I am sorry for assuming that you are a bad owner, but that is unfortunately a true factor when it comes to overall performance and reliability of vehicles. Your vehicle will treat you the way you treat it. Moreover, it can also greatly vary with how the previous owner treated it and if the dealer is sketchy or not, like I said. I have seen Land Rovers (aka the most unreliable cars on the road) work like factory new for years on and I have seen Toyotas work like they’re on their last breath. It greatly matters on the user and how it has been used and cared for.

Also, about your thought on Wi-Fi… I am afraid you have answered your question yourself! Wi-Fi was successfully implemented by laying the foundation for it, thanks to government/private help. If we do the same for cars (aka make imports not so hard and expensive to get since the local assemblers have no interest in technology transfer), we could easily make cars no more a luxury, but rather a necessity, just like the rest of the world!

Sorry for the long ramblings again, but I would suggest you first think and research about how things are around the world, and how things work around the world as well. Once you learn about that, you will find that things in Pakistan are seemingly not as straightforward as you’d think.

Have a nice day as well!

Firstly, PKDM cars even in that era were selling in respectable numbers, even Baleno was doing great then. For the knowledge, check on the road presence of former Alto, Cuore and Cultus and Ravi or Bolan. Secondly, I am upset that you assumed that I am a haphazard car owner, why would you do that? And why does that notion not apply on your use of Bolan? Is it not arrogance? Is it not equal to trying to win an argument by widening it? You are sounding exactly like Mr. Ali Khan now. Anyway, for your notice, we have treated our imported Alto to the same level of abuse that we inflicted on Bolan, in fact our Bolan often crossed over 3,000 to 4,000 kilometers on single oil several times, we even transported Waves triplet fridge in it and it did fine, its engine did not give-up. In contrast, this imported Alto does not take nothing short of synthetic oil and that too from Suzuki, it is almost a PKR 1,500 more than P.S.O.’s, you know the car starts to do missing if the oil crosses 3,000 kilometers. It does not even run very well on regular fuel, we have to fill Hi-octane twice a month in its tank. While to you maybe I sound pathetic but I have to plan a budget like every other middle income earning person and these things matter.
Thirdly, I assume you are sound, then how come you are comparing a wifi with a car? Your example is totally out of context, car is luxury, it is not necessity while wifi is almost a necessity. Besides my dear, its maintenance can be done even by a person who is earning lower than PKR 50,000 a month. Can that be the case for a J.D.M. car, even locally made side view mirror costs PKR 2,000 a piece. Moreover, the reason for the vast adaptability to wifi is, its wide availability and low cost of running that is why even people with low income buying power are using it. Besides, the government laid network for it to sustain as well. This network is not laid out as well in the case of imported cars. Fourthly, please note that imports are not closed, non-resident Pakistanis can bring them in, case in point my cousin imported a Toyota Aqua a month before.
Lastly, as for you feeling let down over my joining P.A.M.A. please note you cannot convince me to adapt to technology graced car the reason is I do not know you, What I know is experience and mine with J.D.M. have been terrible, even my cousin is facing trouble with Aqua about setting of its computer, it is in Japanese. Since my experience is known to me physically, why then should I take your word and go for another J.D.M. and waste my hard earned money? It is not as though I have too much of it to spare on car maintenance.
P.S. I am sorry if my words have been harsh, I shall try not to argue anymore and shall end this dispute by saying “let us learn to accept other peoples opinions.” Have a good day brother.

People went for imported cars rather than “pkdm” cars in that era because they were heaps cheaper with much better technology, features and safety equipment. If you were getting a cheap JDM car with all the modern quirks and better mileage tech, why would you go for a locally assembled car that is 3 decades old in design and technology and does not offer anything close to what the rest of the world is offering.

Also, you don’t see imports as much nowadays is because of my reason stated above; imports are closed. You close the imports, and you tighten the chances/ways of getting cheap spare parts for your import vehicles (most if not all parts sold in Pakistan are these “kabuli” or Chinese manufactured parts).

