Topic: German Engineering.... cars mainly! (Read 15390 times)

HS93 (RIP) · « **Reply #25 on:** December 10, 2009, 04:21:22 pm »

Quote from: DickyD on December 10, 2009, 03:36:47 pm

Nothing wrong with a Mercedes, I had one before I was relegated to a Motability car.

Didnt have to fly about because I knew I could if I wanted to.

Didnt really have to drive it as it did most thing on its own.

you can have most car's on Motability.I know you can have BMWs and Toyota's even the sports models.

Peter

DickyD · « **Reply #26 on:** December 10, 2009, 04:23:40 pm »

Yes but now I have next to no income I'm a bit limited to what I can have.

gondolier88 · « **Reply #27 on:** December 10, 2009, 04:52:21 pm »

Quote from: Wasyl on December 10, 2009, 03:10:50 pm

I would agree with you there, Hand/built British,cars are superior, but when it comes to mass produced,i have to say that German quality control was far superior to that of Brit massed produced cars,take for instance,..a Ford,made in Dagegham,was no match for one built in Germany,..same car/model,different quality,British logic in the 60,s 70,s,when Japanese cars,started to gain a foothold in Britain,we embraced them because they were apparently well built and cheap by comparison,we threw money at them,let them build cars here gave them concessions on building factories,Then when these consessions ran out,TheJaps soon followed, hence the demise of British car manufacturing,TheGermans on the other hand,held the Japs at bay,and refined their cars to the level we have come to expect of all German made cars,

Wullie

There isn't a single large car mass producer in britain that isn't really foreign owned and run- before you say 'what about Morgan, TVR, Aston etc?'- they ALL have majority or all foreign ownership.

British engineering killed itself by resting on the laurels of yesteryear- Germany had to completely rebuild itself after the war and put into place longterm plans for it's financial future, based largely on export of well engineered products- under Hitler's rule it had been proven that infrastructure, modern manufacturing techniques, mass production and qaulity control were the way forward- something that really we NEVER learnt in Britain.

German car manufacturers have a reputation that is second to none because they have worked for it and they know how to market what they have, they also know the little things that keep a customer coming back for more, and instead of the British mentality of old- 'we must strive for more customers by offering more and more diverse models' German manufacturers stick to what they're good at, and that is enough, you buy German cars with your head and not your heart, for that reason they will never go out of fashion.

Greg

BarryM · « **Reply #28 on:** December 10, 2009, 05:06:32 pm »

Quote
German car manufacturers have a reputation that is second to none because they have worked for it and they know how to market what they have, they also know the little things that keep a customer coming back for more, and instead of the British mentality of old- 'we must strive for more customers by offering more and more diverse models' German manufacturers stick to what they're good at, and that is enough, you buy German cars with your head and not your heart, for that reason they will never go out of fashion.

Greg
Unquote

Greg,

Total Hooey! As previously mentioned, my German-designed and German-built VW Passat is the biggest motoring mistake I have ever made.

Regards,

Barry M

gondolier88 · « **Reply #29 on:** December 10, 2009, 05:12:31 pm »

If iv'e said it once...cos' you ain't got an audi mate!

On the other hand there are thousands of Passat drivers out there that would probably disagree, and as for service, well that's down to your garage- (who i assume are British...?), my local Audi garage can't do enough for you.

Greg

BarryM · « **Reply #30 on:** December 10, 2009, 05:49:49 pm »

Greg,

VW were still German when I last looked and the 'service' I was referring to was VW Customer Care.

Cheers,

Barry

Brian_C · « **Reply #31 on:** December 10, 2009, 07:22:46 pm »

Quote from: TugFan on December 10, 2009, 06:42:42 pm

Can we get back to what's in the boat?

nah, what boat

lets here more about audis

destroyer42 · « **Reply #32 on:** December 10, 2009, 07:30:03 pm »

Quote from: brian_c on December 10, 2009, 07:22:46 pm

nah, what boat lets here more about audis

when we dial 999 in my area we get the BMW service centre.

Destroyer42

Brian_C · « **Reply #33 on:** December 10, 2009, 07:35:51 pm »

it aint audis fault that bmw,s keep breakin down

Wasyl · « **Reply #34 on:** December 10, 2009, 08:39:34 pm »

"Mercedes i spose they apeal to the people after the retro look"

Retro Look!!!!! don,t make me choke,when i said i had a Mercedes 2.9d 5 cyl,I forgot to mention that it has a Ssangyong Musso body wrapped around it,...Retro,indeed,...

as for getting back to boats,
I know lots of boats that have Merc engines,

Wullie

ajb68 · « **Reply #35 on:** December 10, 2009, 09:39:02 pm »

so what your saying is that the body IS retro so you had to jazz it up to bring it up to date

Andy

andygh · « **Reply #36 on:** December 10, 2009, 10:18:07 pm »

Quote

German car manufacturers have a reputation that is second to none because they have worked for it

No, they payed for it and they are good at advertising

sinjon · « **Reply #37 on:** December 11, 2009, 07:53:03 am »

PORCHE - brilliant.

Colin

kiteman1 · « **Reply #38 on:** December 11, 2009, 07:18:55 pm »

Quote from: gondolier88 on December 10, 2009, 04:52:21 pm

There isn't a single large car mass producer in britain that isn't really foreign owned and run- before you say 'what about Morgan, TVR, Aston etc?'- they ALL have majority or all foreign ownership.

