Originally Posted by edyvw
Originally Posted by Alfred_B
I took my 2007 Audi A6 for the Takata aibag recall. The loaner vehicle is a new Hyundai Tuscon. What is interesting is that while this car is brand new, my 11 year old A6 with 232k miles on it is still more comfortable and more pleasant to drive.
But the Tuscon is roomier.
It is hard for people to understand that who never owned German vehicles. Put comfort on a side.
My VW Tiguan feels like a tank compared to Toyota a got, and my BMW X5 I traded in for Toyota felt like a tank compared to Tiguan.
Not to mention that BMW with 110k did not have one single indication of wear on steering wheel, leather surfaces, dashboard etc. I got Toyota with 41k, and steering wheel is already showing wear, leather surfaces are kind of wrinkly, and built quality compared to VW and especially BMW is non existent. It is like riding in beer can. And this is Limited edition that was $46K brand new. While BMW was $70k new, Tiguan was I think (I got it used) $32K new, and still looks like brand new car with 75k miles.
We've had four Benzes and a pair of BMWs thus far and while they were all well-made and solid cars, their superiority to other cars is not what it was twenty years ago. Any number of modern Japanese brand cars have solid structure and unflappable road manners.
A modern BMW or Mercedes is as much about the badge and the name as it is about any actual superiority in the diving experience.
If anyone wants to try a BMW, Audi, Mercedes or even some Porsche models, they're available cheap enough used, as has long been the case.