Top 5 complaints people have about Chinese cars
No matter how hard the Chinese try, they are still not loved in our country. Although there are more and more supporters every year, there is still a lot of negativity. There is, so to speak, distrust. Although it is high time to say goodbye to many stereotypes.
They rot
Gone are the days when “China” riveted cars from some unknown steel, which was covered with mushrooms after the first winter. Today, every self-respecting Chinese automaker, claiming at least some piece of the automotive market pie, makes cars from galvanized steel. And he paints his cars well.
Not all, of course. For example, Lifan and Zotye still rot and rust more readily than many other cars, judging by the reviews (purely subjective of course), but Chery, Geely and Haval are pretty well protected from corrosion. At least not worse than the Koreans. And let's not forget that even eminent automakers sometimes make mistakes – for some reason, many people forget about this.
They stink
At last year's Shanghai Auto Show, there were a lot of concepts and cars from companies that had just come out that stank of phenol and plastic and everything else that people usually mean when they talk about it. But most of the Chinese who are sold recently, this smell has long been gone. In many plastic is much better, softer, better and more expensive than in European and Japanese classmates for the same money.
As for leatherette on the seats, it is still found. But, firstly, it is no longer such a terrible quality as before. And, secondly, many people use leatherette instead of ordinary leather, even in the premium segment. It's more environmentally friendly and cheaper. The point is only in the quality of this very leatherette, which is now called eco-leather. It comes in three types (leatherette, PVC-leather and PU-leather) and the latter is not only not inferior to natural leather, but even surpasses it in some characteristics.
Then don't sell
Selling a Chinese car on the secondary market is, of course, more difficult than Rav4 or Hyundai Solaris. But one should not think that “China” is a complete illiquid asset. There is a demand for them. And Chinese cars even already have fans. At least Haval, Chery and Geely are sold on the secondary market without problems. This can be seen, among other things, from the statistics of loss of value over the years. It is at the level of Koreans and Japanese. Some VW models lose more in price than Geely.
Of course, there are no queues for the Chinese, but the same French and some Americans sell even worse than the Chinese.
Break down more often Zhiguli
There are legends about the fragility of the Chinese, they say, they break like a Zhiguli, but you won't find spare parts during the day with fire, unlike VAZ ones on every corner.
There is some truth in this. VAZ spare parts are indeed sold even in selmags, and for the Chinese, a lot is only on order. But as for consumables, there are no problems, everything is there.
coffin on wheels
Another legend concerns the safety of Chinese cars. But it's all about cars 20 years ago. Today, almost all Chinese models receive a five-star rating in crash tests. And not only according to the Chinese C-NCAP method (which, however, differs from the European one only in small things), but also according to the European EuroNCAP.
Even the already very old Geely Emgrand 7 received 4 stars, and the modern models of Haval, Changan, FAW, DFM, Chery, Geely are very safe cars.
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What is the bottom line? Almost everything we remember about Chinese cars is no longer true today. Unlike AvtoVAZ, the Chinese auto industry is developing by leaps and bounds. The cars become modern, environmentally friendly, economical, reliable, safe, they are galvanized and can drive well.
The Chinese are fast learners. Although no, their own engineering school is just being formed – this is a long process. But they have a lot of money that they invest in foreign specialists: designers, engine engineers, engineers. Hence the rapid progress.
