German vs. Japanese

[shertex]

Amusing summary of why we love our MB's.

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-people-keep-buying-luxury-German-made-cars-when-there-are-official-reports-that-their-build-quality-is-far-worse-than-Japanese-made-cars/answer/Ryan-Wilhelm-1

[Diseasel300]

"You buy the German car for the driving experience. You buy the Japanese car to get you to the parts house to fix the German car."

--One of my best friends used this line!

I own both. The Mercedes is more interesting and has more charisma, but I'm always wondering what's going wrong next. The Honda "just works". Yes it's a bit boring, but it's big, comfortable, and reliable as the day is long. Makes a good trip car.

[sixto]

My father-in-law's '01 Camry with 250K miles costs less to keep than a pet rock. I drove it last night and it's generally smooth but he's been through the suspension twice and it feels nothing like new. Japanese cars can run forever but there's something about how they age that can't be undone. I found a clean set of Bilsteins at the pick-n-pull and the SD drives nicely over railroad tracks and potholes without slowing down. The suspension thumps like crazy and there are creaks and groans but the road isn't boss even with crappy tires.

Sixto
83 300SD
98 E320 wagon

[Rogviler]

The trick is to own more than one German car so you always have at least one that's roadworthy.

-Rog

[EDBSO]

I have had the pleasure of owning a M3 convertible for several years and loved it, except for the wind noise.

When you go to the dealer for an alignment they ask that you come in with 1/2 a tank of gas, they then throw sandbags on the driver's floor to estimate your weight and thirdly they ask if you would like the stock alignment or a race alignment or a tire friendly alignment.

The car went like stink, turned like it was on rails and braked like you threw out an anchor.

My favorite Mercedes that I have owned.

[sloride]

Build quality VS build spec or design. The Honda is designed as a point A to point B vehicle.
Whereas MB is designed to be luxury/performance vehicle, in most cases. You can purchase an Accura NSX if you want some higher entrance and maintenance costs.

[ah-kay]

You can rave about German cars all day. The bottom line is how deep is your pocket? How much down time you can afford? I have multiple MBZ and they are all DD so I am covered. I cannot speak for others. I would take the article with a tiny grain of salt, German cars is not for everyone.

[gatorblue92]

Originally Posted by Rogviler

The trick is to own more than one German car so you always have at least one that's roadworthy.

-Rog

I tried that and ended up with 4 non running cars at one point. That was when I sold two and bought my F150.

[Bob338]

I'd disagree with the comparisons. I've owned only one Japanese car, a used Honda. My experience with German cars belies the comparison. I've owned 4 VW's, 1 Opel, and 6 M-B's for 40 years, all diesels. Along side of these I've owned many US cars, mostly Fords after experiences with other brands. My 'cost per mile' on the German cars has been far less than all the others. Except for the first M-B, a '77 300D, all have been new, as were all the US cars. Never owned, nor have I wanted to own ugly Bimmers, but I've heard too many horror stories from friends that had them. Give me the German cars, especially the M-B's. It's unfair on a board like this populated by hobbyist's of mostly old diesels, to use their time and expense for a hobby, as any comparison. Give me the German cars, any day!

[Hogweed]

We currenlty have 4 cars on the road: 1 Mercedes diesel, 1 Volvo wagon and 2 Toyota's (Sienna AWD van and Corolla sedan).
My lovely-but-frightfully-careless-with-stuff wife uses the Toyota's and i use the other two..... something about those Volvo fwd cars just gets me....kind of a cross between the Japanese and German cars somehow.

[biopete]

Originally Posted by gatorblue92

I tried that and ended up with 4 non running cars at one point. That was when I sold two and bought my F150.

Haaa haa. Me too. I'm pretty fed up with german cars and just got a 2001 Infiniti G20T from a friend at work who bought it brand new. It's a 5 speed , comfortable leather seats, 140,000 miles on it and it cost me $1400.00. Everything works. Thats why i bought it. It would cost me 1400.00 plus a ton of work to get everything on my 1997 E300D or my 1998 Beetle TDI in as good as shape as this car is in.

