Are Western cars particularly better in these areas? I have a Mercedes E class (W212) bought new several years ago which I've always serviced at Mercedes authorized workshop. It's a money pit. Reliability — something or the other snaps every other month these days. Repairability — even simple things require taking apart the whole car. Durability — you mean the strength of the body? Yeah that seems good, actually.
And I know mine is not a one-off case.
Maybe the Chinese cars might actually get these things right. We don't know yet.
The European cars' redeemable aspect is that they drive well.
> As far as I know they also are full of needles software stuff prone to fail
Go sit in a new Mercedes BMW, or even Volkswagen and enjoy all those screens. Decide for yourself if they're needed or not.
> for the Asians it heaven finally on Earth so they just cheer more and more of it
Fascinating how you caricatured away billions of people with a simple flippant thoughtless remark.
I believe caricatures are among the most precious things a human can produce, self-caricaturing even being abong the highest merits. This one is based primarimy on self-reflection, as most of them are, consciously or not.
I had an Audi A1. Back to Japanese cars now. Never getting an Audi again. Instead of happily working like a car is supposed to, something always broke, it was difficult and expensive to service. The mechanic told me: "this type of engine comes rattling from the factory". While it worked, it worked great, but then an oil indicator would appear, a taillight would randomly flash. Also, the newer Q5 diesels eat oil like there's no tomorrow, you have to fill a liter every 1000 kms, along with diesel and adblue. That's three automotive fluids that you need to fill in regularly. I just hope they get banned sooner rather than later.
We won't buy Nissans though. They're just more expensive and annoying Renaults. Also if one wants a cheaper utilitarian vehicle, French cars have gotten better, to the point it makes no sense to buy a more expensive German brand. I used to dismiss Renault but after renting a Clio and seeing how well it handles and how much it costs, I've changed my mind. The soundproofing was crap though, but I couldn't care less since the rest of the car was very erogomonic, had useful sat nav, rear camera, was not underpowered even with the low capacity entry level engine and it handled very well both in the city and on the highway.
Also Alfa Romeos. What's even the point of buying a BMW as long as Alfa exists? They basically have 3 models, as opposed to 10+? A sports sedan and two SUVs. It's got the looks and the horsepower, all leather inside. It's just as reliable if not even more mostly because BMW is no longer a hallmark of reliability, quite the opposite. If that's not enough, there's always Maserati. And if one wants an EV then buy a Tesla instead. The others are playing catch up anyway, with no longer a chance in sight to actually rival Tesla or even the more upmarket Chinese manufactureres like BYD or Nio.
There are so many things wrong with this statement Im not sure where to start.