In an informal poll of a group of Austin, Texas-based mechanics, German cars rated incredibly low—continuing an online debate that social media-savvy mechanics have been staging.
This latest installment comes from the team at Genuine Automotive in Austin (@genuineautomotiveatx), getting more than 1.4 million views as of Tuesday to a recent video put up this month.
In it, several mechanics are asked about their least favorite car to work on.
The first offers, “Audi Volkswagen, Mercedes … anything German.”
The second and third mechanics queried also pick by brand. The second said, “Anything Nissan,” while the third said, “Anything BMW,” further piling on German carmakers.
That question also elicits some hate for BMWs and Nissans, with the latter bringing mention of the continuously variable transmission (CVT) system that many mechanics dislike.
But, what’s wrong with German cars?
A similar question was posed on Reddit two years ago, on the r/mechanics subreddit, and that also brought some animated responses.
“I dislike German cars,” one began. “Not because they’re difficult but because they’re just so ridiculously designed. They think they’re genius for doing the dumbest [expletive]. Some stuff is cool and intuitive but rarely.”
“I have a personal pet peeve against the Germans,” said another. “When an MB [Mercedes-Benz] came in for an oil change and the procedure to reset the service light has 37 that’s right THIRTY SEVEN individual steps to reset the service light, you know right then and there they could [mess up] toast.”
That led one to conclude, “What I’m getting from this is that Toyota is the only brand that’s easy to work on.”
Are German cars more expensive to work on?
In short, yes.
According to Consumer Reports, they are the most pricey to maintain in terms of what you’ll spend on upkeep annually. Writes Team BHP about the study, “…at the bottom of the list, 4 of the 5 most expensive brands to maintain are from Germany. These include BMW ($9,500), Audi ($9,890), Mercedes-Benz ($10,525) and Porsche ($14,090).”
One Reddit comment summed-up the issue:
“they’re over-engineered, and they are on the cutting edge of technology. compare a camry and an audi a4/bmw 3/merc c class. all the german cars have more complicated drivetrains, more complicated electronics, more complicated everything. the camry exists to shuffle you from point a to b. it doesn’t have to have the latest tech or a high performance engine, while the customers of the german cars usually expect such things. more complicated=more breaking. also factor in that most german cars are still built in germany, and so are the parts. so while your local napa or autozone might have a fuel pump for your camry, most likely a fuel pump for your audi or benz would have to be ordered and shipped from germany. it all adds up.”
Commenters disagree with the German car pile-on
Commenters on the video also had their say.
“German Engineering is the best,” argued one. “What the heck is he talking about.”
“Anyone who says ‘anything German’ just isn’t a good mechanic lmao,” offered another.
“Try dismantling a French car,” someone else contributed. “Just taking light bulb out of a Renault is like a BMW engine.”
Toyota got love here as well, but in a different way. One thought that mechanics should hate Toyota the most, because “they never need fixing.”
But Toyota also got some general hate, with one stating, “Mine literally blew up; biggest piece of junk I’ve ever owned.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Genuine Automotive via TikTok and Instagram direct message, and to Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, and Volkswagen via email.
@genuineautomotiveatx What’s a mechanic’s LEAST favorite car🤔
♬ original sound – Genuine Automotive
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