been using the following vehicles daily for the last 10 years
1) PKDM corolla 2003 ( 13 years )
2)JDM premio 2007 ( 5years )
3) JDM Vitz 3rd gen ( on and off )
4) JDM MIRA ( 2008 , 6 months )
have also used suzuki swift 1.3 DLX ( kept 4 years, sold now ) . suzuki alto as well
all my JDMs are authentic, verified auc report vehicles , 3.5, 4 , even R grade vehicles that were genuine and NOT locally repaired dealer crap . the premio had 53k km on its ODO when i imported it
to sum it all up in one word, PKDMs are CRAP .waste of money. . there is no QA/QC check, no refinement, no comfort, no luxury , no safety. the swift was so uncomfortable and Pain in AS* that it gave me leg cramps, made me tired ( not that im not physically fit, i still run a mile in under 9 mins ) and i had a slip disc . so bad were the seats and so uncomfortable was the ride
the corolla , alto , no different . its actually depressing to sit in one
not just that, once the body work is taken apart, you actually get to see the sub par QC on all our local crap. the wiring hanging loose, the incomplete weld jobs. my brand new swift had strange cam shaft noises, radiator drank all water no reason. little annoying problems here and there that ultimately forced me to sell the crap
JDMs are way better in overall feel of built, drive,noise cancellation and comfort. not to mention safety. true, the low end JDMs like alto , passo , mira etc have cost cutting compromises here and there, but if you can afford , the high end premio /camry/ prius / lexus are an absolute love to keep and drive.
my two cents