Shredderman 3.5

Sat night I was in a right turn only lane when some 18 year old kid in a silver Taurus who was in the middle lane decided he wanted to be in the same place I was. I didn't even feel it, but I knew he hit me on the driver's door.

Got out and sure enough, there was an 18" scrape on the door. Seemed like a nice kid, I said accidents happen and got his info - no need to be a ***** and have him ticketed.

Next morning I took a better look. Everything came right off with a cloth. No scratch, not even a dent. Called the kid and he was relieved.

So, why are German cars better? I've found over the years that MB, BMW, Audi have much stronger sheetmetal than the Japanese cars. I've had many Toyotas and Hondas, and an Infiniti - they dent much easier.

When I was a kid, one summer I was a valet. There was a terrible hail storm. Only the German cars came out ok. My Toyota had to have every piece of metal replaced. My civic would dent if I just leaned against it.

I'm sure that if I wasn't driving a German car, I'd be talking to the repair shop today.

2kA6v8

You can tell how thin the metal is on a japanese car just by tapping on it. Completely different sound than a german or even american car. Out of my three cars, I only fear getting in an accident with my Silvia because of it's japanese heritage, and the small size of it. Very weird feeling.

SouthboroAudiGuy

...it's the color choice you made when you bought your car. Cashmere Grey has super powers.

Thanks for sharing the story!

GTA_Driver

...by attempting to close hood with my palm when the driver's side didn't latch properly

Having said that, yes, I do agree that German sheetmetal is stronger than Japanese.

Shredderman 3.5

Yeah . . . Purple Power! ;-)

OOOOya

Maybe so, but you cannot argue with their long term reliability.

SouthboroAudiGuy

As a famous poster once said, it's "NOT PURPLE!"

Shredderman 3.5

Agreed - I'd never own a German car out of warranty - that's just me, though.

schnellmb

It shure isn't Krupp steel like in the old days, nevertheless it is pretty solid stuff.

However, the dependability isn't up to Japanese standards. I've been driving my avant around today (easy for grandma to get in and out) and it has been nice. But I miss the smoother ride, better steering, and much better brakes of my 4Runner.

SNAFU 4

I agree... our Acura MDX has many dings, where the A6 is good.