Team-BHP - PICS : How flatbed tow trucks would run out of business without German cars!

Quote:

Originally Posted by racer_ash (Post 3411383)

Pardon my ignorance,. But how do we know that these are tow trucks and not trucks used for relocation.

Quite feasible. But then why not extend the same benefit of doubt to Germans too?
Moreover, it's usually easy to spot the difference between a brand new and used vehicle.

Whatever the reason, it's all business for the trucks in any case.

Quote:

Originally Posted by roy_libran (Post 3411404)

Quite feasible. But then why not extend the same benefit of doubt to Germans too?

Because German cars are NOT relaible. I heard of a guy who had had it upto his head with these German cars and went back to Accord. I wonder if they are selling on the strength of European pedigree alone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pgsagar (Post 3428110)

Because German cars are NOT reliable.

Possibly you're right. You see, we are, after all, a victim to our own perceptions and then of those that are imposed upon us by others.

Some common perceptions (and maybe facts) about German Cars generally-
1. They are loaded with Gizmos, which CAN and WILL fail eventually.
2. They are over-complicated, which again leads to multiple failure points.
3. The vast majority of them are Automatics (market segment + customer preference), and hence they are also most likely to be seen on Flat-beds for even very mundane reasons.
4. A lot of their components are over-engineered, leading to high durability. The Japanese on the other hand, tend to be, just about adequately engineered, that works fine for 99.9% of use cases.
5. They may suffer from poor to average quality control during production leading to reliability issues. The Japanese seem to have perfected this game.
6. The spare parts prices are through the roof, that probably drive the reliability and maintainability perceptions further down.

But, that doesn't mean that there aren't owners of German vehicles, who have had a peaceful ownership or owners of Japanese ones that haven't had a torrid one! Let's not generalize, irrespective of what the author of that link posted above, would have us believe!

Today morning witnessed the unpleasant sight of a Black Vento (reg no. 7XXX) getting ready for the flatbed ride to the service center. This was right outside Sobha Developers office building. Sorry no picture as I was driving. There seemed to be no accidental damage whatsoever so looks like some kind of mechanical failure?

My brother had a couple of such experiences with his VW Jetta. He lives in a small time town and there was no limits to his embarrassment when neighbors inquire about car's next visit to service station.
The Jetta was recently sold after using for 2 years and this was one of the reason for the decision.

Quote:

Originally Posted by roy_libran (Post 3428129)

3. The vast majority of them are Automatics (market segment + customer preference), and hence they are also most likely to be seen on Flat-beds for even very mundane reasons.
!

Well, most cars sold in the US are automatics and nobody complains of them being unreliable. These cars are used in all extreme conditions and run very high miles.

Most of my diving has been on automatics. Have owned two Honda Accords which were super reliable. Have seen many German automatics too and gearboxes were NOT failing commonly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivriti (Post 3451982)

I guess you didn't get my point. Even for a failure, unrelated to the engine or gearbox, if your car needs to be towed, it's not advisable to tow an Automatic, as you would, a Manual. Hence, Automatics are more likely to end up on a flat Bed.

Very interesting reading this topic because a few months ago our VW Polo was giving some starting trouble with warning signs that the 'Engine Control Unit' or ECU was not ok. A call to the Service Centre resulted in a forceful recommendation for the car to be sent to them via a flatbed truck (cost Rs 2,000). My mother was aghast at this and called up the sales guy (now out of the loop but very friendly nonetheless) to grumble about having to foot this added cost. He ensured they sent a driver + technician home who inspected the car and drove it to the Service Centre (cost Rs 250) and the problem as it turned out was a rat-eaten set of electronic cables/connectors (apparently common problem in our area). It's surprising how the service folks kept recommending a flatbed pickup without a well-informed idea as to what the issue was (unless the ECU error means only one type of problem). So yes I have to agree..there's a German connection with flatbed trucks and its not restricted to only high end Mercs and Audis.

One reason for this possibly is that the so called high end car workshops provide free flatbed tow during the warranty period.
I had a case when an X1 refused to start, the problem seemed to be coming from a low battery and a simple jumpstart would have been enough to start the vehicle and send it to the service center
However, the service advisor suggested I use their flatbed instead to avoid any kind of warranty related woes
In the end , it did turn out to be a flat battery which they changed under warranty