German cars are unreliable and expensive to repair.

So if you buy a Honda and AAA for $50/year you can get a more reliable car and save yourself $40K.

Oops sorry Semck -- I repeated your point.

@Putin....my mercedes is quite reliable

They tend to score low on reliability measurements.

Meh, I live in Japan and hate Japanese cars. Toyota and Honda pollute so much, Toyota making up to 65 models a year for the domestic market, and the government encourages people to buy a new car every two years. Supporting Japanese car makers is supporting pollution on a grand scale. That, and at least here, telling a car apart from another is nearly impossible without looking at the logo or the marque.

The Japanese do not design for a brand, they just make a hodgepodge.

The ones they release abroad have a bit of a brand feel, but not too much. As for reliability, I give you that: the Japanese have been ahead on electronic connections, etc., for a long time. But then, they got the car industry handed to them. Germany lost all its patents and had to remake its car industry from scratch. Japan just used the patents and got rebuilt by a nationalist system that poured money into its industries so much that today those industries don't have to listen to a thing the government says.

So... sure, you can save a few bucks by choosing a Honda, but you're investing in a system that cheated to get where they are and is being an ass to its population.

Well I own 3 and have really no problems to speak of,,knock on wood. 08,10,and12

But Japan still has fewer cars per capita than a lot of countries. As for cheating, the US was the main beneficiary of the theft of German patents.

Call me old fashioned, but I think a real man should be changing his own damned tires, not calling someone else to do it for him. In the time it takes a tow truck to show up, you could rotate the whole flipping set. What a waste!

you are something...thats for sure

Who wants to lug around a giant tire and tire changing tools all the time? Especially if you have a small car.

@Tolstoy

The only effect that would have on the opening post is that Draugnar'd be mentioning how he changed the tires on his Mercedes rather than having someone else do it. The point wasn't to advocate for Mercedes' customer care, it was to give Draugnar an opportunity to mention that he has a Mercedes, and therefore, is a better class of person.

@Putin: there may be fewer cars per capita in Japan. In the cities, trains go everywhere. The thing is, that even in the city, where by and large, people don't need cars, it is cheaper to operate a car than take the train. Japan is set up perfectly to profit private companies. Charge 1/4 of the car price every two years for inspections, make a train system that costs 20$ to go across town, etc.

The fewer cars on the road here may even pollute more. Emissions are tested, but people leave cars running for hours a day at car parks. It's cool. The air is shit. Supporting Japanese industry is supporting the Asian disaster of crazy pollution. And Japan is probably the cleanest of Asian countries. And it is horribly polluted.

Honestly, I urge you if you can NOT to support them in any way possible. They are as recalcitrant about viable alternatives as any one can be and don't give a whiff about air or water quality.

At least their wiring is impeccable.

"Who wants to lug around a giant tire and tire changing tools all the time? Especially if you have a small car."

So far as I know, *all* cars (at least in the US) - including some very small cars I have owned - have a spare tire and the tire iron & jack needed to change it, although sometimes it is artfully hidden. What surprises me, though, is your patently bourgeois expectation that some Prole should be expected to do something that any dignified Homo Sovieticus should be able to do for himself. :-P

DIY is a distinctly petty bourgeois ethic, characteristic of homeowners and such. And I imagine there'd be few proles out there if everybody was into DIY.

Anyway newer cars no longer carry spares.

Anyway newer cars no longer carry spares. uh wrong

Yeah, I'm not familiar with any cars that lack spares, and although I'm completely down with having somebody do it for me, I wouldn't want to be without a spare and kit, either. I drive too often in places with no cell phone signal and/or an hour or two away from civilization. No thanks on sitting through the night by some deserted rural highway.

It takes under 10 minutes to change a tire and almost all cars, in the US, at least, are designed to hold a spare (even if it's only a donut).

Interesting.

I've only had one flat since I started driving, and that was in 2003. A friend who was with me had experience and changed the tire. If I were to have a flat myself today, ten minutes is probably how long I'd work to figure things out before deciding whether to call somebody. But AAA has come in handy several times for other kinds of problems.

AAA is a solid company, but better than the services provided it serves as a bond card in case you get a ticket that requires you to give up your license

Well, sure, the first time I had a flat I stood around confused for a while and then did stupid things like jack up the car before loosening the nuts. But, once you do it once, it's really not hard to repeat it fairly quickly.

"Call me old fashioned, but I think a real man should be changing his own damned tires, not calling someone else to do it for him. In the time it takes a tow truck to show up, you could rotate the whole flipping set. What a waste! "

I was wearing a suit coming home from work. No thanks. And it took 20 minutes for the truck to show.

Finally, I spent 25K on a used 09 C300 4Matic. I save by *not* paying extra for that coverage from the insurance company or AAA. Your Japanese junk doesn't cover roadside to second owners outside of warranty, but Mercedes covers it on *every* Cenz even out of warranty if you use a dealership for your twice annual service (yes, my C300 only needs standard service twice a year, not every 3 months like the Japanese junk).

@Abge - do it in a wool suit and tie in 85 to 90 degree weather or in the rain or in the snow or...

"Japanese junk" bwahahaha.

And even better, you have to pay through the nose for the shop service. This gets better and better.

And when I first bought the car, the battery died. They came right out with a new one at no cost. AAA charged me when the same thing happened on my Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Oh, and the Chec\vy Malibu does not come standard with a spare. You have to pay extra for it from the Manufacturer. In fact, most of the Chevy lineup is extra for a spare and jack.

"
So far as I know, *all* cars (at least in the US) - including some very small cars I have owned - have a spare tire and the tire iron & jack needed to change it,"

Incorrect. See my previous post about Chevy and their cheapskate approach.

@Draug

I've changed tires in all types of weather. Not in a suit, but I would as long as I was returning from my destination and not on my way there.

having someone else do it is better