Jap Cars

[Welly]

Driving home last night I started thinking about the cars I've had and which were trouble for me etc...

I concluded that the Jap cars I'd had, although 'reliable', were the worst for costly faults.

The Honda VTEC - Electronic Faults, Distributor Failure (£££££££), Suspension problems, Aircon Problems, stupidly complex exhaust system, crap brakes.

The Mazda MX6 - - Electrical Faults, Seat mechanism jammed, valve train issues, 17mpg issues, only kept it for 8 months, crap brakes.

The Mitsubeshit FTO - Gearbox trouble, Valve train noise, Aux Belt pulleys made of chocolate, air con problems a plenty, foul stinking Air Con couldn't be fixed, climate with a mind of its own, extremely noisy drive crap breaks.

Whilst these things are sort of 'normal' in motoring to compare with the cheapo Fords and Vauxhalls, and even Peugeots I've had they had nowhere near the same problems and if they did then it was cheap and easy to fix. When a Jap car goes wrong all hell breaks loose and there's plenty of money changing hands

Discuss.......

Wiggy can go first

[lozz]

Pre 90s japs where good,
very reliable and theyd run on fumes,

Moderner stuff is to expensive for parts, even breaker parts prices are a joke,

Nissan micras are about as good as it gets in the jap world, parts prices are resonable and theyre economical
altho not much room

[Doggy]

Only one I've owned was a 200SX which was reliable - only thing it had apart from routine servicing was a siezed bonnet hinge, replacement about £20.

Most expensive car (to buy) I've ever owned, started to have depreciation kittens, so unloaded it after 11 months, for £250 less than it cost. Relieved Doggy.

[waue1978]

Only Japmobile I've had was the 3.0 TD Hilux Surf. Never missed a beat in the 4 months that I owned it.

It also never returned more than 28mpg...

[OllieNZ]

Being from New Zealand orginally I've owned a string of japs all been great cars you just have to pick and choose wisely as some can be complete and utter lemons.
1976 mazda b1600 pickup, my first car had a 4 speed column shift and did bunouts in third gear
1988 misubishi galant vr4, 350bhp, 4wd, 4ws rally bred monster. nuff said
1986 lj70 toyota landcruiser SWB, went 2 weeks with no coolant after I tore the lower rad hose offroading , hard as nails.
1995 mitsubishi diamante 2.5 v6 with tiptronic trans, despite its age still the nicest most highly spec'd car I've owned
1995 toyota hilux surf 3ltr td, no probs very smooth
1994 mitsubishi pajero 2.8td, didnt like the gearbox, had to replace water pump £23 and about an hours work.

All in all Ive never had any major probs but like I said its a matter of picking the right models, I would never own a 2.4td surf, a 2.5td pajero or a 3l mivec diamante as all can have major(expensive)issuses

Regards
Ollie

[steve_earwig]

I'm told that up until 1998/99 Japanese cars were indeed wonderful, after that they're rubbish.

[plod]

I've yet to own a Jap car, although always lusted after a car my bro had - Mitsubishi Starion 2.6 Wide body
He used to show it, and he stripped all the emissions of and did a bit more work to it
Great fun when we went round Castle Coombe - although he had to pull off in the end as it was getting warm - my bro attributed it to the fact he'd painted the rad

[lozz]

Best jap car ive owned was a Mazda 323 mk2 exec,
that thing couid fly, it only did around 14mpg tho but it was a good 150bhp,

[Captain Jack]

I agree with regards to pre/post 90's issues. My friend had a 1996 Mitsi Colt 1.6L engine (the smaller version of the 1.8 found in the FTO) and he never even as much changed oil in it in the three years that he owned it - super reliability.

My 2005 Honda Accord had no end of problems. Clutch slipped at 90k (replaced under warranty), creaky clutch pedal (master cylinder - never replaced, would have cost around £200 at the dealers to replace), cracked exhaust manifold - smelly cabin when parked (replaced under main dealer warranty). The final straw was the turbo failure, which would cost nearly £2000 to replace at the dealers (never bothered to find the price elsewhere). Thought enough is enough, and claimed it a write off at the insurance. Gone back to my current 406 3 years ago - best move I've ever done.

Never again.

As my dad calls them - JapCrap

[robb]

The most reliable car I had was a Toyota Townace it was in immaculate condition with only 80,000 on the clock it was my pride and joy but a woman arse ended me and wrote it off

[Welly]

Hmmm, this hasn't gone along the lines I thought it would

I think that, although well made, when they do go wrong it's gonna cost a lot. A typical example is an Alternator - a Jap unit is very expensive with variable output etc (are they all like that now?) but a Ford/Vauxhall one is just an alternator.....

Same thing with starter motors, door solenoids, window motors....

Maybe I should attack this thread from another angle............Jap cars are Boring!

[robb]

Youre right they were boring because I had to do nowt to it apart from modify the thermostat which only entailed drilling two holes in it

[lozz]

Nowt wrong with jap engines, well some diesel ones anyway,

if you look at Vauxhall astras theres an isuzu engine inthem, they go round the clock twice,

[highlander]

they go round the clock twice,

New, from Vauxhall, the car with the 48-hour lifespan

[steve_earwig]

But those Isuzu lumps were good, the ones they have now certainly wouldn't.

Incidentaly on the Toy Otter forum the later RAV 180 diesels have almost all had their engines replaced under warranty, some twice. There's one guy on there that's trying to trade his one in but the dealers won't touch it with a shitty stick. Imagine owning one when it's out of warranty...