I suppose the question of the maintenance cost have to factor in the reliability of the parts. I get the impression that Japs cars are build to last while the local and Naza Kia - a lot of localized sub standard parts will start giving problem prematurely. I was considering getting a Kia but gave up the idea after learning about the frustration from their users e.g. steering rack, radiotor started giving prb prematurely (under 3 years (a typical honda / toyota's steering rack could last up to 10 years. Yes, their parts are not expensive sif we source from the spare part shops/ kedai potong but do consider that labour and time at the workshop are not cheap.