That sort of anecdotal information is probably not of much relevance because anything exotic will sell a few units, anywhere they have the money. I won’t name names to avoid getting into an argument but we can all think of marquee brands of car or motorbike or whatever that have massive “street cred” but are frankly totally shit - on any objective basis - but try telling their owners that.
That used to be true. Modern cruise control on a manual transmission car will hold the programmed speed—you lose a mph or two while shifting, but get it back as you let the clutch out. My 2017 VW Golf does this.
Why would you be shifting while maintaining the same speed anyway?
Nice to know some things are still getting better with time and that the internet can contain information that is no longer up to date, thanks a lot!
Sometimes I get to 5th gear and set the cruise, forgetting I have a 6th. Sometimes I shift down to go uphill, then back up for the downhill.
This reminds me of a recent motorcycle brand survey. It found the Japanese brands, especially Yamaha and Honda, to be the most reliable. Harley Davidson and the European brands were at the bottom of the list.
They also polled owner satisfaction. The results were reversed, the happiest owners being on the least reliable brands.
American barbecue still beats the crap out of all the rest.
I completely agree with all of this. Unfortunately, in the US at least, it seems that there are significant areas of the consumer economy where basically all of the manufacturers have simply decided not to compete in the area of service. To the extent that they have after-sales service at all, it’s been outsourced to people who can barely speak English, and who are only allowed to read from an incredibly circumscribed script. And there’s very little in the way of consumer protection laws to mitigate the really shitty performance of the companies in this area.
The EU, on the other hand, actually has statutory protections that are in addition to the manufacturer warranty. They require the seller to provide “a minimum 2-year guarantee (legal guarantee) as a protection against faulty goods, or goods that don’t look or work as advertised.” Not only does this provide greater protection against malfunctioning products, but it also makes the retailer (rather than the manufacturer) responsible for dealing with the problem. I remember a time, growing up in Australia, where you would take a faulty product back to the store where you purchased it, and they would deal with repairing or replacing it, including any necessary back-and-forth with the manufacturer. The EU system basically requires the same thing.
It seems to me that a system like this can benefit the consumer significantly, because a retailer has considerably more heft with a manufacturer than does a single consumer. If I’m unhappy with my product, and call the manufacturer to complain, it might be easier for them to just blow me off. But if Best Buy or Amazon or NewEgg or whatever retailer I used is required, by law, to make sure that I’m made whole in the event of product malfunction, they are likely to be able to put considerably more pressure on the manufacturer to fix the problem.
Of course, a system like this undoubtedly ends up costing the manufacturers and retailers money, in administrative overhead and in higher repair and replacement expenditures. I’d be interested to know how significantly this affects the price of European goods, compared to buying the same products in America.
I dunno, man…Korean BBQ is pretty tasty.
On a car-related note, pre-Covid when I was waiting for the bus at the end of the work-day, I would sometimes count the number of American cars on the road compared to non-American (Asian and European). The average was something like 1 US:7 non-US; this was in Montreal.
It’s variable, depending on a couple of factors. First, there are differences by region. Say, if you go into Elipso in Zagreb and buy a vacuum cleaner, it’ll cost you less than the same vacuum cleaner in the Media Markt in Munich. Second, it varies by sector. Automobiles, for example, are in general more expensive here than in the States, but other consumer goods, especially the more commoditized appliances like microwaves, are priced essentially the same.
I’m assuming a fair amount of the price differential comes from the manufacturing source. Things like microwaves are produced almost exclusively in the Far East, for example. By contrast, there’s probably an element of protectionism on imports in sectors where there’s local European manufacturing to defend.
That said, the retailers here do take their warranty responsibilities seriously. A week ago, I bought a plug adapter for a USB charger (ten euros), and the department store stapled an extra document to my receipt detailing their commitment to the guarantee for electronics.
You’re making me hungry for Kalbi short ribs, thanks for that. 
Yep, I’m wicked like that.
I found out after I had bought it that my old F-150 was made in Canada. Was it an American truck or not? After all, it was made by Ford. I guess you could say for sure it was a “North American” truck but was it an “American” truck?
Honestly, if I’m going to buy a Mercedes or BMW auto, I want it to be built by guys with names like Hans and Franz in places like Stuttgart or Munich, and not Billy Bob or Bubba in Alabama or South Carolina.
I wouldn’t trust Hans and Franz to build my car, I doubt they can even tie their shoes (or even reach the laces).
I want it to be built by companies that have a culture of quality control. Yes, in the global economy, all major companies have a global supply chain – we get that. Japanese computers are manufactured in China. Japanese cars are manufactured in the U.S. Regardless of where these products are made, more often than not, Japanese companies have cultures that heavily emphasize quality, reliability, and durability over everything else. I’m sure they have good service, too, but I’ve hardly ever needed it.
I know it’s more of a glorified blog than a news site, but Jalopnik has had some interesting articles about the downfall of Harley Davidson. Essentially, the company has reached the point that the current owners are happily milking the brand of all remaining value until such time as they need to jump ship; with no real plan for the future (or attracting new customers), build quality and overall product offerings are suffering. They do excel at selling their brand and image though, so the owner satisfaction poll results aren’t a surprise to me.
I haven’t read the articles, but if HD is coasting, how does that explain the Lightning electric bike? It must have cost a lot to develop it.
I don’t know if there is any explanation for the Lightning. Harley’s core demographic wouldn’t be caught dead on an electric bike. Loud pipes save lives!