China now sells more cars than Japan. So why do some Haval and Chery owners say their next car is a Toyota?

27 million.

That is roughly how many cars Chinese carmakers sold around the world in 2025. Japan's carmakers sold about 25 million. It is the first time China has finished on top. Japan had held the crown since 2000, according to a Nikkei report quoted by Xinhua.

Chinese brands are now pushing into Japan's safest markets. That includes Europe, Indonesia and South Africa, where Toyota has ruled the roads for decades.

Yet something odd keeps popping up under every car post. Owners who bought a Haval, a Chery or a Jetour a few years ago say their next car will be a Toyota again.

Has China overtaken Japan in car sales?

Yes, and not only in one place. Here is the China vs Japan scoreboard, with the date each number was true.

Europe is the big shock. May 2026 was the first month Chinese brands outsold Japanese ones there.

In South Africa, about one new car in five now carries a Chinese badge. Not long ago it was a rare sight.

Photo: Jengtingchen / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Why are Chinese car owners switching back to Toyota?

No sales figures show owners going back in large groups. What there is, is a lot of owners saying it out loud. In threads asking "Owners of Chinese cars, how is it going?", four reasons keep coming up.

The first is resale value. One Haval H6 owner shared that he lost about R160,000 in four years. Someone replied with one line: "I'm going to buy a Honda or Toyota instead."

The second is parts and waiting. One buyer said his Jetour T2 hybrid was delivered on a Friday and was on a flatbed truck by Monday, with faulty brakes. A month later he was still waiting for a replacement car. A joke post in a big South African car group sums up the fear. You bought the car for its seven-year warranty, and now you are paying R300 a day for a hire car while yours waits for a part.

The third is software. Owners complain about laggy screens and lane-keeping systems that nag. AutoTrader agrees that "software is where most gripes live", more than engines or gearboxes.

The fourth is peace of mind. One Moneyweb reader said his family test drove several Chinese SUVs, then bought a nearly new Toyota hybrid. He says it uses 4.9 litres per 100 km with no issues. In Australia, one driver said he handed back a Chinese LDV hire car after two hours and took a Camry instead.

How much value does a Chinese car lose?

Less than many people think, at least so far. AutoTrader found that the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro and Haval Jolion keep about 70% to 75% of their price after three years. The Toyota Corolla Cross still sets the standard in that class.

The real test is still coming. Jebb McIntosh runs CMH, a dealer group with 38 dealerships. He says nobody has yet seen what happens when large numbers of five and six year old Chinese cars hit the used market.

WeBuyCars, the country's biggest used car buyer, had to cut prices on cars that compete with new Chinese models. So cheap new Chinese cars also pull down the price of second-hand Toyotas and VWs.

Photo: Alexander Migl / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Do Toyotas really hold their value better?

Mostly yes, but a Toyota is not a piggy bank. One Corolla Cross owner said he was tempted by a Jetour T2. He had owned his Toyota for 18 months and done 20,000 km. When he asked for a trade-in price, he found he had lost more than R100,000 already.

He kept the Toyota. Every new car loses the most in its first two years, whatever the badge.

AutoTrader puts it simply. If you swap cars every two to three years, a Toyota or VW still protects your money best. If you keep a car for five to seven years, it says a Tiggo 4 Pro or Jolion "makes financial sense", because the lower price covers the gap.

For warranties and owner reports brand by brand, see our guide on whether Chinese cars hold up over time.

Are Chinese car owners happy?

Many are. In the same threads, happy owners often outnumber angry ones, and they say so loudly.

One owner of a 2022 Haval Jolion said four years had passed with "not a peep" from the car. Another switched from a Toyota to an MG HS a year ago and says he has no regrets. A Haval H6 owner reports six years across two models with no issues.

One Jolion hybrid owner made a sharp point. Both of his Mercedes cars sat at the dealer for weeks or months waiting for parts. When his Haval was damaged in an accident, it was back on the road in a week and a half.

Who are Chinese car brands really taking buyers from?

Many of the happiest owners did not come from Toyota at all. They came from BMW, Mercedes and Audi.

That Jolion owner said his Haval beat both his Audis and that he is never going back to the Germans. A long-time BMW driver said he bought a Jaecoo after seeing new BMW prices. TopAuto has written about the same shift.

The warranties explain part of it. Omoda and Jaecoo cars come with a 10-year or 1-million-km engine warranty. TopAuto lists two years for a new BMW X3 or Mercedes GLC. "You can only offer that level of coverage if you have complete confidence in the quality of your vehicles," Omoda and Jaecoo boss Hans Greyling told the site.

Photo: Calreyn88 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Are parts hard to get for Chinese cars?

It depends on the brand and the dealer. Greyling says his company has put over R140 million into spare parts in a 6,500 square metre warehouse. He says 98.6% of parts orders are filled straight from the shelf.

Owners answer the parts fear with jokes of their own. "Have you tried getting spares from Honda?" one asked. "Makes the Chinese look fast and easy."

Still, a few horror stories travel far. Photos of a Chery with a rear axle hanging off went round the world this week. Stories like that stick, even when owners of the same model report no trouble at all.

So who is winning the war for the driveway?

China is winning the showroom. It sold more cars than Japan last year and has started to outsell Japanese brands in Europe.

The driveway is a different fight, and it is decided on trade-in day. That is when you find out what the car is really worth, and how fast the parts came.

One South African owner remembered how this went before. "We used to say the same thing about Korean cars," he wrote. Today Hyundai and Kia are normal sights in every mall parking lot.

So plan how long you will keep the car before you buy it, whatever the badge. Ask for a three-year trade-in estimate. Check how long parts take for that exact model.

One Toyota owner joked that his car gains value every time a Chinese car lands in the country. Chery has an answer for that. It plans a multi-billion-rand car plant at the old Nissan site in Rosslyn, near Pretoria. The brand Toyota owners joke about will soon stop only shipping cars in. It plans to build them here.