Not really. I buy a japanese car so I don't have to worry about service. And I can't have it serviced in japan so I don't consider that a criteria worth considering. In any case, when it comes to service my approach is to buy the car least likely to need it, ergo my 100% japanese car family.

 

I am picking my HCH up tomorrow night. I looked at both the HCH and the Prius and here is why I went with the HCH:

1. Driver Seat Height Adjustment - Wife is 5' tall; my son and I are both nearly 6' tall.
2. Obstructed view thru Prius Rear View Mirror. The Split between the hatchback rear window and a nearly vertical glass section on the back edge of the hatch falls right in the middle of the rearview mirror. Very hard to see behind you
3. Slightly more rear head room in HCH
4. Starts and drives more like a traditional car
5. Standard side curtain airbag on the HCH - expensive option that is part of package on Prius
6. Nicer look - IMHO

 

I just picked up a Silver HCH w/ NAVI. Drove both the Prius and HCH. Besides reasons below, HCH was a much better ride IMHO.


Also, Prius regenerative braking was loud and had scraping noise. Also, the dash / instrumentation on the HCH was much better / intuitive (again in IMHO).

HCH is definitely a 'normal' car vs Insight (amazing mpg) and Prius (most popular).

Would love to drive the Camry when it comes out, but unfortunately it will not qualify for CA HOV.

Rick

 

You missed the logic:

if you don't take the car to Japan and have it serviced by Japanese techs with Japanese parts, it's not "100%" Japanese. (I'll let you figure out the nationality of the petrol-based consumables going into it... that makes my head hurt)


(As in... my Japanese-built Accord Hybrid still has 70% American-made parts, and rolls on Michelin tires. so even though it's MADE in Japan, it still wouldn't count as a 100% Japanese car. I'm not sure there are any of those that are available in the US market, anyway.)


The moral of the story is: why bother? Just get a great car that fits your needs, at the right price, with a reasonable warranty. If it fails while under the warranty (I'd argue that there are even a few Japanese lemons around) then trade it. No need for ethnocetrism to play in the decition at all.

 

This is getting pretty nit-picky. I think I made it pretty clear what I meant when I said "Came on a boat from japan fully assembled."

What's "ethnocentric" about the tangible fact that my japanese-made cars perform better over time than others? Just an observation that steers my purchasing decisions.

And why bother? Because I want the best car I can get for my money. In my experience, that has been japanese made cars. So that's what I buy.

 

I have to agree,

We all have things we like and dislike on each vehicle. I made the statement that I used to say growing up and that was :
"Buy American the job you save might be your own".

Kind of a stupid saying, but I was trying to say that I have found the imported cars/trucks to be more reliable than ford, chevy & dodge. In MY expieriences..

I have had no problems with the 3 toyota products that I have and owned and still do..

My Prius is the best thing since sliced bread to me and my brakes dont make noise I think the dash is cool and functional.

All the auto maufacturers can do is keep trying to make a better product and we will keep on buying them.. :o)

 

Well, I've never owned a Toyota and have had great history with my Hondas. However, the Prius is about the ugliest car I've ever seen and looks like a baby Aztek. What are the Toyota designers thinking???? Didn't they learn anything from Prius I?? But then beauty must be in the eye of the beholder because there are a lot of ugly cars out there.

 

1. Brand loyalty. I love Hondas. It's my 5th.
2. Display in front of and above steering wheel on the Civic seems much safer than the Prius display where the radio should be. I'd rather look straight ahead while driving.
3. Better looking car.
4. Very comfortable driver's seat.
5. 48 mpg is pretty good, and seems to be equivalent to Prius.
6. No distracting half-window in back.

If I could have bought a manual 2006 Civic Hybrid, I would have.

 

I would have to agree with Zimbop about Japanese cars coming from Japan. And my sales person even confirmed this as he said he has noticed problems with some of their cars assembled here in the good ole US and very few problems with cars that are assembled in Japan. I don't think it matters about where the parts are made but actually the quality control in how the parts are assembled and put on the the car itself.

 

Fully agree. Althought it was just a movie, I think that movie "Gung Ho" several years back showed better then anything that the Japanese work ethic is so diffrent then that in America. I can just see some poor assembly line worker wearing "ribbons of shame" for not putting my little HCH together correctly.