[Ali Shiralian]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

Having grown up near the Chrysler HQ and knowing a lot of Chrysler "engineers" and crooks in management...

No, I'm not an idiot!

It baffles me why the American public buys so many trash cars.

It's amazing to me too. I used to be a huge mustang fan back in my early twenties and used to race them. As I got older I stuck with mustangs until one day decided to try German cars. Couldn't beleive what I'd missed all those years lol

[Never_Enough]

Originally Posted by peter2772000

Sorry, only just saw this. According to the forum I was part of, owners of 5 speeds loved the 8 speed. 1/4 mile times were faster as well

I read some stuff on the forum & the 1/4 times were not much better w/the A8 according to what I read...

So 0.2 or whatever is worth $10k now? I gotta disagree with that if it's the only benefit.

[Never_Enough]

Originally Posted by Ali Shiralian

It's amazing to me too. I used to be a huge mustang fan back in my early twenties and used to race them. As I got older I stuck with mustangs until one day decided to try German cars. Couldn't beleive what I'd missed all those years lol

When did a Mustang become a bad car? It's a pony car, not a $100k luxury car!! Also, been paying attention? Those Mustangs have been besting a lot of German cars for years now...

[Ali Shiralian]

Originally Posted by Never_Enough

When did a Mustang become a bad car? It's a pony car, not a $100k luxury car!! Also, been paying attention? Those Mustangs have been besting a lot of German cars for years now...

I didn't say anything about performance. Sure they were good around the track if you knew how to modify the chassis but as an everyday car they sucked. The quality of the workmanship was my point. Brand new sunroof started to leak on a rainy day and thermostat went a week after picking up my beloved GT. Numerous issues but yeah a fast car with its v8 which was too much for the chassis.

I don't know how much is a jeep trail hawk or whatever they're called these days but I don't think they're much cheaper than an X5 or a Q7. They're getting close to the German prices but their quality still suck is it apparent from the CR findings

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by Ali Shiralian

I didn't say anything about performance. Sure they were good around the track if you knew how to modify the chassis but as an everyday car they sucked. The quality of the workmanship was my point. Brand new sunroof started to leak on a rainy day and thermostat went a week after picking up my beloved GT. Numerous issues but yeah a fast car with its v8 which was too much for the chassis.

I don't know how much is a jeep trail hawk or whatever they're called these days but I don't think they're much cheaper than an X5 or a Q7. They're getting close to the German prices but their quality still suck is it apparent from the CR findings

You should go off of real world ownership. As many of us have stated, they are quite reliable.

The fit and finish may not be German in quality but you're also not paying that premium. I paid under $50k for a loaded JGC Overland. A similarly X5 *starts* at $10k more and a similarly equipped model (V8, etc) starts at $75k! I would rather have a little hard plastic and $$30k in my pocket.

Also, a Trackhawk starts at $86k while the X5M starts at $102k. That is much cheaper.

[peter2772000]

[QUOTE=Never_Enough;22953675]I read some stuff on the forum & the 1/4 times were not much better w/the A8 according to what I read...

QUOTE]

But they were better. .2-.3 on average.

The 1/4 mile is comprised of a bunch of small improvements adding up. Driving the 8 speed makes you feel like the engine is always in the power-band.
Yeah, seat-of-the-pants. But when you spend upwards of $70k, seat-of-the-pants sure helps.

[Z K]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

Having grown up near the Chrysler HQ and knowing a lot of Chrysler "engineers" and crooks in management...

No, I'm not an idiot!

It baffles me why the American public buys so many trash cars.

I met a friend's friend who used to work at FCA until recently. He says it's pretty bad there on the car engineering side. All their chassis are still the old ones from when they were sharing platforms with Mercedes. i.e. the current Charger, Challenger, 300 etc are on old late 90s/early 00s Mercedes E class platform and the SUVs are old ML chassis. Compact cars from the Fiat line up etc. They just keep updating the body and drivetrain... but they have no money to create a new chassis to build on.

Everything is profit oriented so they don't care if their cars are built on decades old platforms as long as they can squeeze more money from them. It's not a very forward looking company from an engineering standpoint.

[CeeTeeX5]

Originally Posted by Z K

I met a friend's friend who used to work at FCA until recently. He says it's pretty bad there on the car engineering side. All their chassis are still the old ones from when they were sharing platforms with Mercedes. i.e. the current Charger, Challenger, 300 etc are on old late 90s/early 00s Mercedes E class platform and the SUVs are old ML chassis. Compact cars from the Fiat line up etc. They just keep updating the body and drivetrain... but they have no money to create a new chassis to build on.

Everything is profit oriented so they don't care if their cars are built on decades old platforms as long as they can squeeze more money from them. It's not a very forward looking company from an engineering standpoint.

What car manufacturer is not profit oriented?

Also, the JGC is a hell of a deal considering it can be had well loaded for half of the cost of a similarly optioned luxury brand.

[Z K]

Originally Posted by CeeTeeX5

What car manufacturer is not profit oriented?

Also, the JGC is a hell of a deal considering it can be had well loaded for half of the cost of a similarly optioned luxury brand.

I'm not saying it's not a good car - but it's a car from 20 years ago that has been refreshed and facelifted for today. Zero R&D has been spent on developing a actual new car.

So yes, you get a lot for your money because they have huge profit margins on it.

[CeeTeeX5]

Originally Posted by Z K

I'm not saying it's not a good car - but it's a car from 20 years ago that has been refreshed and facelifted for today. Zero R&D has been spent on developing a actual new car.

So yes, you get a lot for your money because they have huge profit margins on it.

What new vehicle is not an iteration on it's former? If you've been in a WK, then jumped in a WK2, the differences are pretty clear.

Also, MB has not moved away from the ML chassis and are still using it in the GLE. All they did was rebrand from ML to GLE.