German reliability: the greatest myth

[Stanley Rockafella]

http://dougdemuro.kinja.com/german-reliability-the-greatest-myth-ever-sold-to-amer-1572026115

Not sure if repost

[flyboyx]

Big
Money
Wasted

i love reading articles from that guy.

[Stanley Rockafella]

I think it's mostly because it's true.

[Axxe]

Truth.

[BobombETA]

Their heyday was definitely the 80's... I'm looking at you e28, e30, w123. No, not you, Audi. Not looking at you.

[Cabriolet]

I've spent over 60k on my e30s and vw over the past 12 years.
my sister has spend less than 2k on her toyota in the same amount of time.
she owns a house, i still rent.

[rturbo 930]

My 86 Jetta has been super reliable. 500k miles and hasnt needed much more than oil changes. It does need some more major maint items now though. I think they were generally a lot more reliable in the 80s and earlier and then went downhill in the 90s.

[pandaboo911]

Lol not trying to hate on the guy but he clearly has no idea what Germans are like and buys into the same stereotypes as everyone else. "Germans rush to the dealership to have it fixed." Give me a break, germans are lazier than Americans

Bmws and audis are hardly purchased new because nobody can afford them, and if they are its a poverty spec 318i.
Mercedes are used as taxis / police cars and go for 200-300k until the wheel bearings lock up

I'm not saying german cars are reliable but the writer sounds like a typical American who has never been to Germany and bases his facts off his german "friend"

End rant

[TobyB]

I think German and Japanese reliability are similar, in that well made domestic market goods are very good and DO exhibit high reliability. However, both have discovered that there's a bigger market segment for cheap consumer goods that are not so
reliable.

Cars fit somewhere in the middle, and the 2002 is a perfect example of that-
brilliant engine and suspension, small pieces (like the 2bbl carb) were problematic from
about day 2. And then the heater box aged out and the door cards fell apart after 5 years or so.

my take.

t

[agent]

I've spent over 60k on my e30s and vw over the past 12 years.
my sister has spend less than 2k on her toyota in the same amount of time.
she owns a house, i still rent.

Can you help me with some financial/retirement planning?

[James Crivellone]

Reliability? eh I think it all falls under maintenance, however modern complication certainly does lead to less reliability overall

Take my E30 Touring for instance, nearly 100K miles, original clutch, most of the bushings, linkage, etc, have redone a few things here and there, original coolant hoses, radiator, etc, and it starts everytime I start it, and drives every time I want to.

Only stopping issue? Lost a cluster master cylinder.

Same even goes for my Land Rover, yes I've redone the topend, but it was still running beforehand..

Only stopping issue? Lost a starter.

Now my E60 M5 on the other hand, tons of technology, tons of sensors, etc, have I had issues? Yes.. In my 4 months of ownership I've had to replace 2 PDC Sensors, one PDC Computer, Update the Navigation firmware, and had to clean out the washer fluid pump because it got clogged somehow.

But mechanically? I push the button and it fires up every day.

I've had american cars break too.. hell the powersteering shaft broke on my old C2500 Truck... when I was going downhill with my trailer, and yes, those have hydroboost brakes... yeah that was fun.. thank god for trailer brakes.

[James Crivellone]

I've spent over 60k on my e30s and vw over the past 12 years.
my sister has spend less than 2k on her toyota in the same amount of time.
she owns a house, i still rent.

True, but you are also an enthusiast. I've spent equal amounts on my project cars, but if I left my Mtech alone for instance.. yeah it would have probably needed a part here and there, but lets face it an 86 Eta / Automatic will probably run nearly forever.

If the tranny went toss in another one for 200 bucks for another 80 - 100k miles.

Hard to compare Enthusiast vs factory level reliability :-)

[lti_57]

Bring
More
Wallet

I love my 87 325i everything works.
My 86 Audi 5000 wagon was a technological marvel and ran forever.
just the normal maintenance stuff.
98 Jetta another great running car. daughter drove it for years then i got it drove it some more.
I did like the article pretty funny

[GillesBigCowboy]

Some cars are reliable in stop and go traffic, and some cars are reliable on track.

[flyboyx]

for me, the epitome of unreliability is actually anything manufactured in great britan. thats just me though....