Japanese vs US assembled

[jshtick]

If given a choice, which one would you prefer for 07 Camry LE Auto? I would have thought Japanese assembled but after test driving both, it seemed the US assembled has much better acceleration and gear-shifting was much smoother. What do you guys think?

[thoots]

Originally Posted by jshtick

If given a choice, which one would you prefer for 07 Camry LE Auto? I would have thought Japanese assembled but after test driving both, it seemed the US assembled has much better acceleration and gear-shifting was much smoother. What do you guys think?

Hehehe. Can't say I've driven both, but my trade-in was a US-built 2004 Accord that was such a rattletrap POS I swear I'll never EVER buy a US-built car so long as I live. I've been depending upon quality Japanese-built Toyotas for a good 30 years, and I am VERY happy to be back in that condition again with my 2007 Camry.

It would seem strange that the same model would drive much differently, though -- makes me wonder if maybe one had quite a bit more mileage on it than the other, and was therefore quite a bit more "broken in." Or, it could have had something to do with the transmission "getting to know you" -- the one may have been driven last by someone who drove quite a bit like you do.

Also, you might let us know whether you were driving I4's or V6's. At any rate, an interesting observation!

[jshtick]

i was test driving brand new cars. They were both I4s. The japanese assembled car had like 20 miles on it before I drove it. While the US assembled camry had only 1 mile.

It just felt strange to me that the US assesmbled Camry would drive much smoothly and was wondering if someone else had a similar experience.

[hiace24]

My experience with US built cars.
The M-class is definitley not up to par with its german built counterparts.

[foompla]

i think the sales men beat up the car before your got it and might have had the computer relearn its shift values a little bit.

[ToyotaToday]

Originally Posted by jshtick

If given a choice, which one would you prefer for 07 Camry LE Auto? I would have thought Japanese assembled but after test driving both, it seemed the US assembled has much better acceleration and gear-shifting was much smoother. What do you guys think?

There's a couple of things you should note. Your test may be very subjective. Or the cars you test drove, the US built one just happened by chance to be better. However, you have to look at this at a bigger picture. Your test is a very very very minute sampling of the whole picture, and therefore cannot be considered valid test. In order to do a true test, you would have to do a blind test at the very least and sample many vehicles built in US vs Japan to get a good representation. Look at this way, any Japanese car manfactures are generally more reliable than US car manfactures. This is not my opinion, just read the consumer reports, internet, etc. Having said that, you must ask yourself, Toyota is a Japanese car manufacture, so not likely it would be better built in US. Again, the one you test drove may have been better, but that is probably a very small percentage.

[jshtick]

i think you guys might be a little confused. So let me clarify.

I am NOT comparing US manufacturers (Ford, GM etc) with Japanese manfuacturers (Toyota etc). I am talking about Toyota Camrys assembled in US in the Kentucky or Georgia plant. I was comparing the US built Toyota with the Japanese built Toyota.

Hope this makes sense.

[ToyotaToday]

Originally Posted by jshtick

i think you guys might be a little confused. So let me clarify.

I am NOT comparing US manufacturers (Ford, GM etc) with Japanese manfuacturers (Toyota etc). I am talking about Toyota Camrys assembled in US in the Kentucky or Georgia plant. I was comparing the US built Toyota with the Japanese built Toyota.

Hope this makes sense.

\

Actually I wasn't confused at all. If US cars in general are not as reliable as Japanese cars, , why would a Toyota assembled in US be more reliable than a Toyota assembled in Japan. I was merely using US car manufactures to make a point.

Again, your test is not representative of all US assembled or Japanese assembled Toyota's. That's all I'm saying man.

[jshtick]

I wasn't making a claim that US manf'd toyotas are better than the japanese ones. I just posted my personal experience and was wondering if somebody else had a similar exp. or perhaps a different one. Because as I said in my first post, I'd expect the japanese manfd camrys to be a little more reliable than the american ones.

[Tarzan]

Its in your head. If they had the same transmission, and engine they should perform the same. But Japanese built ones are better because the workers are better.

[zettahertz]

hmm, i wonder too. I have a US made one. Cus my car came with 2 flaws when it was brand new but was fixed. First, the passenger lock was messed up, loose or something, and the weatherstrip on the top (that black strip on the roof of the car) was sticking up in the rear. But now the seatbelt area rattle like crazy. wonder how a JP made one is like. but, most of all.. I hate the front bumper design, can't install fogs unless I manually cut a hole out.

[jayb82]

I test drove a US built XLE last week and I walked away unimpressed. The build quality in my opinion was below par for Toyota. I
found the sliding thing underneath the moonroof and was very light and filmsy. It felt very loose and did not shut tightly.
I was comparing to my brother's 99 Camry with moonroof and the cover in that car feels more solid and of better quality.

Anyone else notice something similar in terms of quality and build of the interior?

[94camryxle]

I would think and hope the US made Toyotas compares closely to the Japan counterparts. But like the above poster said, it's difficult to say unless you drove both like the original poster says.
I test drove a Japan built LE V6 and I own a US built SE V6. I cannot tell the difference in quality of workmanship, but I can tell a difference in ride, SE is much more stiff and LE is more smooth.
If you feel more confident with the Japan built, buy that one, and vice versa for the US build.

[Jeeves]

Originally Posted by 94camryxle

I would think and hope the US made Toyotas compares closely to the Japan counterparts. But like the above poster said, it's difficult to say unless you drove both like the original poster says.
I test drove a Japan built LE V6 and I own a US built SE V6. I cannot tell the difference in quality of workmanship, but I can tell a difference in ride, SE is much more stiff and LE is more smooth.
If you feel more confident with the Japan built, buy that one, and vice versa for the US build.

Isn't that primarily the difference in the SE's suspension -vs- that of the LE?

[Tarzan]

Also the steering response if faster I believe.