Car Forum World

In which parts do German cars Mercedes, BMW, etc. dominate over the American and Japanese makes?
I want the current trend, i.e. after 2000 & not that of the 80s or 90s.

Answer: Price.

Virtually every buyer Reports ranking release has totally panned BMW and Mercedes. Statistically they suck. The humorous thing to me is that people use up $20K more for these cars than they're worth to impress other people, but when I see someone driving one I think, "There goes a dumb sh ".

Stick with Lexus.


Anecdotal evidence:
My boss got a new Mercedes do not know the model, but a big one. 1st time I rode in it water leaked in through the roof light hah. What a part of junk.

My sister in law's sister if you follow that got a new Mercedes and it refused to start some number of times the 1st week, something wrong with the anti theft system. She needs her car so bad sales job that she traded it in week 1, taking a big loss.

Safety ratings, build quality when you compare luxury levels, and performance of the engines.

you can not beat the resell value.

Price.

Two areas:
1. price
2. horse power

the big two german auto makers now produce cars with worse dependability than american cars
and Japanese cars are almost twice as reliabile as either

this as per buyer reports

quality and saftey...they cost more, but the trade in, or if you sell it..you can get more..If you ever drove in Germany on the Autoban you could be able to see the answer to your question in person..

It will not be correct to generalize like that, If you'd compare, say Mercedes to a Chrysler it could be more correct.
German cars have good interior quality and lots of advanced technology. One thing for sure German cars are intended to manage better at higher speed.

I think it's more of a brand name thing then anything. U generally see bmw's and benz's in movies. I would not really say they dominate, but when you add them I suppose. If I had my choice I could certainly go Japanese. Have you ever been in a benz? The interior is bland, nothing special, the cars also become s t after some years. You do not purchase a benz or beemer for the long run. they're cars for the now, maybe that's why you say they dominate now. All other makes r still running from before. I'm not an expert on these German cars, but I have had to do some safety tests on them. Some of them I was scared to drive just from starting it up. Cadillacs are the same way, not for the long run. They leak like crazy. that's why I'm a big fan of the Japanese. They do have their probs too although.

The German makes hold their values better than comparable American luxury cars and are more of a position symbol also. I could say the Japanese luxury makes hold their value just also and are maybe a bit more dependable although. I used to own a pampered 1987 Mercedes 300E, which was the top of the line E class of that day, and it was a tremendously unreliable car. High quality materials and well built, but anything and everything electrical crapped out far too early, early transmission failure, and trouble keeping it running properly. The most costly, still most unreliable car I have owned still. I read, I believe on news a couple years ago, that Mercedes quality is to get worse and really lower in score than some American makes by dependability. Great ornaments for your driveway to show off and that is about it. If you want a luxury car you may be able to really drive dependably as your major transport, attempt one from the Japanese instead, like Lexus, or save yourself $5k and purchase a comparable American model.

BMWs are the "Ultimate Driving Machine". It the final driving experience with its road hugging suspension, access to unbelievable hp and torque, and sleek racing design.

The thing I love about BMW is that their designs never get old. you may be able to own a 1999 BMW and people could think its new.

Hope this helps.

The German cars are typically pretty hard and built well..the only problem is that maintenance and upgrades are costly. Volkswagen is not cheap anymore..it used to be. Fixing a VW is just as bad as some of the other German cars. VW I believe is just one lousy car. It breaks down frequently and has a lot of mechanical problems. Audi is not that much better, they cost as much as Benz and BMW now.

Higher end Japanese cars like the new Acura TL, TSX and Type R Toyota Lexus brand, Nissan Infinity are just as technologically advanced as the Germans now.

Americans do not have a decent car unless you count the new 06' Corvette C6. that's one fast car.
everything coming from America is not worth the time.

safety and dependability but this does come with a price.

I have had some number of American and Japanese cars, and one German car so far . For fit and finish, German cars hands down. Safety? Well totalled a Toyota and a Pontiac Bonneville and walked away from both. My Mercedes has air bags all over it, but thankfully haven't had to use them still. Believe it or not although, my Toyotas were least dependable, with my German and American GM, Chrysler cars both were dependable. As far as domination? The handling in my Mercedes is awesome in comparison to anything else I have had. And I feel great driving it.

to be honest the others have said exactly what you are looking for but as for one person who mentioned lexus.take the RX class as an example.if you look inside an RX, then a Toyota Highlander they're exactly the same.no difference at all except lexus not toyota insignia but people still purchase a lexus because its a lexus.people will continue to purchase a mercedes/bmw due to niche level.its just the view of having a higher quality car usually they are correct ..

in all the parts that are possible. I am not going to say that german cars are better then japanese cars becuase I havn't had any japenese cars, but I did have lots of american car and I'm happy that I got rid of them and got me a mercedes which I'm keeping untill it dies.

the design.. german car makers really care about their image, so they design their cars well, and also the safety features..i think the performance and dependability are about the same as the japaneese

Better Looks, hard Structure, Better fit and finish, more fun to drive usually, European road manners, better residual value, much costly to fix.