We are number one but it # 39; s by Adolf Hitler performed
German cars once had a reputation for high performance, finely designed indestructible German tanks that changed everything.
I'm done with German cars they no longer represent a kind of value for the consumer While they were once finely designed Teutonic cruisers designed for the autobahn, today, they are just unnecessarily expensive cars, delicate and boring have the urge to have a German car - other than the project status - long since evaporated.
To understand German cars, you need to understand the history of their course, Mercedes is the first brand that comes to mind and historically, Mercedes has always been the purveyor of German tank Hitler loved his big, red, supercharged Mercedes - a car almost as long as a city block and weighing nearly as much as a Mercedes switching engine at the time were finely designed and oversized cars - a reputation that largely continue until the middle of Today 1990, they are just Toyotas terribly expensive and we'll get to why later.
BMW began as a manufacturer of motorcycle and started making small cars Dixie licensed from the British Austin motors move, Austin American - Bantam company - created the first Jeep Unfortunately, the automotive industry Britain is in great part extinct they were beginning to organize to make serious sports cars such as the 328 when the First World war broke course, like Mercedes, they had experience in aircraft engines so the spinning propeller Roundel After the war, they somehow floundered around with the Baroque not hideously update angel and ridicule Isettea, which was based on an Italian design It wasn t until the mid 1960s that BMW by its act together, it making the relatively cheap manipulation, but higher in 1600 and finally in 2002 the famous.
BMW's reputation was hardly assured, though its large cars, such as Bavaria rustbuckets were usually a few years to buy some esoteric models, such as the beautiful and exotic 3 0 CSi coupe were certainly striking, but their bread and butter 2002 car was bulletproof engine near M10 four-cylinder no power windows, no air conditioning, no power steering only luxury cars are in essence And yes, they also rusty, like most of the time cars .
In 1980, BMW introduced the first Yuppie BMW, the 318i, which is quite unloved by BMW enthusiasts today It had luxury features, to be sure, but abandoned the sport handling as go- cart of his predecessor BMW better car - never has - probably was the successor of this car, the E30 3-series 318i, 325i, etc. Bavaria was replaced by 5-series, and logging 7-series appeared on the horizon BMW began selling luxury like Mercedes, with cars coming to America fully loaded with luxury options - and often much higher than the price identical cars sold in Europe.
The reason for this, I discussed before in 1950, 1960 and 1970 s, those funny foreign cars were cheap to buy, because the exchange rate currency postwar makes them cheap, so people bought in based on price, not luxury or factual status, a foreign car was largely anti-status symbol but the 1970 field was winnowed to a few foreign importers, and the Japanese had the low end of the locked market Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Renault, Peugeot, and a small crowd had left Marqués - or leave little - the market other non-Japanese importers had only one choice - to move upscale, sporty move, or both .
In order to sell a non-Japanese foreign car in America, it was necessary to offer something other than a proposal of Fiat prices, before leaving the United States, tried to do the sale of sports cars, upgraded interior leather, and jacking up prices to more than 10,000 Unfortunately models reputation rusty and built 1970 cheap destroyed what little chance they had to stay in the early 1980s, they MG Triumph pulled the plug, and a host of British brands hang longer before too, succumbed to the inevitable.
But the Germans persevered BMW was now offering sport sedans that have a good reputation for quality and luxury and status Indeed, many E30 BMW 3 Series 1980s and early 1990s still soldier today not as collector's items, but as daily drivers I dare say that I see more E30's on the road today that its successor model, the E36.
In the early 1980s, Mercedes WAS the same thing, but in a less sporty mode The W123 Mercedes 300D diesel or 300TD is still coveted today as 300,000 miles as tank car that always seems to run many, including the one I owned as they were were imported to the just plain gray market - and the regular price - cars in Germany but sold in America for thousands, even up to 10 000 more than in the country Ze Germans us convinced that their ordinary cars were somehow status symbols and ate Americans.
And in the 1980s, prices were still somewhat reasonable, and facts cars were good German tanks You could justify the cost of a Mercedes 300D or a BMW 325i in that it would easily go over well 150,000 miles - maybe But much as we will see below, has changed dramatically in recent years.
But what Volkswagen Well, what about the first VW Audi Porsche Porsche and includes literally sharing DNA with VW Audi Auto Union was once purveyor of tank cars like German to era prewar Today, it is just a brand name for Volkswagens gussied up, with a few exceptions, such as the A8.
VW course, famous started making the cheapest car on the planet and known as the Beetle was popular, he was also a very dangerous piece of shit Ralph Nader wrote about the VW before he castigated the All Corvair Corvair problems could be traced to his spiritual successor, the Beetle, which GM slavishly copied other than the design of the body, which, ironically, became an inspiration for Neu mid 1960s BMW class .
