"Bollocks" (to 'steal' Dave Plowman's favourite expression.
I have driven Mercs old and new for >20 yrs and find them not unusually
bothersome to run. Maybe I don't know what 'usual' is, but I recall only
complete engine failure on a W123 200 (that was about 1984) at about 2000
miles which was fixed under warranty.
People's experiences with Merc and BMW will, of course, vary but I doubt
that on average it is much worse than with other brands, US J D Power
surveys notwithstanding. Sales of both brands are doing pretty well and
they would not be if there were real problems. Merc suffers from
dealer****p
problems in some countries but at least in Britain this has been
recognised
and some measures taken.
What really sorts the wheat from the chaff is age. The paintwork on a
BMW/Merc is as good as new after ten years, and so is the interior if has
been treated with a modi*** of respect. And the shapes age pretty
gracefully. I doubt you could say that of most Japanese cars. How many
keen drivers are there of, for example, ten-year old Toyotas. Is Toyota
as
proud of its seriously high mileage drivers as Mercedes is?
DAS
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---
"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:elmop-E6C5D5.13431614082006@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> In article <ebq4g4$v23$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
> richard@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Richard ***ton) wrote:
>
>> >I don't know why people say that BMWs are expensive to maintain.
>>
>> This is the way my father in law explained it to me 30 years ago: "the
>> Germans are quite up front about maintenance costs. The Japanese want
you
>> to believe their cars are cheaspre cheap to maintain but in reality
they
>> cost
>> about the same".
>
> I wouldn't buy a German car with YOUR money. (Been there, done that.)
>
> And yes, I "get" German cars. German cars are the expensive, pouty, and
> high-maintenance mistresses of the road. Damn, they are a fine, fine
> ride...
>
> ....but then the maintenance and pouting kicks in.
>
> At some point, without unlimited funds, you are at a decision point:
> continue the high-priced, high-maintenance fun, or go back home and
> enjoy your reliable Lexus wife of a car, patiently sitting there waiting
> for you to get over the midlife crisis.
>
> Oh sure, she's not as ***y as the German car, and she doesn't handle at
> the edge like the German car. She's also not as fickle and high
> maintenance and pouty, and she agrees with you much more of the time.
> She's always there and never complains, and you come to realize there's
> more to life than a high-maintenance relation****p with a pouty,
> high-maintenance woman--no matter how ***y she is or how fun the nights
> out with her can be. Because when she lets you down and demands more of
> you than you have to give, and treats you like dirt, you're standing
> there all alone outside the club, looking and feeling like an idiot.
>
> Your Lexus wife would never, ever do that to you.
>
> And the occasional fun night out isn't worth what you end up paying for
> it, both financially and in time wasted while you wait for the German
> car mistress to be in the mood to play.
>
> Do this: start paying attention to cars with tail light and headlight
> problems. What brands of cars are you seeing? That's right--VW, M-B, and
> BMW. And pay attention to how old, or rather how new, those problem cars
> are.
>
> The reality of electrical issues with German cars make Lucas electrics
> look reliable.
>
> Now *try* to find a Honda or Toyota, either low brand or high brand, no
> matter how old, with non-working tail lights. Good luck.
>
> It's a small thing, but it represents the reality of the situation. You
> want to buy a German car? Just buy a GM car. At least the money you're
> throwing away stays more inside the country--and you get just as
> reliable a car.
>
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