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Comment by SECProto | Hacker News Reader

> In reality....they are unreliable little shitboxes, and I hate being stuck behind them on a hill, or on the expressway, or saddled with one as a loaner when my daily driver is in a shop for maintenance. They are often geared such that driving one at any speed over 80kph feels like you are risking Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly.

I disagree with this pretty strongly. While I agree they aren't good above 80, that doesn't equate to them being "unreliable little shitboxes". They're very very reliable (rarely need any maintenance).

Also, everything except expressways have a speed limit of 60, so you can use it no problem. Going up the mountains they can do fine if you rev a bit high, just makes them fuel inefficient.

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I'm comparing their reliability to things like older Toyotas and Hondas, which are reliable far past any reasonable intended service life. Keis seem to function perfectly for a few years, and then suffer a number of spectacular mechanical failures suddenly, like a BMW. It's why my other half ditched her Daihatsu Latte for a Nissan Note.

Yeah, I dunno - I had a 13 year old Daihatsu with >200,00km (which is a damn lot for japan)... Never had to do any maintenance. Had several friends with similar age keis who also had no issues.

Small, cheap vehicles are made small and cheap. After a couple of years of trying to do 80-90mph on the interstate or turn pike twice per day at least, a 0.63liter 3-Cylinder Daihatsu "Wake" (with cvt and 60hp) is gonna feel pretty bad. Chassis components will become quite worn, and engine wear will be increased by such demands. I am only considering CONUS driving habits, they're probably amazing for a very dense Japanese (or other) city.

It's not reasonable to expect undersized components intended for lightest-duty in-town city driving to hold up very well beyond picking up the dry cleaning, groceries, or driving to a parking lot. If you use it only in that way, it's probably fine. When maintenance becomes required, it's also likely often not worth the money to do any serious overhauls to the lawnmower.

Kei car's quality is significantly improved in about recent 10 years. I no longer think kei car is crap.

Japanese speed limits are in dire need of reform. Police need to prove that you were speeding so every speed limit is set 20km/h under the de facto speed limit for the road.

Driving at 60km/h on a road where people expect you to drive 80 or 90 just makes people mad and likely to do something stupid.

>Police need to prove that you were speeding

It is the same in all societies with a working justice system (well maybe not if there's not a working democracy too).

I wouldn’t call a justice system ‘working’ if it subverts its own processes and traps its citizens with unreasonable laws and inconsistent enforcement.

How do they prove it? Unless it’s by receipt from a radar gun which is how it works everywhere else.

We also require receipt, and there is no shenanigans with speed limits.

As said, they have no problem going 80, so they're fine on everything except expressways.

Now I need a "top 10 myths about driving in Japan". I thought Japanese drivers obeyed everything to the letter. I also thought Japan was a tiny car market and defacto pedestrian (its one of the biggest markets).

>Also, everything except expressways have a speed limit of 60, so you can use it no problem.

Not sure where in Japan you've been driving, but my experience is that sticking to the posted speed limit on most roads makes you a hazard to navigation - particularly outside of cities.

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