I have definitely found “German reliability” to be a bit of a myth.
Me too. In my biased mind, German cars aren’t so much bulletproof reliable as they are over-engineered. If there’s a complicated way to build something the Germans will find it (looking at those Porsche/Audi cupholders from the 1990s).
Another thing - Europeans, and generally drivers the world over, don’t drive as we do here in America, though that may be changing as the rest of the world becomes more Americanised. The rest of the world generally doesn’t drive the distances we do on a daily basis. Hundred mile daily commutes are unheard of; also, rarely do European drivers talk in their car, work in their car, eat in their car or drink in their car, shave in their car, apply mascara in their car, or eat a bowl of cereal in their car.
Europeans just DRIVE. It was years of resistance before the German automakers finally relented in the face of pressure from the US market, and started designing “cupholders” into their cars. After all, anywhere but America, who would need such a thing?
All of the above to say, for the way they drive in Europe (short distances, and relatively infrequently), their cars are designed with all the reliability they need. Ship their cars over here to America, with our daily driving, our hours and hours of commuting, and the tens of thousands of miles that we put on our cars in a relatively short period, their so-called bulletproof build quality starts fraying, and their reliability is given a greater opportunity to fall short.