So Volkswagens are crap cars, mainly econoboxes you buy, drive and throw when the Beetle has become so shamefully outdated and obviously unable to meet safety standards and future emissions, they designed the rabbit or golf as it is known in Europe the first generation golf was a good car, but trying to compete with Japan, the price, the US was killing VW they opened a UAW plant in Pennsylvania and made the second generation Golf's in the US, with disastrous results.
Have you ever wondered why a VW powertrain warranty 100,000 miles on his car The reason was the horrific car they did in the late 1980s VW closed the factory in Pennsylvania, which is something quite radical to do - that the quality of cars was so bad, that sales have shrunk to almost nothing, and the company was almost ruined by the fiasco.
Today, VW is back - and back in America with a new plant and a new version of its happy-German cars Whether it will turn 2 remains successful to see their stated objective is to be the largest automaker of the planet, but it seems that they will have to do battle with Toyota and GM first.
Audi VWs are beautiful, and most often in the country, they are imported to the Port of Brunswick, right next to my house, and are wrapped in blankets stupid little Porsche, once a light racecar bare -Bones, evolved - by necessity - into a purveyor of luxury cars and SUVs, as well as exotic cars upscale new hardtop Cayman Boxster with a fixed roof is more of a return to the original st, simple, cheap and tossable Porsche and sell like hotcakes after new German car manufacturers had no choice but to go upscale, trying to compete with the Japanese on just doesn price does not make sense.
In the 1980s, German cars made sense - either a BMW 325i, Mercedes 300D or a Volkswagen Rabbit They were more expensive than Japanese cars, but they treated better and lasted longer, and were fairly simple maintain the parts are not too expensive, and it wasn t impossible to find someone to repair a car like a German car was a value proposition.
But things have changed since today, the trend of luxury sales and ongoing status German automakers have no choice, really try to finish with Honda and Toyota on the price is simply not in the cards VW bravely tries to hold with its de-supported in the United States has made Passat, trying to off Camry Camry, and price undercutting to start that doesn t sound like it will end well.
The problem is, these cars have become incredibly complex, expensive and difficult to repair once out of warranty, they are almost impossible to correct without taking them to a dealer and even dealers can not do the most important repairs If there is a fault code in the transmission, their only option is usually to eliminate the transmission and replace They simply do not have the technicians or skills to do major repairs transmission - or even minor.
Independent stores didn often the computers necessary to read codes or diagnose complex problems they may have an OBD code reader II cheap, but not complicated dealer only computer that can diagnose problems and also change the settings Everything today tools and special knowledge - the latter often jealously guarded by manufacturers.
The idea of a Mercedes or a BMW or Volkswagen for that matter from 200,000 miles is becoming more difficult to achieve Of course, if you want to throw money at the car, you can - or if you had the chance, but usually what happens German luxury cars expensive at about 150,000 miles, is kind of expensive and difficult engine or transmission repair, which would cost almost as much as the car is worth, to perform.
The 50,000 Mercedes, at this stage, is perhaps 10,000 or less, and a working 6000 transmission just doesn t make much sense, on a car worth only ten big and that's why, in a word, you see many BMW and Mercedes of the 1990s and early 2000s, even on the road - while the more plebeian cars are still doing yeoman duty there.
I have already mentioned that most cars depreciate about 50 every five years, without much deviation The difference between 50,000 and 25,000 Mercedes Toyota is that in five years, you've lost 12,500 to the depreciation of the Toyota but with the Mercedes, you've lost enough to buy another Toyota, outright prices mean high high depreciation.
In the past, because of their tank like construction, a German car used was a Yes value proposition, a Mercedes or BMW new cost as much as anything else but what car and it will last longer, too Alas, today ' hui is not the case, and many used German cars from the 1990's and 2000's can be pig utter terror as their bankrupt homeowners worse than an old Jaguar.
Throw in things like 92 octane gas, 8 liters of Castrol 15 Syn-Tech 350 tires hard to find, and even routine operating costs costs escalate owned by 2x, 3x, 4x and more.
Of course, the US Automakers have largely abandoned the luxury segment of the car market to the biggest selling point of luxury cars made by Ford and GM are essentially Lincoln Navigator trucks, Cadillac Escalade and like their cars, not are as heated versions of their brands less, slathered in cheap leather and wood and electronic gee-gaws Mercedes and BMW are not losing sleep.
