I've had the pleasure of owning a couple of extraordinary German vehicles, one of which I remember fondly as probably the best I've ever owned. I'm talking about a 1972 BMW 2002, which was fun, fun, fun to drive. I had no money then and limited mechanical skills, but the mechanical systems were very easy to work on, so I did a lot of the repair work myself despite my limited skills. Since necessity is the mother of invention, I simply learned what I had to learn.
In fact, most of the cars I've owned have been very good. I have very few complaints. All of my cars save for the very first one have been either German, Japanese, or Swedish. Two of each.
I drove someone else's Alfa Romeo 164 back in the day, and it was a lot of fun to drive, too. But it spent a lot of time at the shop. Glad I didn't own it. Funny, I remember the car but not the name of the girl who owned it.
There is a lot of randomness involved in vehicle selection. One might buy a car with great reviews and reputation, only to learn that it's a rare lemon. The experience will indelibly color one's opinion about the brand.
The point is that there is some truth in cliches and stereotyping otherwise they wouldn't exist. The difficulty lies in keeping an open mind when dealing with specifics. In other words, one should never conflate the macro with the micro, and vice versa. And certainly be able to know the difference. |
