With the exception of a few Mazdas, Japanese cars suck. They sell you an engine with a bunch of poorly made parts in order to allow you to replace half the engine with aftermarket parts. Initially they are less expensive than a C-class or a 3-series, but if you are hoping to keep pace with a C320 or a 325is, you end up with an engine full of parts available at Wal-Mart that costs more than a Mercedes or a BMW. Why go through all that trouble for something that won't last you 200,000 miles when you could just drive one off the lot jacked up from the start. Or save for a few more months and get serious with an AMG C32 or an M3. And the only reason why I give Mazda any credit as a japanese car company is because they don't copy everything European car manufacturers do. They are also the only car company that offers the very cool, very unique, Wankel/Rotary engine.

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Pete

1986 Euro Black Metallic 190E 2.3 16V