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Dear Jack, what is your opinion on buying a brand new cherry J1. its only 12,990 +orc which makes it cheapest in its class. But I don't see much reviews anywhere. Thank you. Eby Mathew

You are quite correct regarding the absence of any reviews. We are given cars from almost every manufacturer to review, but as yet, Chery (or any of the Chinese car manufacturers) have yet to provide us vehicles to review, so it's probably unfair of us to comment on the overall quality.
Having said that, there is no getting around the fact that from a safety perspective, the Chery J1 performed poorly in the ANCAP (Australasian New Car Assessment Programme) crash test in 2011, scoring only a 3 star safety rating.
Yes, it is cheap for a new car and there's no doubt that Chinese cars will improve in time, but given that almost all new models are now scoring 5 star safety ratings, we would not recommend a Chery J1, based on its safety rating.