German cars you need a lot of money and a lot of time or just a whole lot of money. The beetle, making their heater and vent blend dooors out of foam mwhich blows out your vents and then you have constant mix of hot and cold air all winter and summer was the last straw. That wouldn'd be bad if they blend doors were easy to replace. But you have to pull the dash apart and spend a weekend doing it. Maybe a few others last straws with a White 1994 E320 wagon.

Driveability, the G20T is called a sport sedan and my initial feeling was "boring car" Then i got on some windy roads and learned to drive a gas different than diesel and its not bad. It handlers curves awesome. This car is basically a Nissan Sentra with nicer trim, seats and everything. Drive it like you stole it and its fun. Overall I'm enjoying driving thinking about where i'm going and what I want to do rather than thinking about what i need to fix on my cars Life changing. End the insanity people . Lol.

That said, I wish the infinity drove more like the beetle But i bet if you look there are japanese cars out their that are a pleasure to drive.

The other thing i like about the Infiniti is everything works. Did i mention that? And seems like it will for a long time. The seats are so much more comfortable than the W210 E300 seats. I'm a convert. Sick of wasting time and money on Mercedes.

[RunningTooHot]

German vs. Japanese. Hmmm.... disregarding the fact that German cars can be money pits (but not always!) the big difference is CHARACTER. How much suffering is it worth to you to have the subtle yet distinctly different driving characteristics that we enjoy? To some people (us) it's worth quite a bit. To others... they don't even know the difference.

Granted, many people will not even comprehend that there is any difference. They are blind to the subtleties and nuanced differences. It just doesn't matter to them; they don't perceive any differences.

Example: My old girlfriend. My '95 E300 and '92 500E are cosmetic clones. You can't imagine the number of times, while driving, she would ask me "which one is this?" For her, a Japanese transportation module works just fine.

Now I will say that the more recent MB's have lost quite a bit of that character. They may be as solid feeling as the older models, but they've lost a lot of feel & feedback that previously differentiated German cars from others. Progress to some, a tragic loss to others.

Look at BMW. But avert your eyes quickly, lest you damage your retinas. (Especially the Bangle era monstrosities!) They've completely lost their way compared to BMW's of the past. Sure, they can put up numbers that are impressive and untouchable compared to earlier cars, but they are numb, almost completely devoid of feedback. (And yes, I've driven a few!) The same can be said of some recent AMG cars. Hellacious straight line numbers that only a few years back, a dedicated (production class) race car would be hard pressed to duplicate. But lacking the subtleties & feedback present on earlier cars. (Not to mention pounding the discs in your lumbar spine into gelatinous goo.)

Pick your poison... there's no right or wrong, it's just personal preference. The sad part of it is that there's much less to pick from when it comes to recent German cars.

[97 SL320]

The beetle, making their heater and vent blend dooors out of foam mwhich blows out your vents and then you have constant mix of hot and cold air all winter and summer was the last straw.

I add heater valves to every car that does not have them, the difference in interior temps is staggering. Even with good blend doors you still have this hot box under the dash.

In the mid 90's when I was on a Porsche 914 list, many people had more than one and piles of parts. I've got one I used to drive but leaks oil due to a cracked block, one non rusted CA car that has been sitting for 20 years and needs recommissioned , one complete parts car that is nearly rusted in half and one completely rusted in half car that donated parts to the oil leak car.

[biopete]

Originally Posted by 97 SL320

I add heater valves to every car that does not have them, the difference in interior temps is staggering. Even with good blend doors you still have this hot box under the dash.

In the mid 90's when I was on a Porsche 914 list, many people had more than one and piles of parts. I've got one I used to drive but leaks oil due to a cracked block, one non rusted CA car that has been sitting for 20 years and needs recommissioned , one complete parts car that is nearly rusted in half and one completely rusted in half car that donated parts to the oil leak car.

That's a brilliant idea that would work for the summer. I was wondering about that and talking to my friend about how MB uses valve but vw uses blend door.
I could just put in a three way ball valve and and by pass loop.
Winter though, you'd still get some cold air. But Nashville is getting pretty mild winters now.

Thanks, Dude!

[Mark DiSilvestro]

Just learn to live without Bluetooth, Satellite, touchscreen, airbags, pre-tensioners, ABS, ASC, ACC, computer systems of any kind, and find yourself a nice old 240D!

Happy Motoring, Mark