Are german cars still considered premium?

Where Japanese fall down is the interior I find. They seem to design the interior layout last, so it's not as intuitive to use as German equivalent. The only Japanese car brand that I would consider as somewhat premium is Mazda.
 
Japanese interiors are usually driver focused with a better driving position (unlike e.g. BMW's which for some reason is wonky :p). Lexus also use nice materials but they aren't cheap!

But with Jap cars you're paying for robust mechanical bits, rather than faux leather wrapped around interior panels :D
 
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Nasher said:
Japanese interiors are usually driver focused with a better driving position (unlike e.g. BMW's which for some reason is wonky :p). Lexus also use nice materials but they aren't cheap!

But with Jap cars you're paying for robust mechanical bits, rather than faux leather wrapped around interior panels :D
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Ah this is so true, some of the seating positions on the ultimate driving machines leave much to be desired.
 
jamoor said:
Ah this is so true, some of the seating positions on the ultimate driving machines leave much to be desired.
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I thought some of these issues were down to rhd engineering compromises (lhd bm's the pedals are aligned - I never had an issue)
 
Nasher said:
Japanese interiors are usually driver focused with a better driving position (unlike e.g. BMW's which for some reason is wonky :p). Lexus also use nice materials but they aren't cheap!

But with Jap cars you're paying for robust mechanical bits, rather than faux leather wrapped around interior panels :D
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I found the reverse to be true... just 1000 buttons for the sake of having it, so spend 10 minutes trying to find the option I want. As opposed to BMWs and recently Mercs and to some extend VW which seemed to have properly researched placement of buttons etc. As for robustness, like my mechanic used to say "german cars will either break down at 50k or go to 200k, all japanese cars will always go to 100k", i.e. they are both roughly the same, but in different ways.
 
Nasher said:
20 years ago maybe. But you're paying for badge these days and they are as common as any other brand.

Japanese engineering is more durable and British manufacturers do luxury better. The ride quality in many German cars is also **** and way to crashy for UK roads.
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Ah the Nasher German hate is still strong.
 
AlphaMale1 said:
There was a time when an M3 or M5 was a very rare sight on the roads, now they are everywhere. It feels like the amount of german cars on the roads in the UK has increased massively since the early 2000s. It certainly has ruined the feeling of exclusivity, do people generally still view german cars as 'premium', why is it that people stretch to the absolute limits to finance these german cars, over solid alternatives, that in many instances are better engineered (from a mechanical standpoint)? What is the mentallity at play here

Ta
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Volkswagen have never been considered premium. At the risk of being butthurt, neither have Audi. There are a few premium German car manufacturers, but they've all had to adapt to the markets they operate in, which means appealing to everyone with some product or another.
 
Django x2 said:
Volkswagen have never been considered premium. At the risk of being butthurt, neither have Audi. There are a few premium German car manufacturers, but they've all had to adapt to the markets they operate in, which means appealing to everyone with some product or another.
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I'd say that VW and Audi are fairly premium as brands? Higher end VWs such as Touaregs etc sit happily alongside Range Rovers and things on the local school run....and things like VW Polos and Golfs are the "go to" for young person cars over the french or japanese brands when people seem to want to uphold an image for their kids.

Audi is definitely a premium brand to me, Q7s and Q5s for example are some of the "go to" cars in their sectors, and priced accordingly :confused:
 
Nasher said:
A bit lazy if that's the case :/
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While we are on about laziness why don’t manufacturers put the indicator on the correct side of the car either?

ive owned a few Japanese imports and the indicator stalk is on the right side, why isn’t it the same for jap cars made in the U.K.
 
Since when are VW premium......just run of the mill like Ford. :p

Anyway, who actually cares, I have no brand allegiance or care what make a car is if it does its job. :)
 
M1k3H said:
Where Japanese fall down is the interior I find. They seem to design the interior layout last, so it's not as intuitive to use as German equivalent. The only Japanese car brand that I would consider as somewhat premium is Mazda.
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Have you ever driven a GT86

some serious thought and consideration was put into that car.
 
When I think German premium, I think Mercedes. I do prefer German cars due to them feeling quite solid, but their reliability is somewhat to be questioned these days. Always little niggles with them.
 
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