Euro Vs Jap

RobAMerc

This thread may cause some angry words but....

Does anyone else out there have a dislike of Jap cars over European?


Does anyone else feel the Toyota Corrolla is epitome of I dont care what I drive, I know nothing about cars, it's just for going from a2b, type thinking ?

Kimbot

The corolla has always been a reliable car in all fairness!! I have one and I have never had any troubles with it at all!!

I am starting to like Euro cars a lot but for some instances I like Jap!!

RobAMerc

jonny24ie wrote:

The corolla has always been a reliable car in all fairness!! I have one and I have never had any troubles with it at all!!

I am starting to like Euro cars a lot but for some instances I like Jap!!

Too boring to even break down maybe?

RobAMerc

RobAMerc wrote:

This thread may cause some angry words but....

Does anyone else out there have a dislike of Jap cars over European?


Does anyone else feel the Toyota Corrolla is epitome of I dont care what I drive, I know nothing about cars, it's just for going from a2b, type thinking ?

Yeah my thoughts exactly. Pretty much all of toyota range.

Kimbot

RobAMerc wrote:

Too boring to even break down maybe?

Possibly, but if you are looking for a reliable car with a small bit of poke it is an ideal car to have!!
Not that hard to do repair work on either!!
I have had mine for 2 years now and not one ounce of trouble, has enough poke in it to do me aswell, I didn't want to be getting behind the wheel of a massive BHP monster and the corolla for me was the ideal inbetween car to have from 1.0l to the Corolla 1.4l to my next car which will possibly be a 2.0 turbo!!

peasant

I dont care what I drive, I know nothing about cars, it's just for going from a2b, type thinking ?

Well ...there is a segment of the market that thinks exactly that ... and why wouldn't they ...

To some people a car is nothing more than just another appliance. nothing wrong with that ...just not for everybody.

And yes, I would agree with you that a lot of far eastern (not just Japanese) cars fall into the "white goods" category.

But nobody is forcing you to buy them, are they?

Kaskade

I think that used to be the case with Toyota being I dont care about what I drive but now Hyundai and the Koreans seem to be taking over this role.

If you really didnt care you could go for the Kia with the 7 year warranty?

colm_mcm

I thought people who know nothing about cars buy Audi's?

Stephen

You can't blanket-brand all Jap cars as inferior. They make some great high performance motors, and the likes of the Honda Accord is just as good as its European competitors.

Mitch Connor

Mazda produce some nice motors.

overdriver

To be honest, I think this is the kind of crap people come out with when they want others to think they know about cars. " Toyotas are boring...". What, ALL of them? The Celica? Boring? No. The Corolla maybe. But it does what it says on the tin without all the drama of unreliabilty. That's not a bad thing.

Some European cars are boring too - the Mondeo, the Golf, the Bora, the V40, the S40...


But give me reliable and competent boredom any day. I like to GET where I'm going with the minimum of hassle. I don't need to factor in my "quirky" Fiat while I'm at it.

colm_mcm

The Germans have made their share of boring cars too!

pburns

There's a certain amount of truth in what the OP says but it's becoming less true with each passing year. As someone else said the Koreans are taking over the 'A-B/must-have-a-07-reg-and-warranty' brigade

Some Jap cars that are (arguably) at least as interesting (and more reliable to boot) than Euro counterparts:

Small Car: Suzuki Swift.
Family Hatch: Civic
Medium: Mazda 6, Accord (both getting on a bit but still lovely motors)
Prestige: Well how about this marque - now coming to Europe. The Lexus IS is better-looking than a 3-series and better all-round than a A4/C-Class.
Sports: 350Z, RX-8. Scooies & Evos - the Japs have this segment cracked...

tacklemore

Its impossible to beat the Japs! I had a 1990 Honda Civic, sold it last summer. It was a brilliant car, passed the NCT first time. Nice and nippy. Now driving a Toyota Corolla. Not as nippy, but smooth drive, and very easy to work on. Starts everytime I turn the key. My g/f had a fiesta, broke her heart. Her mum has a Renault, which is acting up alot these days, a friend of mine had a Passat and the wishbone snapped, sending him into the ditch. Another friend had had a golf, and the gearbox kicked the bucket after 70k miles. Volkswagons are suffering from alot of relaibility problems these days.
Another thing is that Mazda are owned by Ford now.

RobAMerc

I never mentioned High Performance cars they make some excellent and fun fast cars. (in fairness give me a rwd corrolla twin cam over any of its competitors), and in fairness the far east dont have a monopoly on bordom either.