If you want a car today in draft form, unless you're a rap star or live in a trailer park, you head out of the German car dealer They sell you the prestige and the idea that you have sophisticated tastes and asylum status brainless as you go along with the gag But for most people, you try to remove is evident, especially if you are a bad driver doesn Having the ultimate driving machine t mean much if you text while driving.
And unfortunately, that is what was turning what was once a core constituency for the BMW and Mercedes sports sedan driver who Bough a 1988 325i isn t going to address the overworked and complicated machines available today - with magnetic electronic steering little or no road feel loyal oil burner that eventually had to withdraw from the 300D is not looking at all diesel models in the Mercedes range - if indeed there are to be had more buyer of recognizing impairment in value isn t the German car dealer more - the cost of purchasing only the abominable regular maintenance costs, and staggering repair bills that make their jewelry box Teutonic in the bucket garbage Camry long before the neighbor is even broken.
But the soldier Germans and be profitable BMW is the most profitable automaker in the world, and yes, I am a shareholder - so please go waste money on a new BMW mainly because Americans the America is their largest single market would cry nose to impress people they do not know even I doubt Lincoln, Cadillac, Chrysler or will ever be able to build cars on a par with their German counterparts or impregnate with the same level of status they have, in fact, the market.
A fly in the ointment, however, could be lower resale values of these technological nightmares A used 7 Series or S-Class used can be had for very cheap, after 100,000 miles on the clock rolled as person does not want to face the horrible repair bills do people continue to pay top dollar for these cars if they are so expensive to have this effect can filter up to new car pricing because resale prices significantly affect leasing rates.
Frankly, at this point in my life I do not want to watch car myself, but a mixture with the car from the crowd I do not want a car with 6,000 transmission repair, but a car that costs so little that I can sell and buy a new one well before that repair is necessary.
And maybe that's just me - old and not worrying so much about the status but I think something has changed in the way German cars are manufactured and sold today the Teutonic tanks have long since disappeared from the showroom replacement are delicate and difficult cars that require too much action - and money - from the owner to possess.
What prompted me to write this was a friend having a communication problem with their Mercedes I asked, Do you have the proper fluid level because Mercedes and BMW, you can not check the liquid level you the mechanic said they did.
They took another mechanic, a so-called Mercedes specialist who changed two transmission cooling coils and then reset the computer They then claimed the transmission was shot and suggested going to a dealership.
The code, P0730 for Mercedes W209, when I looked online, poses a number of problems, including low transmission fluid level.
I asked my friend, they check the level of transmission fluid He called recheck Oh, no, they said, the liquid level was good.
So off to the dealership - Critz in Savannah - and wait for the news A new transmission or a loose wire or something.
They call back, you know, the transmission was only half full of liquid.
Honest merchant Brumo Jacksonville would have recommended a new car as they did to a friend of mine.
But funny, I diagnosed the problem from the get-go and mechanical expert could not properly measure liquid levels.
Measuring the transmission fluid levels in modern cars is tricky Many German cars not reactive anymore and you have to jack the car checked by strips and filler cap, with the car in neutral and running or another, you need to consult the manual.
I wish the low liquid level has not resulted in transmission damage for my friend.
The car is 11 years old and has 120,000 miles on it, I told him to drive a few years to about 150K and keep his eye on something new it will need new engine mounts and transmission media soon, and some oil leakage problems that are not cheap to repair.
Such is the problem with trying to get 300,000 miles a car - the second half of the property generally involves a lot of esoteric repairs.
A reader points out that the main Six Bavaria was the forerunner of the 7 series, not five, he's probably right.
It's a boring thing about BMW Today they have 1-Series is the size of the old E30 and E36 3 Series old today The Series 3 is the same size as the five sets there are two decades.
All car manufacturers are guilty of this - size creep What was once an economy bucket is now a midsize car and so on.
BMW and Mercedes topped the list in terms of repair costs, with BMW nearly 50 higher than Mercedes The maintenance cost of owning a BMW is twice normal brands and three times that of the cheapest - Toyota.
My Nissan reached 50,000 miles and will need new tires, a new serpentine belt and tensioner, battery, and a liquid transmission change I have made the difference.
These are typical repairs on a car in the brand 50,000 mile - BMW or Nissan.
The case is, unlike a German car, the tires 95 at wholesale clubs, the tensioner and belt are available at NAPA, and fluid changes may be made to the Lube-and-go local place Oh, and I do not need a special ventilated dealer only 200 battery, either.
Smaller cars are easier to fix than you have more options and parts costs are much less, usually because they have much more of the car in question and therefore there is a greater amount of pieces spare.
Living Miser Why I'm done with German Car, Indeed, German cars, check the fluid level.