WHICH Asian Products Are The CLOSEST To The Germans? Does It Matter To YOU?

Most likely the Koreans, as the Koreans are desperate to make their cars affordable and perform well all at the same time. Not to mention the Koreans just hired the former BMW M engineer, and even the Bentley & Audi designers.

It's like, you don't even have to look at the Japanese anymore, which is practically good for NOTHING in today's era. What good is Lexus? When all that they can do is to make reliable and boring cars with blend interior design. And yet, OVERPRICED. Really shows the Japanese arrogance. Do you guys know about Netouyo, aka the Internet Right Wingers of Japan? There may not be a lot of those guys, but they sure have the strong influence upon the Japanese society, as they have succeeded on turning Japan into an Anti-Korea country or something. And guess what, the U.N. and the U.S. both warned Japan for their crap ton of hate speeches against the Koreans, but the Japanese government doesn't give a damn, as Japan does NOT even know what the human rights even are.

The Japanese are DESPERATE and now all that they have is strong inferiority complex towards the Koreans. Because guess what, Sony is garbage when Samsung is doing well, Lexus is now almost forgotten when Hyundai is rising, and Seiko? Who cares about Seiko?

Not to mention, Japan does NOT wish to take responsibility for their Fukushima radiation which has now reached the Western part of the North American continent.

And I have seen a lot of foolish Americans who actually believe the Americans are the arrogant ones, and the Japanese are some kind of innocent saints who never know how to hate anyone else. This is why ignorance is bliss.

My conclusion is, I wouldn't even consider buying a Hyundai/Kia or even compare such brands to mighty German brands, but if I had to pick any from the Asian brands, then well, I would say the Koreans.

I think JDMUSMuscle is back....

No one is back. You are only fooling yourself by trolling.

You've talked about how crappy GX and LX were in the past, and now all of a sudden you bash the German cars.

And yet, you bought your wife a Mercedes? And even had to convince her to buy it?

Given that Asian products tend to have better reliability and equal or usually better longevity, the real question is which of the Germans measure up to the Asians.

The Lexus ES is a great reason NOT to buy an Audi A4.

The Genesis is a great reason NOT to buy any of several German sedans.

The Germans are incapable of making anything like a Miata or a GT86--and yes both need more power--but they are true sports cars that will give years of enjoyment.

Though the Nissan GTR is a bit of a fragile thing, it easily gives the 911 a run for its money and to be honest, the 911 has its own niggling issues.

I'd go Asian or American over German any day of the week.

@MDarringer

The problem is we NEVER hear in the press about the Germans chasing the Asians in any regard. Yes there is ground to make up but it isn't mentioned. Why?

I believe at this time the "copy and refine" philosophy widely used by the majority of Asian brands is failing fast in a generation where the "next new thing" and short term ownership is more valued.

The average lease now is 2 to 3 years and that new car buyer wants something new and different every time. So to keep a model around for 5 years without significant styling updates will most likely make the buyer move on to something new.

Reliability in that short of a time frame is also not much of an issue either, as many brand weaknesses show up well beyond the first owner.

So while I am not arguing your examples (I think they are spot on) they do not fit the average buyer now a days since they have the vehicle for such a short time.

Now if you do like I do and tend to buy a CPO model and hang on to it for 100,000 miles then points you make hold much value.

@Agent009...WHY would the Germans chase the Asians when their cultural bigotry protects them from the reality that Asian cars are more reliable, break less, last longer, and are infinitely less costly to repair.

I would NEVER buy a CPO German product and drive it another 100K miles.

@TomM Asian cars EASILY surpass the Germans on reliability, durability, and low cost of ownership. You are free to be an unapologetic German-car bigot, but the Germans are high maintenance and high expense to drive long term.

Cue your prattle about how your S600 has 7 million miles on it and is as good as new...

M, sorry, the only thing you talked about was "reliability".

If reliability is all that you are worried about, then you should've bought your wife a GX, instead of Mercedes-Benz.