But Pesant put it perfectly, eurpean cars dont have that "white goods" factor that the far eastern cars do, soulless biscuit tins imo

prospect

It all depends on what you want in a car.

I always admired jap cars for what they are, and ditto european cars.

Personally, I find that european cars generally have more flair. I think the Japs generally fall flat when it comes to interiors and overall style. Take the EVO and Impreza top spec cars. The interiors are sh1t. Cheap plastics, all black and grey, dark and dull. I was in a 350z a while back, and the interior was just dreadful. I do not think I was ever in a Jap car that was beautifully designed throughout.

BrianD3

I personally find most VWs and modern Skodas more boring than Japanese cars. Opels are not exactly exciting and neither are "cheap" Audis, BMWs or Mercs. We have a couple of Fords in the family and apart from their excellent handling are very dull and boring. The Mk2 Focus is particularly bad in this regard and is a real disappointment after the original Focus. Peugeot have lost the plot in recent years although there are signs of a comeback. Saab have really gone downhill - are they really any less boring these days than say a Lexus. I'd have a Lexus over a modern Saab any day.

IMO the only European manufacturers producing cars with flair and cost <40k are Alfa, Fiat, Citroen and Renault.

I just saw a new Corolla saloon after initially thinking it was a Lexus. Not a very exciting car but I prefer the looks to the Jetta or Focus. Would have a similar view of the Civic saloon and as for the Civic hatch - that is one of the most interesting looking family cars on the market today. And if I was looking at small cars i;d have a Suzuki Swift before a Corsa, Fiesta or Polo.

Rowley Birkin QC

RobAMerc wrote:

Does anyone else feel the Toyota Corrolla is epitome of I dont care what I drive, I know nothing about cars, it's just for going from a2b, type thinking ?

My nomination for this award is the Nissan Micra.

Corollas, in fairness, arent that bad. Well screwed together, bulletproof reliability and theres always someone looking for a second hand one.

Also when you look back the years to the Levins, GT Coup's and GTI's they really cant be classed as total boredom-machines.

zuutroy

Toyota Sera FTW! Though that idea's nearly 20 years old.

cpoh1

I think for the basic run around non jap cars are equally boring.

Is anyone saying the mk1 1.4L focus is any better to drive or look at than the corolla, both are truly horrible bland cars in every way imo.

What about the opel corsa, fiat punto, renault clio? Horrible nags of cars the lot of them. Just like the bottom spec jap cars.

All cheap run around cars are horribly awful be they jap american or european.

Biro

Corolla, granted, boring and dull.... but in all fairness, whats a golf? Boring and dull. So wheres the difference? Do I want boring A or boring B? There's boring cars from every country.
Audi however have recently come up with one of the most exciting cars on the market now... the new R8! Pure class.

JHMEG

Virtually every other car in the same class as the Corolla, except the new Civic, is just as boring (or more so), including the European ones. In fact they're all so bland I can't remember any of them except the Focus as it's fsck ugly.

maidhc

JHMEG wrote:

Virtually every other car in the same class as the Corolla, except the new Civic, is just as boring (or more so), including the European ones. In fact they're all so bland I can't remember any of them except the Focus as it's fsck ugly.

I know you love Hondas.... but the Civic hatch isn't all that pretty. The Saloon is nice though. The current corolla is actually nice looking IMO. If it was a Honda people would be saying more positive things. Not sure how the focus is offensive looking!

I prefer European cars, its a subjective thing, but they just have more class and tend to be that bit more imaginative.

Can you imagine the Ford Scorpio coming from japan? The original Golf GTi? Mercedes gullwing? Rover SD1? Alfa 156? Ford KA? BMW 2002? Not all great cars, but original.

I was flicking through a book recently in Waterstones about Toyotas business. In the book they considered the development of the Lexus LS400. They gave pages of stats about how the LS was lighter, faster, quieter and more economical than a 7 series. If you compare both today, despite its merits, the LS seems much less than the sum of its specifications and far less desirable than elderly and probably technically inferior 7 series. Somewhere though the japs miss the point that they are building cars, and not fridges.

I have a feeling this thread will go around in circles!

cpoh1

Maidhc im not going to get into a slagging match here but...all you have done in the post above is regurgitate established views other people have wrongly made about japanese cars. You need to go away and look at some of teh jap cars made throughout history. What did the european car market make in the 90's??? The E36 M3 and E39 M5 and a couple of average (imo!) S and RS badged cars from Audi. The japs gave us the skyline gtr, supra tt, rotary rx7, silvias, and the lancer evo. Some of the most creative and grounbreaking supercars in the market at the time. Lets not forget the ae86 twin cam, kp rwd starlets, mk2 crx from the 80's also.

