German Engineering
German culture has traditionally prized technology and craftsmanship, and engineering is a highly respected profession in that country. German machinery, optics, and cameras have long had an enviable reputation.
During World War II, Germany deployed many technically advanced weapons, including the impressive (but militarily dubious) V-2 ballistic missile. After the war, German rocket scientists who had built the V-2 worked in the American space program. The most famous of them, Wehrner Von Braun, was a prominent public advocate of manned spaceflight. His ideas were featured in an influential series of magazine articles in Collier's Weekly in 1952-54; lavishly illustrated by artists such as Chesley Bonestell, the articles helped build enthusiasm for space flight--and built up the popular conception of the German engineer as an ultra-competent perfectionist.
It was about this time that Volkswagen was first breaking in to the U.S. market with the Type 1 "Beetle." The Beetle wasn't fast, or powerful, or particularly stylish, but it did have an advantage in build quality. Volkswagen made a point of bringing attention to the quality and reliability of its products, attributing it to its German engineering. The classic 1960s print ad at the top of this post is but one small example.
The German engineering meme has been used to sell a lot of Volkswagens--even those that weren't engineered in Germany!--and Audi, BMW, Mercedes Benz, and Porsche have also based much of their appeal on the idea that their cars, like VWs, were engineered by Germans.
What if you're trying to sell a car, and you're not German? Can you perhaps still take advantage of this meme?
You can--if your car is so good that even the Germans are impressed by it, you must be on to something. This example, from Subaru, features four stereotypical German engineers chillin' to Falco's "Rock Me Amadeus" as they do a little "opposition research" on the Impreza WRX:
Once a meme like this is so firmly established that even your competition is buying in to it, there's only one thing left to do--parody it. The "VDub" series of commercials for the GTI skewered tuner cars, Pimp My Ride, hip-hop music, and the German engineer archetype in one fell swoop. Let's join Wolfgang and his lovely assistant Helga as they "un-pimp" another auto:
German engineering in der Haus--er, I mean, garage. Rock me, Amadeus!
--Cookie the Dog's Owner
That Car Guy on March 12, 2009 at 12:52 PM
With technical names like "der blinkenlampen" and "das dimmerswitchen", how can we be anything but impressed? OK, I added "der" and "das", so if that's incorrect German, I'm at fault.
I drove a new GTI last month and was quite impressed. Cars from the Fatherland escaped me for a few years, but I'm looking at them again. Very closely ;).
Rob the SVX guy on March 12, 2009 at 01:43 PM
Everytime I think about getting an 850CSI, a Scirocco, a Corrado, a GTI, a 5 series, or anything else german I then remember my experiences working with german cars, and quickly dismiss the idea. They might have nice interiors, but there are definite reasons you can pick up a 2002 Audi A6 for around 4 grand.
Anthony Cagle on March 12, 2009 at 01:50 PM
That's funny, because growing up all I ever heard about VWs was that they were in the shop more than on the road. I hear that about Audis now. And BMW.
epilonious on March 12, 2009 at 01:50 PM
Alas. Having been the recipient of a 1999.5 VW Golf, and having family members who have had a few Mercedes and BMW cars... I have to find that the one commonality to German Engineering is not reliability, it is expense.
German engineering produces expensive cars with expensive parts that require expensive adjustments that can usually only be performed by expensive master mechanics at expensive dealerships or expensive service shops. It also tends to come with paper-thin warranties and US parent companies that lack any form of compassion.
It's not that these expensive components fail more often... it's that they don't fail less often, and they cost more to fix, replace, or adjust, and usually the driving experience afforded by such whizbang gidgetry is usually not that much better than non-German marques, especially competing vehicles at the same price point.
Steaming Pile on March 12, 2009 at 01:57 PM
Or you can buy a Japanese car (I suggest making sure it is actually made in Japan), and never have to deal with the service department at all (I take my Toyotas elsewhere to have the oil changed). Sure, they're appliances, as people here have pointed out on numerous occasions, but they're very good, very reliable, and very precise appliances. The parts are more expensive than for US makes, but if they never break, who cares?
Anthony Cagle on March 12, 2009 at 02:25 PM
"It's not that these expensive components fail more often... it's that they don't fail less often, and they cost more to fix, replace, or adjust"
That's probably closer to what my impression of German cars has traditionally been.
It's the Italians that make unreliable cars.
I don't have any overall impression of the French, except that the cars I've seen strike me as being designed by stoned art school dropouts, looks-wise.
Mochi Mochi on March 12, 2009 at 02:48 PM
Great article as usual! Those VDubb ads are pretty hilarious. Regarding reliability and German cars. Uh yeah - all the ones I had were pretty delicate and not especially reliable. Let's skip the things I did to them that caused them to fail... I don't think VW or BMW can be blamed for the abuse I subjected their brakes to, during trailing brake exercises on interstate exit ramps. But, I never did any harm to the electrical systems and those things failed ALL the time.
If German companies would start getting reliable electronics from japanese manufacturers their cars would be so much more reliable. Bosch!? :P Not the company they'd have you believe they are. That's a major reason for failures on German cars, or at least it used to be... I'm guessing it still would be. Secondary components are the most typical mode of failure in cars, and usually the most disabling. Every once in a while some one builds an engine with some huge defect, but this is a lot more rare than having repeated starter-motor, relay, distributor, fuel pump, or alternator failures.
