Many of us will recall a time when the Nissan Bluebird and the Nissan Sunny ruled the roads, that was back in the 80s, 90s and 2000s. They have now been relegated to history but they were the precursors to the modern day economy car and much of what they stood for has become the industry standard. They were the forebears to the Nissan Sylphy which inherited the emblems and the standard. The Nissan Sylphy competes with the Toyota Axio, Toyota Allion and Mitsubishi Lancer.

The dearth of reliability for the Nissan brand has been its main undoing. Many stories abound of Nissan Fuga's less than stellar body construction and how it doesn’t hold up too well against the test of time. Here at Topcar, we do not go by the grapevine and rather, we research for ourselves to either confirm or dispel these notions. We therefore scoped out the Nissan Fuga to find out whether it holds a candle to its competitors such as the Toyota Mark X and the lofty German brands such as the Audi A4, the BMW 3 Series, and the Mercedes C Class. Read on to find out.

With the ever rising fuel costs, the Toyota Axio is one of the most appropriate mid-sized saloons to own. It's got an economical 1.5L engine and a spacious interior that can comfortably seat five adults. It's also cheap to maintain and has minimal reliability issues.

The Nissan Teana is one of the most stylish and elegant Japanese automobiles we've driven in a while. It drives so well that for a minute, I was mistaken to think it was some exotic German estate. It actually resembles the Mercedes E-Class especially on the exterior. It competes with the Toyota Mark X, Audi A4, Mercedes C Class and BMW 3 Series.

The Toyota Crown is an executive Japanese saloon that is built to rival the world's best luxury cars. It has a high degree of refinement not common in Japanese cars and it obviously targets an upscale clientele. It competes with the Lexus LS, Mercedes E-Class, BMW 5 Series, Audi A6, Jaguar XF and Nissan Fuga. In Kenya, the Toyota Crown has historically not been as popular as the Mercedes and BMW but in recent years, it's popularity has been on the rise.

The Toyota Mark X is the hallmark of Japanese car luxury and elegance. It is an ultra-luxurious 4 door saloon manufactured and sold in Japan since 2004. In the Kenyan market, it is a worthy competitor to the German luxury brands such as Mercedes Benz and BMW.

The Toyota Allion is a sporty and maneuverable saloon that is loved for its good fuel economy and practicality. It is highly similar to the Toyota Premio save for minor differences in body styling and interior trim.

The Toyota Premio is an all-time favorite amongst Kenyans who love it for its style, comfort and class. It is comparable in size to the Audi A4, Subaru Legacy Saloon, Mercedes C180, and the BMW 318i. The Toyota Premio is arguably the most balanced of these in terms of maintenance costs, fuel economy and reliability.