Most people who are asking aren’t car people and want a reliable vehicle to take them from point A to point B with minimal maintenance. Toyota, and most Japanese car brands fit that bill.
If you care about driving characteristics, but also want a good reliable point A to point B car Hondas are a good alternative to Toyota. You perhaps trade the tiniest bit of reliability for better steering / pedal feel.
Auto manufacturers put their emphasis in different areas. Often it is a reflection of what a culture values itself. You find similarities in characteristics between the cars of a particular country. To generalize:
German Cars: Refined, good fit and finish, mechanically complex engineering sometimes at the expense of reliability. Same could be said for British cars.
Japanese Cars: Simple and reliable, well engineered and built using proven technology.
American Cars: Innovative and inventive, but often designed and built with a “good enough” approach. QA may be lacking on some makes/models.
Italian Cars: Beautifully designed with lots of personality, but often unreliable and with certain design/engineering quirks that would never make it out the concept phase for other brands.
Could go on, but you get the idea. Vehicle brands value different things. Often that is a regional / country specific thing. What you want depends on what you need / value.
If you care about driving characteristics, but also want a good reliable point A to point B car Hondas are a good alternative to Toyota. You perhaps trade the tiniest bit of reliability for better steering / pedal feel.
Auto manufacturers put their emphasis in different areas. Often it is a reflection of what a culture values itself. You find similarities in characteristics between the cars of a particular country. To generalize:
German Cars: Refined, good fit and finish, mechanically complex engineering sometimes at the expense of reliability. Same could be said for British cars.
Japanese Cars: Simple and reliable, well engineered and built using proven technology.
American Cars: Innovative and inventive, but often designed and built with a “good enough” approach. QA may be lacking on some makes/models.
Italian Cars: Beautifully designed with lots of personality, but often unreliable and with certain design/engineering quirks that would never make it out the concept phase for other brands.
Could go on, but you get the idea. Vehicle brands value different things. Often that is a regional / country specific thing. What you want depends on what you need / value.