So while you might thing the alfa 156, "2002 bmw" and ka are all original theyve all been done before by the japs. For ka look at the old charade gti and the bmw the rs200, twice the car the bm will ever be (when compared with its equivalent 4 pot).

Im not denying that european cars have heritage, but to say that the jaops dont make cars with character is naive at best.

prospect

JHMEG wrote:

Virtually every other car in the same class as the Corolla, except the new Civic, is just as boring (or more so), including the European ones. In fact they're all so bland I can't remember any of them except the Focus as it's fsck ugly.

Well, I am biased, but the Alfa 147 is a far more beautiful car inside and out.

Cpoh1, I for one would be inclined to go european over jap any day. I do agree with regarding the technical achievements of the japanese cars. but to be they are all function and no form.

maidhc

cpoh1 wrote:

Maidhc im not going to get into a slagging match here but...all you have done in the post above is regurgitate established views other people have wrongly made about japanese cars. You need to go away and look at some of teh jap cars made throughout history. What did the european car market make in the 90's??? The E36 M3 and E39 M5 and a couple of average (imo!) S and RS badged cars from Audi. The japs gave us the skyline gtr, supra tt, rotary rx7, silvias, and the lancer evo. Some of the most creative and grounbreaking supercars in the market at the time. Lets not forget the ae86 twin cam, kp rwd starlets, mk2 crx from the 80's also.

So while you might thing the alfa 156, "2002 bmw" and ka are all original theyve all been done before by the japs. For ka look at the old charade gti and the bmw the rs200, twice the car the bm will ever be (when compared with its equivalent 4 pot).

Im not denying that european cars have heritage, but to say that the japs dont make cars with character is naive at best.

Not denying the Japs are great engineers, nor denying that they make fast cars.

I tried to pick a few imaginative european cars off the top of my head that could never have come from Japan. Not fast, exclusive, or "cool". Some, like the SD1 and Scorpio are pretty flawed. But they are different. Most of the fast cars you mentioned above even look the same!

Another european car I forgot is Alec Issigonis' Mini. Small, slow, cramped, but it has had a bigger impact on motoring that all the souped up jap cars put together.

For the most part the japs just get an idea. Copy it, make it appear better on paper, but the result rarely translates into reality quite as it should.

As I said my view is completely subjective. I am not going to compare an M3 to a skyline, because I have driven neither. However for me a bog standard Mondeo beats a bog standard Avensis any day.

unkel

Rather than going with the thread title, I'd just go with OPs specific question:

RobAMerc wrote:

Does anyone else feel the Toyota Corrolla is epitome of I dont care what I drive, I know nothing about cars, it's just for going from a2b, type thinking ?

Not necessarily about not knowing anything about cars. I'd credit the typical Corolla buyer with knowing they are getting a reliable car that holds its value well and is easy to sell on

It's also about priorities and affordability. What we would like to drive is most often not what we actually do drive

Having said that, the most boring car I have ever driven was indeed a (current but pre face-lift model) Toyota Corolla

Tanabe

Give me Jap over Euro ANY DAY;)

Most of the time the Jap cars have a better spec. And of course if you're talking high performance it's Jap hands down all the way.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Cmar-Ireland

Jap all the way!!!
The Corolla is the best selling car in the world, having sold over 32 Million since '66

Somehow, I don't think over 32,000,000 people are wrong!

bazz26

Cmar-Ireland wrote:

Jap all the way!!!
The Corolla is the best selling car in the world, having sold over 32 Million since '66

Somehow, I don't think over 32,000,000 people are wrong!

Indeed, they are obviously tapping into something that alot of people want over the years.

I think in general you have to judge the type of car in the market it is sold rather than who makes it or where it is made, i.e. The Golf/Corolla/Almera/Astra/Focus are all incredibly boring to look at and sit in yet they are not all made in Japan. They are medium sized main stream family cars which are designed with practicality, reliability and economy as their main selling points aimed at the small family. Where they are made or designed is irrelevant imo.

overdriver

In the 70's, 80's and 90's, if I were a European car manufacturer, and getting my ass kicked every year in reliabilty and price by the Japs, what would I say to discredit them? Hmmmmm....