Reply to: Cars - again!

[Peoplesoft bloke]

The body on a 4 door is different to the 2 door in that they have pillars in the middle to give strength for a car with 2 doors, the doors are bigger and the strength has to be built into the body/ work roof structure especially a coupe, pushing the price up from the standard saloon car

Not always - most two/three door cars aren't pillarless - and cheaper models are cheaper with fewer doors - it's only the likes of BMW who rub their hands with glee.

[doodab]

For reliability the Japanese are generally ahead.

Reliability survey 2011 - How reliable is your car? - Car and Car-Buying News - What Car?

Most (and least) reliable cars: 2010 | This is Money

What Car? Reliability Survey - The top 100 cars - Car and Car-Buying News - What Car?

[Sockpuppet]

if you have a crash in your car and its taken to the garage and your insurance company (or someone elses)are paying for the repair and they say to you we can either:

A) stick a second hand door from the scrap yard on it
B) Stick a patent part on it from the local spares shop
C) buy part of a door and weld it up
D) stick a brand new genuine part designed for your car on it

which one are you going to choose, answers on a postcard to the usual address

I wouldn't give a toss as long as I was happy with the fix.

In March this year the very same thing happened when some twunt hit me. New door skin (plus most of a new RHS to the vehicle). End result is pattern part and a flawless fit.

That's like saying I want a Ford Fuel filter as its OEM and the best. They're £36 each. I put Delphi ones in there at £10. They're the same filter. Don't fall for the OEM is always better malarky.

[Sockpuppet]

2011 Motoring review: the year's best cars - Telegraph

Yes but that would make you like every other company car owner in the country. Quality != Mechanical Build Alone

[Peoplesoft bloke]

2011 Motoring review: the year's best cars - Telegraph

Hilarious that BMW was number 8 of ten, from the same article I give you number 2 -

2011 Motoring review: the year's best cars - Telegraph

[Peoplesoft bloke]

if you have a crash in your car and its taken to the garage and your insurance company (or someone elses)are paying for the repair and they say to you we can either:

A) stick a second hand door from the scrap yard on it
B) Stick a patent part on it from the local spares shop
C) buy part of a door and weld it up
D) stick a brand new genuine part designed for your car on it

which one are you going to choose, answers on a postcard to the usual address

Actually you raise an interesting point - if my BMW (he he) was 3 years old and they could source a 3 year old door on a BMW in the scrappy, that would put me back to the same position. Anyway this is utterly utterly irrelevant -

Just because some car maker makes cars that can't be economically repaired doesn't make the car "quality".

What might make it seem like quailty would be stuff like durability, more spent on design to improve the driving experience and primary and secondary safety etc.

Originally Posted by Paddy
A old client of mine makes gear shifts rods for car manufactures. The Ford one costs under £5 to make. The BMW one costs just under £30 to make, certainly a lot more value in the car however, BMW drivers = wan***s.

Again you seem to be confusing cost with value - just because it costs more doesn't automatically make it better - how many of these "gear shifts rods" do you think fail or wear to excess on the Ford vs the BMW - that would surely be one measure of quailty.

BMW spend plenty on marketing and they aren't taht badly made, but they do have their share of faults and quailty issues - and when you consider the price premium, they shouldn't.

[Support Monkey]

So what your saying is they decided they'd rather sell a whole door rather than the skin? Sounds less like a build quality thing and more like a money making thing.

I never said BMWs weren't the best "quality" in their class just that they weren't quality, full stop.

if you have a crash in your car and its taken to the garage and your insurance company (or someone elses)are paying for the repair and they say to you we can either:

A) stick a second hand door from the scrap yard on it
B) Stick a patent part on it from the local spares shop
C) buy part of a door and weld it up
D) stick a brand new genuine part designed for your car on it

which one are you going to choose, answers on a postcard to the usual address

[Paddy]

Before moving into IT i was in the motor trade and i can say without a shadow of a doubt that German cars are superior to all other cars in their price range, build quality is far better on VW Audi or BMW compared to other makes, just as an example if the outer door on your modeo was dented they can repair with a door skin (basically the outer door was welded back onto the inner door)however BMW thought that this would compromise the build quality, rust protection, safety of the car as they could not control how/who fitted a skin so for all BMWs you can only buy a complete door

A old client of mine makes gear shifts rods for car manufactures. The Ford one costs under £5 to make. The BMW one costs just under £30 to make, certainly a lot more value in the car however, BMW drivers = wan***s.

[Support Monkey]

As a matter of interest - what did you do in the motor trade?

I was a windscreen fitter (automotive glass technician) then i worked in a bodyshop as a technician and estimator then i worked for a software company creating bodyshop estimating systems

[DimPrawn]

So what your saying is they decided they'd rather sell a whole door rather than the skin? Sounds less like a build quality thing and more like a money making thing.

I never said BMWs weren't the best "quality" in their class just that they weren't quality, full stop.

2011 Motoring review: the year's best cars - Telegraph

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Before moving into IT i was in the motor trade balh blah BMW marketing hype for why evertything's so costly

As a matter of interest - what did you do in the motor trade?

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Either that or bad schooling - that damned Thatcher's stolen milk caused it for sure.

As I thought we'd established, though I loathe and detest her and almost everything she did and stood for - the mik snatching thing is a bit of a myth - and I am so old that I got my milk - when I went to school they even trusted teachers to teach you things too, no national curriculum then.

[Mich the Tester]

Is a C apostrophe D any good?

[Sockpuppet]

Before moving into IT i was in the motor trade and i can say without a shadow of a doubt that German cars are superior to all other cars in their price range, build quality is far better on VW Audi or BMW compared to other makes, just as an example if the outer door on your modeo was dented they can repair with a door skin (basically the outer door was welded back onto the inner door)however BMW thought that this would compromise the build quality, rust protection, safety of the car as they could not control how/who fitted a skin so for all BMWs you can only buy a complete door

So what your saying is they decided they'd rather sell a whole door rather than the skin? Sounds less like a build quality thing and more like a money making thing.

I never said BMWs weren't the best "quality" in their class just that they weren't quality, full stop.

[Mich the Tester]

The body on a 4 door is different to the 2 door in that they have pillars in the middle to give strength for a car with 2 doors, the doors are bigger and the strength has to be built into the body/ work roof structure especially a coupe, pushing the price up from the standard saloon car

Cool! I'll stick to saloons then.