American vs German and why?

[adil]

I am driving American and Japanese cars since long long time and never experience any great disastrous experience as many of my colleague driving German cars explain:

• Minor service cost 2500 - 4000 AED
• Air suspension cost 12000 AED
• Headlight cost 4500 AED
• Gear change cost 40000 AED
• Engine overhaul cost 15000 AED

Listening to these horror stories, I never opted for German cars in-spite of being best in Industry but unfortunately I am not in that 1% of world population to afford such car expenses with huge family behind my salary.

[knightjp]

@adil very well put. But American cars used to be no better here in the UAE. Compared with Japanese cars, the service costs used to be horrendous. 

The simple fact was that German cars tend to be more difficult to maintain. You need to stick to dealers or proper specialists. This means, large bills. One thing is that German cars don't fair well in this heat without it. All European cars for that matter. 

Japanese cars fair the best. Kind of seems like if you are looking for quality, you don't go for either German or American. Japanese seem to be more better engineered to be able to take the heat. But there is an operative word here - "seem"... 

Any car can survive here if you maintain it right and give it the correct service, etc. Some just cost more than others. 

The idea here is that you pay a 100 now, rather than a 1000 later. 

[amitaj]

Interesting discussion guys, but we all are forgetting the point that German car break less and consume less spear parts and that's why they cost more as they are much better quality built spare part than Japanese and American car parts.

Same story in Japanese segment like Mitsubishi spare parts are the most expensive than Toyota, Honda and Nissan as they literally last forever. So change of brake pad for 500 AED for two years is better than 200 brake pad that lasts 3-4 months max.

[knightjp]

@amitaj I'm sorry that I'm not with you on Mitsubishi. I have had friends who have had Pajeros and within a couple of years they seem to develop faults where the engines are just eating up the oil and run a bit more rough. Also the quality of the interior trim the in Mitsubishis are pretty poor. They feel more plastic and flimsier than American car trim. 

Any car's usage of spares depends on the person driving and using the car. So stating that German cars use less spares and break down less is pointless. They are engineered to take higher tolerances and but all that depends on the user. 

[Barry]

I disagree with the whole German cars being reliable thing. Maybe 25-30 years ago, they got a reputation for being reliable and deservedly so but these days, not so much. The Volkswagen/Audi FSI/TSI are crap in terms of reliability for want of a better word, the DSGs are terrible for clutch and mechatronic system failures and horrendously expensive to repair when they go wrong. The Germans put so much focus on trying to cram their cars with new technology and gadgets that some of it is bound to fail at some stage.

 

But to answer your original question, American or German? Japanese every time.  

[taqir]

If after above all info and key points anyone have to choose between one then I would suggest American than German when more than 3 years old. As Germans are very expensive to maintain and American have cheaper spare parts and ultra cheap scrap parts in plenty.

[treks]

"But to answer your original question, American or German? Japanese every time."

Well, yes- if you want a leakproof engine, then Japanese is the way to go, no doubt about it. 

[Barry]

On 4/20/2016 at 0:53 AM, treks said:

"But to answer your original question, American or German? Japanese every time."

Well, yes- if you want a leakproof engine, then Japanese is the way to go, no doubt about it. 

Indeed, but my answer of Japanese has a lot more to do with reliability than just oil leaks. I've never owned an American car and with good reason, from working on them I find them to be shoddily built from cheap materials. I've owned plenty of German cars, I have a real passion for older VWs but from working on newer VWs I'd never own one, they're always broken. Same goes for Mercedes and BMW, I've owned older ones but I'd never buy a newer one. I've owned loads of Japanese cars, never really had any passion for any of them but they always just worked when I needed them to. In my opinion, Toyota build the best cars in the world. Still doesn't mean I don't find them lacklustre and dull though.

[derik]

19 hours ago, Hassam Tariq said:

Pajero is a living nightmare,
One of my close friend is struggling with it and he has only done 35000 km or something.

Do you mind explaining why Pajero is a nightmare?

Is it from performance perspective or in general maintenance up-keeping.

[Barry]

3 hours ago, derik said:

Do you mind explaining why Pajero is a nightmare?

Is it from performance perspective or in general maintenance up-keeping.

I'm interested in hearing the answer to this too. Pajeros don't really give much trouble outside normal consumable items.