Why is German engineering held at such high regard,

[FyrFytr998]

One German brand that certainly has cashed in on the “German Made” mystique is Festool. Ridiculous the prices they charge. They bout to lose a ton of business once the Domino’s patent runs out.

 

[RoastBeast]

Was watching this youtube video on this German classic car restoration shop and one of the guys was restoring a Shelby Mustang and said that German's are superior to American workers because they pay closer attention to detail and put in the extra effort to make everything perfect.

I was ready to start WWIII right then and there.

 

[Sakuraba is #1]

German cars are like the Kardashians of the automotive world—they look fabulous and have a certain je ne sais quoi, but let’s be real, they’re not exactly reliable. You’d be more likely to see a Hyundai on a cross-country road trip than a German car, unless you’re planning to stop at every repair shop along the way. And those repair shops? They’re like the German car’s personal stylists, charging you an arm and a leg to keep you looking sharp. So, if you’re thinking about buying a German car, just remember: you might as well be buying a ticket to the world’s most expensive game of “Whack-A-Mole” with your wallet!

 

[fingercuffs]

Was watching this youtube video on this German classic car restoration shop and one of the guys was restoring a Shelby Mustang and said that German's are superior to American workers because they pay closer attention to detail and put in the extra effort to make everything perfect.

I was ready to start WWIII right then and there.

Against America?

 

[Contempt]

German cars are like the Kardashians of the automotive world—they look fabulous and have a certain je ne sais quoi, but let’s be real, they’re not exactly reliable. You’d be more likely to see a Hyundai on a cross-country road trip than a German car, unless you’re planning to stop at every repair shop along the way. And those repair shops? They’re like the German car’s personal stylists, charging you an arm and a leg to keep you looking sharp. So, if you’re thinking about buying a German car, just remember: you might as well be buying a ticket to the world’s most expensive game of “Whack-A-Mole” with your wallet!

I currently own two... neither of them have ever failed to start or had any mechanical issues whatsoever.

Edit: actually a headlight went in one and needed to be replaced.

 

[Kimchii]

It predates that. Their ww2 manufacturing was very much influenced by the fact they'd not really embraced industrial style assembly line manufacturing. They were still a nation of cottage industry specialists when it came to maufacturing. Their workers were much closer to skilled swiss watchmakers, than American or British assembly line workers.

Armchair historians like to speculate that Germany might have done better if they'd utilised less tank designs - usually suggesting they stop with PzIVs or Panthers, but none of their factories would have been able to easily switch, because each companies designers only created designed that their particular work-force and factories could produce. If you wanted to teach Henschel workers to build Krupp tanks, you would have had to shut down one factory entierly, and have the other working at reduced output for many months whilst they train the new workers.

I can't really comment on the car industry, but top end German components are still among the best in the world. There's no real magic, just they still have the attitude as the swiss watch maker and stick to extremely tight tolerance levels.

Great read!

I have a friend who works and lives in Wolfsburg. Right now, many are worried because VW has been forced to both lay off people and cut wages. This is something that has never happened before and when it happens in Wolfsburg, the rest of Germany gets nervous. A big problem is that heavy investors have invested a lot of money on old technology and cannot be competitive against China who can produce at a much cheaper price as they have a modern electric car production that is cost effective. Many Germans have raised their voices and demand that the VW produce cars that everyone can afford, just like in the good old days with the Type 1. As I think the thread starter refers more to the fossil fueled car, I certainly don't think German engineering is overrated. On the contrary, as they still make a lot of money from spare parts for the cars as they are of the highest quality compared to cheaper copies.

And this is a completely personal thought. But nothing beats the feeling of quality when you get behind the wheel of a German mid-range car that is not completely impossible for ordinary families to afford.

 

[Dobymick]

There words:

U Boats

 

[IIIIIIII]

one other thing to keep in mind i think, is when someone or something pushes the envelope of technology, you are bound to hit failure. it's learning from those failures that you create better products. someone has the be the guinea pig in terms of pushing technological possibilities, and the germans have a proven track record of doing that.

