nothing built to last, a car can last for 10yrs is good enuf, otherwise how to sell more products, after 10 yrs buy new car with new fuel saving engine, after 10yrs from now, you may see more hybrid, electric and fuel cell car around,  focus on earning more money, then you can afford better car, live in classy house, buy branded stuffs, travel here n there.

well, as usual, japanese cares more on Development, instead of Research. Not to say they do not research, but a bigger portion is on developing the existing technology, and perfect it, without reinvent the wheel.One step at a time.

look at fuel saving tech, or Horsepower tech. Honda being the most famous, they can have very good FC car, and also very high HP car, ( the B16 engine can get almost 100hp/1 liter engine displacement, this is near to ferrari territory).

and also, jap car maker is very slow in changing and making fast decision.

The ground breaking technology is seldom came from jap car maker. look at VW, at one moment they get all cars with diesel, then now with turbos, and then now twincharger, and then next they said twincharger will be abandon and go for 1 turbo is enough.And now almost all vw cars has DSG gearbox.

COnti car maker is very keen on introducing the new technology, but they never hold on to one for a very long time( not as long as jap car maker). Look at volvo at active safety technology, but, are their car good to hold on for more than 10 years.

To the consumer, conti car maker is good when you are loaded, and wanna shop for newest and fastest which gadget to impress your frens, imagine the HUD in bmw or pug 3008( not in any jap car that i heard of ).

But in msia, which a majority is still not making enough money, jap car is obviously the choice for the masses. Look at those old c70 honda that is everywhere. Of course not forgetting japan is nearer to msia, so the spare part is easier to obtain comparing with euro countries.

not to say jap or euro is good or bad, its always two side of a coin, and just pick the one you want.

How do you gauge quality with a 2 yr old car? If your car starts developing problems within the first 2 yrs, then its crap but if it doesnt then it doesnt mean its all good either. Parts usually start giving way after about 4 years or so. Even previous gen Spectra's generally didnt have problems within the 1st 2 yrs.

And by testing handling and braking, how does that gauge quality? Thats a totally different aspect.

You wanna know the meaning of quality come test drive my 2003 Vios. Despite being 8.5 yrs, the engine is still smooth, accelaration still good, no rattles anywhere in the car, the window/door seals are still in excellent conditon, suspension is still smooth with no squeeks, aircon still really strong and paintwork still shiny and nice.

Thats what i call QUALITY.