And maybe you shouldn't be working for Ford anymore, I assume it is time for you to move on and send your resume to your local Lexus dealership. Because hey, it is the JAPANESE who make fun of the American cars and talk about all those American cars having bad quality, bad reliability and pretty much all kind of bad reputation.

If you much prefer the Japanese cars that badly, then I could suggest you to buy the most "luxurious", and the most "reliable" cars on the market, Acura Civic or whatever the hell it is called, and also, Lexus LX. I mean, you have been complaining about the whole LX and GX stuff, and now you talk about how great the Asian cars are..."only" in reliability. Do you think reliability is all that really matters? Well, it does, sure, if you are poor that is. I don't remember going to my dealership for any repairs for my Escalade and Mustang.

GTR, Acura, Lexus High performance models and Genesis is the ONLY Korean that I would compare to some Germans brands...I still prefer the Japanese over Koreans because the quality still above them and the numbers say so. I see a lot of old Japanese cars and less Koreans.

Although this will raise the ire of German car bigots that march in jackbooted joy when one of the Germans debuts anything no matter how banal, a Kia Optima SXL versus the base A4 is not a slam dunk for the A4. The Optima has what it takes to be compared and that is amazing given that it does not compete directly with the A4.

Except the Optima's interior is many grades behind the A4. You pay for the quality of materials used, although the Asians like us to forget that when doing a comparison of options.

MDarringer: I do not like what you but agree, you are totally right. Japanese are not arrogant but disciplined workers looking for perfection.

Sorry MDarringer and Yonder7 - but I do not agree
The Japanese make ugly boring but reliable cars that reach to the level of almost premium - the Lexus and Infiniti are good Volvo and Buick Competitors - but not higher. While the Koreans are now making better cars -they are still largely appliances. While I agree that VW makes garbage - and most asian manufacturers make a better car than they do - overall - they simply do not compete with the premium German vehicles.
And the high end German vehicles made in England lead the world

disciplined workers lol!!! This is why ignorance is a scary thing. The ONLY way for the Asian brands to survive, is to make reliable appliances and they know it, which is why they merely just focus on making soulless appliances. Does anyone feel the need to pay so much for the LX or GX? When you see them as such highly valuable vehicles, I wonder why almost no one really finds them appealing?

And just so you know, in Japan, many people die of Karoshi, which means death due to overwork. Many employees working at the automakers in Japan are working for many hours with almost no rewards.

But then again, what would you know anything about Japan anyway? Probably you are someone who sees some Japanese Anime and go "Oh wow, so lovely. I bet Japan must be one of the greatest countries in the world!" lol!

Interesting conversation.
Korean cars - great value, reliable, nice features, no fun going from a to b
Japanese cars - ok value, reliable, nice features, some are a little fun going from a to b
Germans - reliable (owners more picky and bitch about little things comparatively), pay for features, journey is much more fun.

So what would the Germans chase? I could see them chasing value and feature content but as long as the demand keeps up for German cars I doubt they will go down that road. Instead of the cost or traditional value proposition the Germans will instead focus on the more subjective aspects of car ownership. Do you want to drive it? Do you feel good about driving it? Is it an experience you want day in and day out? Does it make your journey enjoyable? Exciting? Personally I would rather drive a stripper BMW 320i than the best Honda Accord or Lexus because the driving experience is worth that much to me, I did not really realize this until the last 3 years driving a base 318d... Way better than my wife's Accord and even better than the GTI we had IMHO.

Speaking from real-world experience, German cars are no less reliable than Japanese cars and many Japanese cars are no less dynamic than German cars. Amongst my family and friends whose testimonials I rely on moreso than "official survey results", we've had them all and no particular manufacturing company can make a claim over the over. The worst, unfortunately, are American-engineered cars, with the current generation Corvettes being absolutely horrible. Two of my friends recently purchased Genesises (what the heck is the plural?) so we'll see how they hold up, though neither is exactly fun to drive.