aquinob

Found this on autoblog, interesting read: http://www.autoblog.com/2015/03/05/r...e-german-cars/

Trancebolt

/concur
I wish to own a german manufactured watch too; Hard to find an authentic mfg in germania piece. This car is made in sindelfingen, and the tranny in germany too. Thats authentic for me =D All bespoke

from an IWC ad,"for a man who understands the best things in life are complicated."
Ill sign up to that. Its not for everyone, lets be honest; thats not a bad thing. Im glad not everyone drives an MBZ.

Airmousam

Good read, thx

BenzV12

Thanks , it must be worth the reading

looney100

Nah. Quality is about how something is designed and made, and the standards maintained in both those disciplines. Not where something is assembled.
I don't believe for a minute that a German working an assembly line has any special skill that a Canadian, Mexican or Chinese worker doesn't. It's about quality control. A watch or car can be just as good if manufactured elsewhere if the same discipline, training and care is put into it.
Germans don't have a monopoly on quality. I will agree with the article that there is a certain culture of German design.

El Cid

Agree. Could even be done in America, as it once was.

El Cid

Interesting, but Cadillac, Lincoln, etc. all made V-12's in US before they became extinct.
The article did not discuss the declining reliability of German vehicles and the very expensive maintenace required by the "over-engineering."
Noted an article that Fiat is bringing back the Fiat 124 Spider, probably based on the Mazda Miata platform. Had a '78 and it was a great looking car and ran great until started snapping clutch cables every 5,000 miles with no solution.

Trancebolt

Is "care is put into it"; Quality control in korea and other places is nonexistant my friend; Go watch the youtube videos they walk you through the assembly line at the e class plants and more. They DO have all races working at the plants, but its IN Germany that i believe the true soul is created. Thats the key my friend. There are american manufactured mbz models; even though the trannys come from hedelfingen.i work at an aerospace mfg in america and there are 20 of them around us; All smoke and mirrors. HArdly enforced.

Check out any of the factories. Thats some transparency right there my friend. Sure, you see similar things in other plants (if youve ever seen a video or been to one in person as i have)
Its not that their superior quality, just as a swiss watch is often more coveted and flashy than a german watch, but both are complicated and expensive and damn near perfect. Its just what moves you emotionally; and for some reason, maybe since im 25% german I love their style. Its not logical for me its definitely not tangible love. Lol. I can admit it;

aquinob

The reason that the Fiat went through clutch cables was because Fix It Again Tony in their less than infinite wisdom used the clutch cable to ground out the engine. Had a 74 128SL and went through two cables before a guy in a parts store told me to buy a heavy braded cable and ground out the engine block. After I did that no more broken cables.


If folks think that Benz's from the 2k's are unreliable, they need only to look back at the $#!t Fiat made and sold here. Besides the clutch cable, it used sealed wheel bearings that had to be replaced every 18K miles, a 30K timing belt that slipped and banged up valves, an aluminum head that had to have the electric fan run after shutoff to keep it from warping. It lost the first 2 gears on a road trip and was in the shop for four weeks, the seats upholstery fell apart, fuel lines leaked all over. All before it had about 30K on the clock. And they wonder why the general public is kind of ambivalent about Fiat coming back into the states. OK, rant off.