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I have found german cars to be quite reliable. my family has almost exclusively owned german cars as long as I've been alive (bmw, mercedes, vw). most of them w

I have found german cars to be quite reliable. my family has almost exclusively owned german cars as long as I've been alive (bmw, mercedes, vw). most of them were owned for 7-10 years and had no major mechanical issues. we take care of our cars a little better than the average person though, hand-washing them often, regularly cleaning out biological debris from inside the engine bay and door sills, etc. the only outlier was a 2001 3 series that started having a lot of issues late in its life. to be fair, it was twelve years old at that point. by far the worst vehicle was a mid '00s LR3. that thing had recurring electrical issues from day one, a leaky roof, and several body panels that simply fell off. we got rid of it after only four years IIRC and it looked like it had been through a war. I'm not assuming anything about your personal level of care, but a lot of people aren't aware of all the little things you can do to keep a car running longer. I'm not surprised that they encounter reliability issues with these complex vehicles.

pessimizer 6y ago
The question isn't whether you think they're fine if one takes care of them well, the question is their reliability as compared to other manufacturers, all other things (like personal level of care) held equal.
- leetcrew 6y ago
  if you read further back up the thread, the original topic was quality. I would consider a vehicle that's pleasant to drive and capable of lasting a long time with a little extra care to be a high quality vehicle. our landrover, despite being pretty expensive new, was not a quality vehicle. it had numerous issues despite being well cared for. in any case, I just thought it might be useful information to add to the thread. consumer reports does a pretty good job quantifying the reliability of a vehicle for a typical owner. it's a little harder to tease apart the difference between inherently unreliable vehicles and ones that just need a little extra attention.

pessimizer 6y ago

The question isn't whether you think they're fine if one takes care of them well, the question is their reliability as compared to other manufacturers, all other things (like personal level of care) held equal.

leetcrew 6y ago
if you read further back up the thread, the original topic was quality. I would consider a vehicle that's pleasant to drive and capable of lasting a long time with a little extra care to be a high quality vehicle. our landrover, despite being pretty expensive new, was not a quality vehicle. it had numerous issues despite being well cared for. in any case, I just thought it might be useful information to add to the thread. consumer reports does a pretty good job quantifying the reliability of a vehicle for a typical owner. it's a little harder to tease apart the difference between inherently unreliable vehicles and ones that just need a little extra attention.