That’s the thing! Japanese borrowed ideas and refined them…
Hyundai borrows ideas and passes them on as its own, yet no refinement has been made…
I’ve got a buddy with a 2003 Tiburon. Comparing the build quality, fit and finish, as well as the durability of the parts on his car, I found that our S13’s, being almost 20 years old, gone through so-and-so number of owners, our abuse, etc. have a sturdier, as well as higher build quality, as well as an overall higher standard of quality. Hell, my dad’s Dodge Dakota has better build quality than the Tiburon. My dad bought it 2 or 3 years ago and its been perfect ever since (except for a power-window regulator incident during the winter, but then again, any manufacturer’s window motor or regulator will burn out if used on a frozen window/door).
My buddy had his Tiburon for not even a month and he’s already plagued with problems… You know how our cars/Civics rust at the rear 1/4 panels? Well his car is already rusting there… His passenger power door lock doesn’t work, the door handle (interior) feels like its about to come off, and the leather shift boot is more worn that the one on my S13 (1990 and 273k kms, never replaced)