LUXURY cars
THE PROBLEMS AND WHY WE LOVE THEM Audi Quattro
By Lance Gosiaco (G11)
C
ars have become an important part of human society due to their ability to quickly transport people and items, but aside from that, cars also play an important role in one’s status or prestige. This can be seen in how a person driving a luxury car like a BMW or Jaguar will be viewed differently from a person driving a normal car such as a Honda or Toyota. For sure, many people aspire to be the former, with some wishing to be driven to work or school in the backseat of a shiny new Rolls Royce Phantom or MercedesBenz S-Class, or perhaps they would like enjoy the breeze by a seaside road in a convertible Porsche 911 or BMW Z4 roadster. Unfortunately, most people who dream of owning such a car may not be aware of the issues with owning such a car.
Alongside poorer reliability, maintenance is also pricier on luxury brands. Maintenance is a series of procedures done to a car after being driven for a certain distance, like replacing parts or fluids. When it comes to brands with the highest maintenance costs, luxury brands rank the highest, with the top three being Cadillac, Mercedes Benz, and BMW. Not only do these cars cost a fortune, but they also require a lot more to upkeep. This tends to be caused by complicated design, poorer build quality, or expensive parts (or a combination of the three).
Some cars have notoriously expensive maintenance costs, an example being the Ferrari F355. The majority of F355s require the timing belt, a crucial part of the engine that allows it to properly operate, to be replaced every three to A luxury car is generally defined as a vehicle that has five years, regardless of mileage, which is the number of better quality, performance, features, and status due to an miles a car has driven throughout its life. Part of the process increased price compared to normal cars. These types of involves removing the engine, a difficult and expensive cars usually come from brands such as Land Rover, Jaguar, process. Replacement can cost between 5,000 to 10,000 BMW, Mercedes Benz, and many others. While this may USD. If maintenance is not done, the engine will fail and seem quite appealing, there are some costly drawbacks. will require a rebuild that can cost up to 25,000 USD in order to work again. This is just as expensive as a new car. For One such issue is reliability. This is defined as how frequent reference, preventative replacement of the timing belt in a an unplanned breakdown is likely to happen, with reliable normal car costs between 500 to 2000 USD, and a brand cars breaking down less. Luxury brands tend to rank quite new Toyota Corolla in the Philippines starts at around low in many lists of reliability. The ReliabilityIndex notes 21,000 USD. that out of the 40 brands on the list, the five lowest are Land Rover, Porsche, Aston Martin, Bentley, and Maserati, all of One may say that these issues do not really matter since which are luxury brands. most people who can afford to purchase these kinds of cars are wealthy enough to afford repair and maintenance. The A brand notorious for its unreliability is Land Rover, a British issue with this argument is that it allows manufacturers to manufacturer most known for its off-roaders. Land Rover’s cars get away with lower standards of quality. Should we really be have been given constantly low reliability ratings for the past two letting these prestigious manufacturers get away with having decades as owners have reported multiple issues on both old such difficult and costly ownership just because buyers can and new cars. A common issue across the manufacturer’s cars is afford it? Well, this does not really matter. the axle and suspension, which is detrimental for a car that’s built for off-roading, as those parts have to be strong to withstand the In spite of these problems, most of us will continue to look rough conditions that it will undergo such as dirt, thick mud, and at these manufacturers and their cars with awe. Even if inclines. Having such an expensive vehicle break easily in the role it most people knew of these issues, it would not stop these was intended for makes the vehicle’s value questionable. manufacturers from being lauded. This is because even
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