Originally Posted by ImportConvert

I like my Japanese car, but one thing I have noticed, having owned two Japanese cars, is that they are more fragile than my American cars. Nothing particular, just...everything.

Windshields crack super easy
Paint is very thin
Body panels are very thin and dent super easy

Things like that. They are very well built, and very nice inside, and very solid regarding things like wiring, and their electronic bits, but physically, they are dainty things.

My Infiniti cracked the windshield just because I turned on the defroster on a snowy day.
My 370Z got its windshield broken 3 days into owning it by a small rock.

My American cars have shrugged off INSANE rock hits before with just a tiny star or chip. Not these cars. CRAAACKKK!!!! My new OEM windshield? It already has multiple tiny pecks, etc. Horrible crap glass Nissan uses.

My Infiniti was all dented to hell. My 1988 mustang GT had less dents, as did all of the police cars my Dad used to escort over-sized loads because he needed cheap, reliable cars.

I guess, I just don't view Nissan as BMW/Mercedes equal when it comes to some things, and never will, unless they up their game and put better paint, better glass, and more durable body-panels on their vehicles. This might mean SMC like the Corvette. In fact, that is one thing I think every company should be doing. SMC and the like is far superior to easily dented aluminum, in every possible way. Go look at a late 90's C5 corvette. If the paint has been taken care of, that car looks BRAND NEW body-wise, nearly 2 decades later.