In our country the obvious first consideration for most people in choosing a car to buy is Toyota or Honda.

Since we swear by the reliability of Japanese cars, I've always wondered why the other Japanese auto's are not making a headway in Nigeria.

Apart from the huge number of Toyota and Honda Sedans that we see on our roads, you can count on your fingertips the other Japanese cars you will see driving around.

Where are the Subaru's, Mitsubishi's, Nissan, Mazda, Suzuki, Isuzu's, Daihatsu's?

Or have our mechanics also labelled them as no go areas?

Nigerians have a follow the herd mentality, so when its said that Toyota and Honda are to die for, they go ahead and buy these cars. I've got a Subaru Forester (Fuji Heavy Industries, I believe) and I've been using it since 07 with no complaints whatsoever as to the sturdiness or build quality, etc. And the so-called dearth of mechanics and/or parts for the other brands is a myth; I've had no trouble finding spares for this one on the few occasions I needed to replace something. My mechanic has been quite good with the car and that brings me to my next point - I believe that we should give Naija mechanics more kudos than we normally do and stop slamming them all the time: considering the harsh environment they operate in and the almost universal lack of formal training, they are generally a most creative lot indeed.

Give me a Subaru WRX STI and i'm out!