On Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:45:33 +0000, notbob wrote:

On 2009-12-18, Peter Huebner wrote:

And, talking of reliable European cars, I've known quite a few series 2
Volvos that cracked half a million kilometres ... Now that Ford are
messing with the Volvo design I think that will not be the case any
more, I won't buy another Volvo designed & built since 2006. Currently
driving an 850 wagon and an XC70. Wonderful cars to drive, but lots of
little things go wrong all of the time :-(

Even the supposedly best of them ...Mercedes and BMW.... are not
without flaws. My buddies SL head gasket leaks oil like the Exxon Vadez and its
paint went just as quickly as my same year Civic in the scorching CA
sun. Another friend's BMW dash upholstery split open like ripe puffball, and it
only 8 yrs old. I've seen brand new Mercedes with orange peel paint
to rival the worst from detroit.

I think the important part is in distinguishing between design issues and
manufacturing ones - i.e. whether there's something fundamentally bad
about the design, or if the fault lies with the way they're put together.
I'm not sure if you can say that a "European car" is bad if the faults are
all on the assembly side, and that assembly is done locally to the country
where the car is sold.

I'm stunned to find how popular Buicks are. Talked to a Fifth Ave owner
who had 350K miles without a hiccup.

Wonder what the record currently is and who holds it? Back in the '80s I
think Mercedes had it for one of their diesels, but that was a loooong
time ago now.

cheers

Jules