1. Not sure
2. Japanese car and Conti cars - the feel is really different. I guess you're gravitating towards the NVH part and the refinement part. For sure VW Passat would lag behind a Camry in safety features.
3. Yes, it does and it affect its resale value significantly. After 7 years, look into RM3K repair yearly.
4. Matter of personal choice, not definite right or wrong. Owning a Conti(nental) car means you need to have another (more reliable) car on standby. That's why I pair up one (Jap) Mazda witha a VW for my household.