As cybermaster said, I dont think Forte or any Korean models would be taking over Japanese Sales in Msia....its deep rooted in Msian buying experience because of its resale value.

But personally I think Korean cars had made significant improvement in its quality and FC. After market Korean parts is equal in price compared to any Japanese model. Hence I dont think its parts price is expensive as compared many years ago.

I own a Kia Optima and my sister owns a new camry, our service part pricees; all the way to air filter, compressor, radiator, timing belt, etc, price are comparable.

indeed malaysian mind has tight with japs car... deeply.
it won't happen in anytime soon that any other foreign car can beat japs car in short period of time.

but cybermaster98 you are too certain that japs can be the king forever... in global review that Korean car is increasing sales while japs is not.
a big recalls from japs auto giant and in the same time korean car sales increasing is a fact.

i do agreed after sales service is a major fact that brings down korean car, but that's out of our control. (thanks to naza, but i hope sime darby will do better on this)
compare to old time korean car did their best to produce a better car with cheaper price.

How can u possibly have any regrets after buying a brand new car? I dont think anybody will have regrets when uve only used a car for a couple of months. The question here is WILL YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS AFTER A FEW YEARS?

I am more of a honda supporter. But lets look at this from a price prespective.

The 2.0 Forte goes for 90k ish and its the direct competitor to the Honda Civic in regard with size / capacity .

Comparing it to a Vios and a City, both which are 1.5 small sedans isnt even fair.

You definitely get your money's worth with Forte. But I test drove all the cars above and I definitely liked the power and the handling of the city more than the forte.

It all comes down to personal preference and driving style.

I have a heavy right foot, I need a reasonable power to weight ratio. The honda city delivers in that aspect with its i-vtec engine.

But like I said, it comes down to personal preference, and I opted for city's bigger brother with the 2.0 i-vtec engine

Drive the forte, the build quality is there, and alot of fancy gadgets that you will never find on a 90k japanese car, hahaha.

However, I felt that the 2.0 Forte had a very unresponsive engine, the steering wasnt giving back much feedback and driving it on the road was a chore.

If you are willing to go higher, maybe take a look at the civic . The 2.0 with paddle shifter is a joy to drive.