely to have problems.

the rate japaneese cars always have problems with wheels is high.its one of the major things u will always observe in a mechanic workshop.change tyre,change shock,alignment...but other brands i guess r more durable yet only few people have taken time to reason this

the OP has raised up a good topic. I keep wondering too, why somebody will price my bmw cheaper than a '94 camry...
I look in a camry, it's bland. 2.2l@135hp...Very basic (talking about '94 to 2001). A bmw e36 (e.g my 1994 320i, 2.0@150hp)- two different cars. The bmw has an OBC. It gives 'range' numbers, you can program the car to lock using the 'code' in the on-board computer, MPG figures are clearly interpreted there (reading can be switched from km to miles and vice versa), external temperature guage, speed warning indiccator, rain sensing wipers, different driving modes (sports, winter and economy), 5speed auto, speed limit can be set, memory clock, check control for windscreen washer, headlamps and tail lights, indicates by reducing bars when engine service is required, displays 'service inspection' etc. All in a 1993 production 1994 bmw!
I thot to myself, this was one of the best cars in its time. I doubt if a camry or honda of same age have these 'easy to read' features...performance is awesome. Car has been so so reliable for over a year now. I get 20mpg around town, not so bad for a 6-potter. So in my opinion, the euro cars are more of what i would like to drive and own, used a '99 camry with my cousin, was full of troubles sometimes

shocks always failing, inshort suspension was a general issue with that car, though the engine was very good...that was one good thing about it, even at 192,000km