American vs German Quality

Perhaps it's not only American vs. *German*, and perhaps not only very
recently. Several years back I met a guy from Ford Australia who told me
that they had shipped some Fairlanes (Ford Australia kept reusing that
name even when the car bore no resemblance to any US-built Fairlane and
when the name had long fallen out of use in the US) to Sweden, and the
locals had pronounced them far superior to Volvos.

Perce


On 11/30/04 03:41 pm A.Muewi tossed the following ingredients into the
ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

> I am probably one of the few Germans who, after driving several German made
> cars (Fords, Audi, Smart) and one Honda, bought 3 American cars. I live in a
> neighborhood where everybody else works at the local Mercedes plant and
> drives Mercedes. Not me. I don't like car trouble.
>
> Yes, I agree, the overall quality of German cars has deteriorated
> considerably (see my neighbors complaing about the frequent electronic
> issues of their cars), and, at the same time, the the price of an average
> German car rose to unprecedented heights. There is an unholy race going on
> among the car designers who put more and more electronic gadgets into the
> cars and at the same time neglect quality control because it costs money.
>
> With the Audi, I had frequent minor troubles with the engine (carburator) ,
> the brakes, and the odometer, and the transmission that failed completely.
> The Honda showed excessive wear on the rocker arms after only 60.000kms, the
> alternator had to be replaced twice, too. Very expensive!!
> Both German Ford's steering mechanisms went completely out at 80.000kms and
> had to be replaced. About 900$ each. They also had frequent minor mechanical
> problems.
> Worst car ever is the Smart (a Mercedes affiliate). It is virtually falling
> aparts when you drive it. You never know what is coming off next. Repairs
> are very costly, because it is maintained by Mercedes.
>
> I first came across an American car when I was looking for a spacious van
> for familiy transport. I ended up with a 98 Ford Windstar (I had a German
> Ford station wagons before), which was considerably cheaper, more powerful,
> and more luxurious than its German counterpart van, a co-production of VW
> and Ford. Well, the Windstar never let me down, and the only trouble I had
> within 100000 kms was a speed sensor acting up. No big deal. Maintenance
> costs were low as well. I sold it when the kids wanted to go their own ways.
>
> After my good experiences with the Windstar I bought a Chevrolet
> Trailblazer, which is quite an exotic model here. I was very pleased by its
> comfortable ride and the powerful engine. I prefered it to the BMW X5 which
> was 20.000 Euros (=22.000$) more or the Toyota (same price as the BMW).
> I use to drive her very hard on the Autobahn (no speed limit!!) and she's
> pulling my big trailer without problems. No issues so far, its 2 years now
> with 43000kms on the odometer. Very good built quality, very solid
> construction.
>
> Just recently, I bought a Chrysler Sebring Convertible for my wife (she
> loves it) and I hope it will be as reliable as the Trailblazer and the
> Windstar.
>
> Conclusion: there is no reason for buying German or Japanese Too many
> issues, too expensive, bad reliability.

>>Both JD Powers and Consumer Reports have said that the reliablity of
>>German cars has become terrible. The Chrysler division products have
>>scored much better that Mercedes division products in the last couple of
>>years.

Perhaps it's not only American vs. *German*, and perhaps not only very
recently. Several years back I met a guy from Ford Australia who told me
that they had shipped some Fairlanes (Ford Australia kept reusing that
name even when the car bore no resemblance to any US-built Fairlane and
when the name had long fallen out of use in the US) to Sweden, and the
locals had pronounced them far superior to Volvos.

Perce


On 11/30/04 03:41 pm A.Muewi tossed the following ingredients into the
ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

