The headline sounds like yet another anti-EV scare, but surprisingly the article actually explains this is a fuck-you quote, and the real repair cost can be a fraction of that.
I once had a gig where I was told to go directly to the airport. They booked one of the nicest hotels, nicest flights, half way around the world and charged them a small fortune for me to show them they ate an Exception. Apparently our company had really tried to say no, and charged them an unholy amount of money... and they still said yes.
Anyone on the fence about purchasing a BEV, a headline like this doesn't bode well.
I say this only half jokingly.
Ergo (so the folk knowledge goes), their cars are engineered for a short-term market. Amazingly reliable and fun in the designed for lifetime, after that, it's in God's hands.
I have no idea how true that is, but it feels kinda truth adjacent, from my compassionate listening to owners of secondhand BMWs.
Oh, and apparently, there's a bit of a European car part cartel in my country, so spares are even more expensive than they already are.
I've never had to deal in urban folklore when owning Toyotas though.
Live in Central Europe. Most of the people we know either own their cars outright or take public transportation.
Many companies north of the border (Germany) offer company cars as an incentive, which iirc are leased, but these eventually hit the resale market as one year or CPO vehicles.
Most cars also have a fairly long anti-corrosion warranty.
That said, reliability issues were more a matter of 1. US style cost cutting (remember Daimler Chrysler?) 2. getting caught by surprise by the horse power wars of the naughts and early teens. Engines and associated parts were rushed to market without proper testing.
These issues have largely been reversed. Modern BMWs are almost/as reliable as Japanese manufacturers while MB is starting to close the gap.
Sadly, yes. “In the phrase ‘Daimler-Chrysler’, the Daimler is silent.”
Chrysler knew they were toast. They either had to be bought out, mortgage everything for massive capital investment (which is what Ford did), or eventually go under.
Meanwhile, Daimler executives wanted a way to get American compensation. A ‘merger’ that would turn them into an ‘American’ company was their preferred option.
Of course, the Chrysler executive team was eventually shown the exit, the company was run from Germany, and it turned out that Daimler’s leadership was making a number of other major mistakes (this is around the time when reliability went down hill, and it had nothing to do with Chrysler).
Normal driving results in tiny rock chips over enough miles and all it takes is the tiniest chip for the corrosion to take hold. Super common above the rear wheel wells, at least in my area. Under body corrosion is pretty inevitable as well because it isn't painted, and even if it were it still takes a lot of abuse from road debris. Coating can help significantly (Fluid Film, Woolwax, etc) but you can't coat everything 100% so it still happens.
Now that I coat everything underneath with Woolwax I'm seeing much less rust, but still something you have to stay on top of.
Charging network still is bad. Many stations are broken but appear working in what I have seen driving with a friend who has an EV or looking up station reviews. They didn’t need to charge but wanted to because of little time at home or hotel.
There's work I can do, but hate to, and if you asked me for a quote, I'd probably quote you $1000/hour (and pray you say no)