I have always owned American brand cars but acquired my Honda from a friend who was upgrading. It is a manual five-speed Honda Accord. It currently has over 225,000 miles on it. It still drives as smoothly as it did when I bought it four years ago. It has required very little work to it besides standard maintenance. It is a gold paint that still looks pretty decent, except for some hail damage over the years. The leather seats still look brand new. The gas mileage is pretty decent as well. I have hauled a variety of things in this car, including a stack of 2x4 boards through the trunk. The six-disc CD player broke before I acquired the car. I don't own CDs, so it doesn't bother me. The driver door handle broke once, but it works fine now that I had it repaired. it was not fun climbing through the car to open the door.