> I am probably one of the few Germans who, after driving several German made
> cars (Fords, Audi, Smart) and one Honda, bought 3 American cars. I live in a
> neighborhood where everybody else works at the local Mercedes plant and
> drives Mercedes. Not me. I don't like car trouble.
>
> Yes, I agree, the overall quality of German cars has deteriorated
> considerably (see my neighbors complaing about the frequent electronic
> issues of their cars), and, at the same time, the the price of an average
> German car rose to unprecedented heights. There is an unholy race going on
> among the car designers who put more and more electronic gadgets into the
> cars and at the same time neglect quality control because it costs money.
>
> With the Audi, I had frequent minor troubles with the engine (carburator) ,
> the brakes, and the odometer, and the transmission that failed completely.
> The Honda showed excessive wear on the rocker arms after only 60.000kms, the
> alternator had to be replaced twice, too. Very expensive!!
> Both German Ford's steering mechanisms went completely out at 80.000kms and
> had to be replaced. About 900$ each. They also had frequent minor mechanical
> problems.
> Worst car ever is the Smart (a Mercedes affiliate). It is virtually falling
> aparts when you drive it. You never know what is coming off next. Repairs
> are very costly, because it is maintained by Mercedes.
>
> I first came across an American car when I was looking for a spacious van
> for familiy transport. I ended up with a 98 Ford Windstar (I had a German
> Ford station wagons before), which was considerably cheaper, more powerful,
> and more luxurious than its German counterpart van, a co-production of VW
> and Ford. Well, the Windstar never let me down, and the only trouble I had
> within 100000 kms was a speed sensor acting up. No big deal. Maintenance
> costs were low as well. I sold it when the kids wanted to go their own ways.
>
> After my good experiences with the Windstar I bought a Chevrolet
> Trailblazer, which is quite an exotic model here. I was very pleased by its
> comfortable ride and the powerful engine. I prefered it to the BMW X5 which
> was 20.000 Euros (=22.000$) more or the Toyota (same price as the BMW).
> I use to drive her very hard on the Autobahn (no speed limit!!) and she's
> pulling my big trailer without problems. No issues so far, its 2 years now
> with 43000kms on the odometer. Very good built quality, very solid
> construction.
>
> Just recently, I bought a Chrysler Sebring Convertible for my wife (she
> loves it) and I hope it will be as reliable as the Trailblazer and the
> Windstar.
>
> Conclusion: there is no reason for buying German or Japanese Too many
> issues, too expensive, bad reliability.

>>Both JD Powers and Consumer Reports have said that the reliablity of
>>German cars has become terrible. The Chrysler division products have
>>scored much better that Mercedes division products in the last couple of
>>years.

Don't quite get it. Sustantial complaints about problems and dealers as
well as plaudits.

DAS
--
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
n.umich.edu...
[...]
>
> Take a look here at Peter Wendt's page:
>
> http://members.aol.com/peterwendt/usautogw.htm
>
..

Don't quite get it. Sustantial complaints about problems and dealers as
well as plaudits.

DAS
--
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
n.umich.edu...
[...]
>
> Take a look here at Peter Wendt's page:
>
> http://members.aol.com/peterwendt/usautogw.htm
>
..

The way the dollar is sailing down the Sebring Convertible will make a very
cheap replacement for my CLK Cab....they just need to modernise the folding
roof design...

DAS
--
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

"A.Muewi" > wrote in message
...
> Hi everybody,
[...]
>
> Just recently, I bought a Chrysler Sebring Convertible for my wife (she
......

The way the dollar is sailing down the Sebring Convertible will make a very
cheap replacement for my CLK Cab....they just need to modernise the folding
roof design...

DAS
--
For direct contact replace nospam with schmetterling
---

"A.Muewi" > wrote in message
...
> Hi everybody,
[...]
>
> Just recently, I bought a Chrysler Sebring Convertible for my wife (she
......

On Tue, 30 Nov 2004, Percival P. Cassidy wrote:

> Perhaps it's not only American vs. *German*, and perhaps not only very
> recently. Several years back I met a guy from Ford Australia who told me
> that they had shipped some Fairlanes (Ford Australia kept reusing that
> name even when the car bore no resemblance to any US-built Fairlane and
> when the name had long fallen out of use in the US) to Sweden, and the
> locals had pronounced them far superior to Volvos.

The Australian Ford line contains numerous world-class vehicles, including
a full range of up-to-date RWD passenger cars and utes with vastly better
performance, economy, ergonomics, emissions and safety than anything Ford
sells in the rest of the world. Australia gets a RWD Falcon with 4-litre
inline Six (normally aspirated, turbo or supercharged), thoroughly modern
in all respects. North America gets the Five Hundred, a warmed-over
Taurus.

There ain't no justice.

On Tue, 30 Nov 2004, Percival P. Cassidy wrote:

> Perhaps it's not only American vs. *German*, and perhaps not only very
> recently. Several years back I met a guy from Ford Australia who told me
> that they had shipped some Fairlanes (Ford Australia kept reusing that
> name even when the car bore no resemblance to any US-built Fairlane and
> when the name had long fallen out of use in the US) to Sweden, and the
> locals had pronounced them far superior to Volvos.

The Australian Ford line contains numerous world-class vehicles, including
a full range of up-to-date RWD passenger cars and utes with vastly better
performance, economy, ergonomics, emissions and safety than anything Ford
sells in the rest of the world. Australia gets a RWD Falcon with 4-litre
inline Six (normally aspirated, turbo or supercharged), thoroughly modern
in all respects. North America gets the Five Hundred, a warmed-over
Taurus.

There ain't no justice.

On Tue, 30 Nov 2004, Dori A Schmetterling wrote:

> Don't quite get it.

Surprise, surprise, surprise...Dori doesn't get it.

Go back to sleep, dearie. Sorry to wake you.

On Tue, 30 Nov 2004, Dori A Schmetterling wrote:

> Don't quite get it.

Surprise, surprise, surprise...Dori doesn't get it.

Go back to sleep, dearie. Sorry to wake you.