I agree that mechanics should be educated but as long as you keep making cheap (as in quality, not price) outdated tech cars with technology that has stayed the same for decades, I don’t think they would have any reason to change or educate themselves. They will stay the same forever and they’ll never change, for better or for worse

About your comment on PAMA and joining them, I am very disappointed to hear about this. If we don’t accept and implement newer technology, we will never progress as a nation. What you’ve said is like saying that you want to stay with using Dial Up/Broadband internet because you had a bad experience once with using Wi-Fi. We are already lagging decades behind the rest of the world, and if we stay that way, we will keep lagging further and further until we become completely isolated. Thankfully the current government is aware of this in some extent and is doing efforts to combat this (Electric Policy, etc)

Also, another thing; I’m sorry to hear that your sole experience with an import wasn’t great, but that doesn’t make every import in Pakistan terrible. The state of your vehicle depends on how you use it, who you buy it from, and how you keep it as well. I had a similar experience as yours, however mine was the inverse of what you experienced; I bought a Bolan from someone who I considered a friend of mine, and that was the worst vehicle I have ever owned in Pakistan. In the short time we had it, it had given us more trouble than any other car ever has. I then went for buying an import from a reputable dealer, and MashaAllah, I am grateful to say that that car has worked better than any Pakistani assembled car I have been in.

And lastly, almost every car assembled in Pakistan is usually heaps cheap as to what you would get in a foreign country. We don’t drive around in BMWs to always worry about a part I would have to order from Europe if I go over a pothole. It is stupendously cheap and easy to own and work on a Kei car (Mira, Alto, etc) because they are made that way. Maintenance and overall health of a vehicle varies greatly on owner to owner; i.e how you use it and how you treat it.

Agreed that Mira was present but then so were P.K.D.M. cars my dear, you cannot say that influx of imported vehicles influenced people in large numbers to choose imported vehicles rather than go for local assembled cars. Besides, how many of those Miras and other J.D.M. are actually present today as compared to their local assembled counterparts bought in that period?
As for mechanics being trained well, mere implementation of policy is not enough, practical steps need to be taken for making them aware about proper car repairing techniques.
Parts making is also another big issue for Pakistan, our education level is very low at the moment and without education, you cannot produce good car mechanics or technically advanced car parts. For reference look at an example about how many people in Pakistan can even reverse engineer a forty year old engine or transmission and suspension set-up? While a lot of people may know how an engine works but has anyone ever attempted to create one that is to say apply theory into action.
Lastly, it would not be just the P.A.M.A. who would be revolting against mere implementation of the policy, people like myself would also join them. The reason is that I am an owner of J.D.M. Alto 2011 and I have never experienced a worst car ownership during 30 years. In fact, I have no hesitation in saying that our Bolan did a miles better than this technology imbued and comfortable money pit.
P.S. Please note the above stated opinion is mine and people might disagree with it but the arguments given in response won’t change my thoughts. The reason is I operate on a tight budget and have an experience of keeping both types of cars so small things so my reservations are solid. Moreover, items such as difference of amount between spark plugs, air and oil filter, lost side view mirrors and other routine parts also count for me and in this regard good quality parts cannot be made unless required education and technology is widely available locally.
P.P.S. M.G. is a cheater, they declared incorrect value and in my view such businesses should not be supported in anyway.

Allowing the implementation of WP29 standard will indirectly cause a surge in well trained and knowledgeable mechanics instead of the usual grease monkeys and bike mechanics that cannot allow themselves to work on anything other than a CD70 that we have nowadays. People will buy new cars with updated technology like Airbags, ECUs, Fuel Injections and mechanics will be forced to either close shop or adapt to learning to properly repair cars with technology that is modern than carburetors. Moreover, WP29 policy might also force and pave way for a more relaxed auto parts policy resulting in cheaper in house made LOCAL parts instead of the usual imported parts we rely on nowadays.

Although, there will ofc be huge backlash for the implementation of this standard because the Big Three aka PAMA aka Suzuki, Toyota and Honda (and other car companies like United) all have outdated unsafe cars in their lineup that barely meet this standard by a far throw. Their bread and butter are these outdated death traps so they will obviously go against it.

P.S.S the “road presence” of these “local” “pkdm” vehicles is because of lack of other viable options (aka IMPORTS, and suitable low priced cars in the market gap) which is exactly what PAMA wanted when they demanded the ban on imported cars. Remember when the Daihatsu Mira was literally everywhere and you could get one for as cheap as 6-8 lacs? Wo bhi shayad uss zamane me uska “road presence” hi tha.