Fair enough. Care to remind me on what basis you claim that a Japanese car is more reliable than a BMW? Surely not the TopGear survey?
BMW 328i Sedan
- Thread starter digitalwanderer
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Fair enough. Care to remind me on what basis you claim that a Japanese car is more reliable than a BMW? Surely not the TopGear survey?
Pretty much so, yes.
No, because they are a premium brand and must keep up with the latest and greatest in order to keep and gain customers. They could build their X5 from 2001 forever with minor improvements, but who would buy it?
We still build the old G-class (the rectangular shoebox which appeared some 25 years ago) today because there is still high demand, but that is a MAJOR exception in the business.
This has nothing to do with my point at all.
You seem to have a problem with me saying other cars are more reliable than BMWs, then you proceed to give me hundreds of excuses as to why they actually aren't as reliable as say a Toyota Corolla.
I have not argued that BMWs aren't more technically advanced, I have argued that they aren't as reliable, nothing more, nothing less and to be honest, it's an argument you are backing up with each of your posts while still attempting to prove I'm somehow wrong.
Are BMWs better (to drive, toys etc.etc.) than your average Japanese crapwagon, most definitely.
Are BMWs more reliable than your average Japanese crapwagon, most definitely not.
Could be the fact when I worked for a Toyota dealer 90% of all the work coming through the garage was servicing and wear and tear replacement work.
So wait, working for a Toyota dealer gives you all the insight about BMWs at the same time? Or is it more like your personal experience as a Toyota dealer vs. public surveys on BMWs?
It was a bad decision of one high manager to begin with. It could be fixed with some serious effort, but the main reason was that the other manufacturers repelled the system and thus made it much too expensive, since Mercedes was the only customer and had to pay for all of the development work. So it got axed, and that manager was transfered to a more, err, "peaceful" job.
The surveys back up what I know about Toyota's, Honda's and Subaru's so why should I disbelieve them about other marques?
I have worked at other garages, and I know plenty of mechanics so I have plenty to base my assertion on thanks.
...and yet passing that on as fact is kind of stretch, don't you agree? Hey, my uncle, ex-wife's husband and dozens of other people that I know work for Toyota and have encountered x amount of problems - does that make any argument that make x is more reliable than y plausible?
As I already said, online surveys are a rather poor choice to base any argument on, especially not knowing how many participated in it. Also, people that have had problems are more likely to participate in surveys than those that don't - how can this be used as a valid basis?
I'm no car expert (very far from it, but i do read some magazines and watch some tv shows)..... but depending on what you are looking for (cheap/expensive/sporty/etc), i would actually take a quick look at the new ford Mondeo or the Focus .... it doesnt have the brand name that Merc or BMW has etc, but according to most of what i've read, its a very good car for its price.
I can imagine.
Can anyone on this thread actually say they would buy a Japanese car over others because they are more reliable ? Anyone just selecting a car on reliability alone has to have their head examined. Most cars nowadays are pretty reliable ( except Aston Martin .. ho ho ) so the over riding factor for Digi should be a car that does what he needs it to do and given that then secondary one that he feels good about.
When I bought my Japanese Yaris I bought it because I needed a small Citicar and I liked the Freetronic gearbox idea for city use also. It also did 50mpg and cost not that much. Reliability was well down the list.
I worked for the Toyota dealer for about 6 years in the parts department and in warranty claims, I think that makes me somewhat of an expert on any problems they had, almost all of which were with the British built models (surprise surprise).
I have also worked in the parts department of a "car supermarket" type dealer which gives me adequate insight (as far as I'm concerned) about most other marques.
I would. I live in a country where car taxes are high, speed limits are low, roads are generally not motorways, and the climate is less than stellar. Thus, I'd certainly factor in reliability and TCO. It'd probably be of equal weight as features, behind the requirement of a good safety rating, with performance being a distant third. A car, to me, is a tool, and I'd want it to just work. Hassle free.
Admittedly though, if I lived somewhere with different taxation or treated it as a toy, I might have prioritized differently.
digitalwanderer
Legend
Uhm, that's kind of why I've been with Nissan for the last 4 vehicles. Been getting only Nissan since about 92.
Uhm, that's kind of why I've been with Nissan for the last 4 vehicles. Been getting only Nissan since about 92.
If it's of any comfort, Nissan is Renault now and AFAIK they share the tech.
How does this give you anything but simply a very limited view on the situation in *your* region? Also, I'm not sure what's common over there, but I do question how a "car supermarket" (what ever that is) is basis to make a claim about Japanese cars being more reliable than BMWs. Over here, if you have a problem with a BMW, the most sensible thing to do is to bring it to your BMW dealer - certainly not to any car supermarket. Since you do think you have adequate insight into what BMWs are like, why not tell us about some of the most common problems BMWs seem to suffer of compared to their Japanese competitors?
Note; I'm not having a go at you, just generally interested since the problems you are perhaps refering to is something that is rather uncommon overhere.
Haven't they been aligned since Nissan crashed and burned in the late nineties? And haven't it lately been more like Renault is Nissan now (even though Renault owns more of Nissan than vice-verca) with Nissan growing faster and their management displacing the previous Renault execs.
No idea, Ijust know they're kinda married.
My brother who has been a tech for several dealerships told me the same thing.
Japanese cars are more reliable because they are relying on older technology that has proven itself/gotten the kinks worked out.
It's not a knock on Toyota (we're pretty much a Toyota only family) but just what he's encountered.
But reliable, or technically well put together? No.