You'd think David would have had his fill of German cars by now.
Some years ago he had a Mercedes that would have been a nice car had the engine not blown up one dark, rainy night on a blind curve on Highway 17. When he called the Mercedes emergency road service for towing he spoke with a woman in New Jersey who said she'd send someone right away. He didn't have to wait for a tow truck to arrive from New Jersey, but it was still a very long wait.
Then David bought a 740 BMW, and one freezing night the door handle came off in his hand when he tried to open it. Fine German engineering. Because the car was nearly 2000 miles out of warranty that new door handle cost $900. And a year later when a tail light burned out the repair estimate was over $10,000 because the electrical wiring had melted. Rather than sell the car and risk some serious liability, David traded it in on a new Lexus for me -- Merry Christmas, Betsy!
Will he never learn? Yesterday, David called and asked me to pick him up at a garage in Palo Alto. Turns out, his fancy Audi overheated and needed a new thermostat. Not a big deal since the part only cost $20. But believe it or not, the labor charge is over $1300 because half the car needs to be dismantled to get at the thermostat!
Maybe next time my husband will buy a reliable Japanese car. Then again, by the time he gets around to a new car the Chinese will probably dominate the market!