 

[ColemanwastheGOAT]

They make good audio equipment.

 

[west42]

Speaking from repairing landscape equipment in my spare time, Germans seem to want to show off their engineering abilities with unnecessary complexity. They also seem to not care about reliability if they're meticulous maintenance is not adhered to. The Japanese show off their engineering abilities with ease of maintenance and a much less complexity. The Japanese design stuff assuming maintenance will be ignored

 

[asharak]

They're obviously talking about engineering in the DDR(commies only). The superfest glass has never been equaled, because the profit motive requires planned obsolescence. Maybe China or Cuba can eventually recreate it, but otherwise we'll be stuck with things that break unnecessarily
.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

- This machine power is only matched by a Fiat Uno:

-It's bulletproof, rocket proof, flood proof and doesnt care about the laws of physics.
And that pathetic cyber-cuck, got destroyed when hit one of those bad-boys.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

Speaking from repairing landscape equipment in my spare time, Germans seem to want to show off their engineering abilities with unnecessary complexity. They also seem to not care about reliability if they're meticulous maintenance is not adhered to. The Japanese show off their engineering abilities with ease of maintenance and a much less complexity. The Japanese design stuff assuming maintenance will be ignored

- I think the same of some chineses cars. They're good cars, but too much unecessary pieces.

 

[P0NYBOY]

Have you ever compared a korean floyd rose tremolo to one from germany?

 

[P0NYBOY]

It's all marketing. I am in the Warranty business. We use actuaries to figure out how to price warranties in the used segment. A combination of factors including cost of repair avg, parts cost and availability, frequency of repairs needed, repeat repairs needed, mileage on repairs and in between them, and severity of repairs needed. The top of the bad list is ALWAYS German makes. Audi being the worst followed by VW and Porsche. BMW and Mercedes are also in top 10 worst. The only vehicles that give them a run is Nissan with those terrible transmissions.

People always ask me if it was the end of the world and there would be no mechanics what car would I choose to last the longest? Toyota Corolla.

As a toyota/lexus master diagnostician, I have to ask why warranty companies approve engine changes for someone who never changed thier oil in 40,000 miles?

 

[revoltub]

They make good cars

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

Well German cars came to prominence due to being able to build more reliable "performance cars" when compared to other European exports. And that still remains true overall. They also do an excellent job of blending entry level, sport, luxury and super tier models. You still see a lot of younger kids gravitate to BMWs due to accessibility and modification potential. You see a lot of purest go towards AMGs for out of box performance mixed with luxury. Audi arguably is one of the most comfortable brands ever made and interior manufacturing is impeccable.

Japanese is king of reliability (although CVTs are a concern - and there new obsession with 1.5L turbos is concerning) however they've never strayed away from the notion that people are too lazy or dumb to perform regular maintaince so we need to build durable engines that are easily worked on). I've gone Toyota to Honda to Toyota and now Lexus and I've never had a complaint about quality (aside from the ball joint issue on land cruisers)

But right now the CR rankings have 6 Japanese manufactures in the top 7 car reliability brands. Soooooo they know their shit

 

[mozfonky]

i drove a vw for awhile and it was super reliable but when I had to change a headlight or the oil i was baffled by why they would make such simple, basic tasks so damned complicated.

 

[mozfonky]

So why didn't the car originate in Japan and why did the Japanese have to be taught how to build it by Europeans?

not as creative?

 

[chardog]

Well, having worked at a German run company, I can remember the Germans saying in the past their country had a good name for engineering. In todays world they were concerned. The Germans felt other countries were making goods as good as those manufactured and designed in Germany.

By far, with out a doubt, the worst car I ever owned was German made. With that said others thought highly of it as it looked good and sporty.

I used to work with some Chinese nationals. They were all quite status symbol conscious. To them the top products came from Germany. If it was made in Germany or German designed the Chinese felt it was the very best. American made on the other hand had a poor name to it. They didn't think much of American made products. they were considered cheap and poorly made. Ironically kind of how many Americans think of Chinese made products.

Times are changing, the hottest car in China is Tesla