I will say this: Old rabbits and sciroccos were a dream to work on. But I'm sure today's engine compartment is full of really scary crap that makes them less than ideal for backyard mechanics.
Shawn on March 12, 2009 at 04:46 PM
Mochi Mochi, I agree with you. The most frequently replaced items on my BMW 635CSi have not been those manufactured by BMW, but by Bosch.
BMW has a tendency to overcomplicate things, as do most German companies. Learning how to work on it is half the battle. And small hands, that might be the second half. In its favor, I will say with nearly 200,000 miles on the clock of my car you will not hear a single rattling or buzzing component when driving down the road at highway speeds or on a rough backroad. I dare you to find a 25 year old Japanese or American car that can make that claim. The overbuilding has its charms.
Orson LePhat on March 12, 2009 at 10:33 PM
You realize don't you that neither Falco nor "Amadeus" was German?
Bill T. on March 13, 2009 at 11:56 AM
I remember when the first VW's came here, and wondered, "What sets them apart"? A person I knew had one, which I rode in several times and wasn't overly impressed. A bit after that, the Beetle and the Microbus became symbols of the counterculture. The Microbus was known for being underpowered and notorious on valves, due to the blunt front end. The ad I remember most was the irreverent one claiming that if Mary Jo and Ted Kennedy had been in a VW, she wouldn't have drowned, since they are watertight enough to float. The most apealing one to me was the Scirocco. I have read recently that a Phaeton would be a good buy
OldCarGuy on March 16, 2009 at 07:11 AM
The only German cars I have owned were Beetles (still have my '67). Based only on the experiences of friends and family, their more recent German autos were pretty reliable, but as was already stated expensive to repair.
That being said, I am watching closely the reliability of the VW turbo diesel wagons. If they prove to be good, I'll be looking to pick one up, used of course.
kenny on March 16, 2009 at 11:10 AM
My 16 v GTI is more finicky than the 8 v counterpart. More idle issues come up...and it can be a ISV, a bad sensor, wiring issue, etc. I hear of people replacing part after part until they find THE issue. Luckily I have a decent, reasonable, and straight shooter of a mechanic who knows the car well enough to avoid "throwing parts" at it
However, it is not bad in costs of replacing parts, the majority of the time.
With these VW's I can find people who are old school VW nuts that work on water coolers for $75 an hour. Most parts before 1993 cars rolled in with all their luxurious items and power everything...are the same price as the Japanese cars.
CV joints are generally less expensive than Hondas for instance.
Two areas are an exception. Spark Plug wires whether they are beefed up after market or factory made...cost over $110 on the 16v cars. But they LAST.
The distributor is a common fault to. $200+ twice on a new distributor in 3 years. I didnt understand that at-all.
Two $160 fuel pumps in 180k to.
kenny heggem on March 21, 2009 at 04:52 PM
by the way...I mention the above to compare Japanese and German car costs. I think there is pros and cons on both sides with the more affordable German cars like Golf, Jetta, and GTI
Shawn on April 10, 2009 at 05:55 PM
I have to say I am impressed by our ability to keep my sons '89 325ia on the road. I wanted a car that he could learn to wrench on and something more interesting than a throw-away econbox. Anything that has gone wrong is fairly simple to remedy and get parts for. Plus the car is very well engineered. However if he goes more than 45 miles out of town, he uses our trusty Ford Ranger...
That Car Guy on April 12, 2009 at 10:04 PM
To Shawn: I've written a post on the Rangers... Had one myself for 12+ years, the longest I've had any vehicle. I hope you can see it soon.
Ilin on September 09, 2009 at 09:00 AM
I totally agree with Shawn. I drive a 98 BMW 318ti and never had to do absolutely anything on it. I did change a tie-rod but I broke it drifting. Regular things as changing brake pads, brake discs, tires and that's it. But that's on every car no matter the brand. Electronics on BMW do fail(window motor most of the times) but for everyone that says everything is so expensive, it is because you don't know where to look. Go to the dealer and of course it's a lot of money. I work on the car myself with my dad and uncle. I will tell you that this is a well build car and it is really simple! Once you get it, you can strip it for negative time.
Shawn: btw big fan of the 635Csi ... Saw one on Craigslist for 4500 and another for 6500 one of them was L i think. The once made only one year with absolutely everything leather hand put even headliner.
I do dare you people to find a 25 year old American/Japanese car in the same condition! Please let me see it non-restored.
okto on May 27, 2010 at 11:53 PM
Just as an interesting note (not taking sides), it seems like most of the negative German car experience has been with the cheaper end of the spectrum, something that has never been part of the "German engineering" mythos.
justme on November 01, 2010 at 07:45 AM
Well i work in a vw dealership, and there are pros and cons on anything in the world. But the german engineerring of today compared to 10 years ago are worlds apart. We really do not get any negative feedback here. The price of the cars, and the performance, and the design of the cars surpass pretty much all the other car companies. The new jettas are immaculate, and are priced better than the competition, and the specs overall are better check it out. I mean i see alot of talks about japanese vehicles, which i love, but how many law suits have u seen against german engineered vehicles. Sometimes having the little things fail every now and again should be ok, its the big things that count