Why do Japanese cars last longer than American and European cars?

After WWII, we retrained the Japanese to be really autistic about effective modern production.

>>17067001

Because their owners tend to take care of them better because they're either Asian or old as shit. Most american cars are treated as throw away cars or cell phones. Most people abuse the fuck out of them too or use them as work vehicles. Most people lease these days and get a new car every 4 years. Most high end European cars are leased too because they become uneconomical after 4 years of owning them.

>>17067001

What do you think would happen if NY and LA were nuked with warning?

Americans in the 50's and 60's could afford to be wasteful. Cars could be designed to fall apart and be replaced in 3 years, since the resources and the money existed for every family to buy new cars that often. Japan, post-WWII, couldn't afford to be so wasteful, their economy was in the gutter and they lacked resources. As such, they were forced to build cars that could last forever.

>>17067024
The world would celebrate

>>17067008
This is the closest answer. Japanese manufacturers saw American manufacturing methods and scientific management practices as a godsend that could (and did) rebuild their nation after the war. Combine that appreciation with a culture that already valued conscientiousness and you have the perfect storm for high-quality manufacturing.

>>17067001
I'll add that Japanese companies don't tend to race to bring in the newest bells and whistles, which means they get to learn from the mistakes of others. When they do try to be cutting edge, it's pretty much only in the Lexus LS, which is given an unfathomable amount of priority by the largest Japanese automaker.

Meanwhile, German automakers rush out new features to hook their target demographics, Italian companies can't into quality control no matter what they're building, and American automakers are lackadaisical about all their products except for trucks.

They fold their steel 6000 times.

>>17067051
I have to give Subaru bonus points for being willing to try weird stuff despite the failure rate just because they're trying to retain a small market segment and it tends to work out as long as some of the models wind up hitting some magic balance of price and capability.

Simple, their culture and work ethic is all about efficiently and optimization. While Japan has never pioneered or innovated anything significant in the technology or manufacturing world, the reason they became a superpower in the 70s until the 90s was because they were able to "microsize" everything while keeping the same function. In cars this meant making things much simpler while keeping functionality the same, if not better. It's the same reason why Japanese cars, besides unusual cars like Boxer Subarus and Wankel Mazdas (which some people rebuild themselves because of how simple a rotary is vs a piston engine), are so uncommon in garages. And even so, mechanics agree that Japanese cars are by far the simplest to work on, and that means owners can perform considerably more maintenance on them. This also extends as to why so many Japanese cars have DIY modding scenes.

>>17067001

Toyota's answer to that is mostly that they, first and foremost, try and make cars that won't fail - often to the detriment of making the car good.

Parts that could be dangerous if they failed are categorized accordingly, and often reused from the previous generation and carefully scrutinized for upgrades. Thousands upon thousands of specification documents, tests, prototypes, teleconferences, revisions, and supplier negotiations for every single goddamn part.

This has the side effect of Toyotas and Lexuses being generally reliable, while also being oddly uncomfortable and unpleasant to drive.

>>17067001
Spoiler: They don't.

BMW 3-series lasts just as long as Lexus IS

>>17067001
They don't. They just tolerate shitty maintenance better.

>>17067121
Are the maintenance costs as low? I don't have experience with BMW or Lexus, but part of the magic formula for jap cars is that even though the parts aren't cheap like domestic, relatively little goes wrong so you rarely need parts.

>>17067113

They Toyota lasting for forever thing is a meme these days. Modern Toyota's in North America have just as many issues as domestic vehicles. If you maintain and look after even a shitty modern car like a KIA it will still be as reliable as a Japanese vehicle. (see meme charts) A lot of brands get a bad wrap because their owners are fucking idiots and never open the hood, get a oil change once a year and use shitty gas then wonder why they need a early engine replacement.

>>17067121
>plastic water pump
>ignition coil is common failure
>no oil dips tickets

Yeah no.

>>17067001
They don't. They depreciate to shit and rust to bits real fuckin fast buddy

>>17067138

Of course, it's %CURRENTYEAR% so the automobile as a concept has been refined to the point that any simple car will last if you maintain it.

I'm just talking about the way Toyota internally prioritizes things.
When something is not particularly pleasant to use, that's often glossed over as "oh, that's per the specifications, we'll fix it in the next model".
When something has even a minor potential for failure, everyone goes apeshit until it's fixed.

Plus, it's a lot easier to keep a Toyota or Honda properly maintained than a Hyundai because they have much more of an established service network. Parts are cheaper and more accessible.

>Japanese cars
>Last

Its like you never heard of rust.

>>17067001
They dont. My 01 Volvo V70 t5 is still going strong at 235,000 miles. My Tacoma shit out a 87k, my Accord almost killed me at 114k.

Don't buy jap shit

>>17067169
I'm literally staring at a green Accord right now in my parking lot with defective paint and rust spots.

>>17067226
How old? I had one where rust was going to kill it some day but it probably would have made it through 20 years if not for an accident.

>>17067235
I'm not super up on Honda gens, but would guess early 2000's.

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>>17067001
F O R D
O
R
D

get fucked chinks

>U S A
>S
>A

>>17067688
Why did you bump this garbage thread?

>>17067700
>t. hondacuck

>>17067031
this