British engineering killed itself by resting on the laurels of yesteryear- Germany had to completely rebuild itself after the war and put into place longterm plans for it's financial future, based largely on export of well engineered products- under Hitler's rule it had been proven that infrastructure, modern manufacturing techniques, mass production and qaulity control were the way forward- something that really we NEVER learnt in Britain.

German car manufacturers have a reputation that is second to none because they have worked for it and they know how to market what they have, they also know the little things that keep a customer coming back for more, and instead of the British mentality of old- 'we must strive for more customers by offering more and more diverse models' German manufacturers stick to what they're good at, and that is enough, you buy German cars with your head and not your heart, for that reason they will never go out of fashion.

Greg

Interesting to hear what you are saying Greg. It seems to me that you've forgotten the rebuilding of Germany after the war when VW were helped back into production by us to aid the their rebuilding programme. That was to our detriment because we were repaying our loans to the USA who made things difficult by insisting we repaid in full. I seem to remember that we
didn't finish payments until the eighties. You have to put things into their correct perspective. Having said that we also shot ourselves in both feet by not re-investing in both cars and bikes. Nuff said.......

BarryM · « **Reply #39 on:** December 11, 2009, 11:14:43 pm »

Quote from: sheerline on December 11, 2009, 09:47:42 pm

As for motors, my old 94 Passat estate was fantastic, I couldnt complain and it went like a rocket. Met its demise when I accidentally drove it through my closed gates. I was going to replace it with the later version until a garage mate of mine steered me well away with "They ain't the motor they used to be old chap, leave well alone". He was right, some owners have since complained of reliability and maintenence problems. My local garage thanked me for NOT buying one.

...and mine is a 2007 model

It was either another Volvo or a VW Passat diesel. The latter won out because of it's fuel economy and this has proved to be superb. Unfortunately on build quality, design and driver satisfaction it's the pits. If I could turn back the clock, there would be another Volvo in the drive.

Barry M

sheerline · « **Reply #40 on:** December 12, 2009, 10:17:18 am »

The old 2 litre Passat petrol engine was an absolute gem Barry, it was incredibly willing and solid as a rock. The downside was electrics, I had a couple of ignition coils go out on me... I swear they had a failure countdown chip built into them as others had experienced the same failures at around the same mileage but apart from that it was a great car. I owned it for nine years and it had done 45,000 when i bought it. A very economic car too, I don't know how they managed to do that considering how well it went. Just good design I guess.

madrob · « **Reply #41 on:** December 12, 2009, 12:02:12 pm »

Quote from: andygh on December 10, 2009, 02:39:26 pm

given the choice between a hand built British machine or an equivalent German one the Brits win every time.

Never had a tvr then?.even when they were built by hand in britain they fell to bits

Ghost in the shell · « **Reply #42 on:** December 12, 2009, 12:56:24 pm »

if der reichicher engineeringicher ich be as gut az ze propaganda saycher it is, ve vud haf not lozt ze var

on a serious note, mercs must be good, especially the older ones, as they are used as taxis in the middle east

justboatonic · « **Reply #43 on:** December 12, 2009, 01:46:21 pm »

BMW are excellent cars. I have two.

I do around 30k miles a year. I tend to find the worst drivers (after white van man) are those in mundaneo's and Vectra's \ Insignia.

Ghost in the shell · « **Reply #44 on:** December 12, 2009, 01:48:07 pm »

as for vans, I do like the new sprinter, not driven the Vito one yet

tigertiger · « **Reply #45 on:** December 12, 2009, 01:57:21 pm »

Possibly the most practical car I ever owned was the VW Passat estate. I have owned 3 estates, the Passat was streets ahead of the others for usable space and ease of loading.
Never owned a Volvo, so perhaps an incomplete comparison.

The most unrelaible and problematic car I ever had posession of was a 1980 VW Rabbit (Golf) Diesel in California (in 1993), it was old and had problems, but the biggest issue is that every garage refused to work on it. I think at that time diesels were a bit of a rarity in California.
The biggest problem was the the throttle would jam open and she would then accelerate very slowly in a cloud of black smoke. But if I braked hard enough the revs would drop to almost nothing and the engine would threaten to die, so then pedal to the metal, jammed throttle and off we go in another cloud.

Not acceptable in California in the 90s.

My most fun to drive and car with most charachter was, without doubt, my Mini Clubman. Also very practical for a small motor.

DickyD · « **Reply #46 on:** December 12, 2009, 02:24:10 pm »

Quote from: justboatonic on December 12, 2009, 01:46:21 pm

BMW are excellent cars. I have two.

I do around 30k miles a year. I tend to find the worst drivers (after white van man) are those in mundaneo's and Vectra's \ Insignia.

Why's that, only ones that can pass you ?

justboatonic · « **Reply #47 on:** December 12, 2009, 02:25:57 pm »

Quote from: DickyD on December 12, 2009, 02:24:10 pm

Why's that, only ones that can pass you ?

Because their drivers are ignorant twunts

DickyD · « **Reply #48 on:** December 12, 2009, 03:43:53 pm »

Quote

Because their drivers are ignorant twunts OK

Well thats really going to upset at least one of the moderators.

Jimmy James · « **Reply #49 on:** December 12, 2009, 05:51:31 pm »

I've got a VW Golf Plus ,,,The Car is Great... VW services are a joke ... Spares and Parts cost an arm and a leg ...

Even buying oil from a VW dealer costs extra... and if you go any where else for a service - even a VW approved garage using VW parts and have the aproved VW stamp in your service book VW dealers will not update your records

Freebooter

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Author Topic: German Engineering.... cars mainly! (Read 15390 times)

Wasyl

ajb68

andygh

madrob