Unreliable components

[Will Owen <nashwill@domain.elided>]

In V7, #1432, Jess Liao wrote:

"My theory is that all these german manufactures must
have had made some undertable decision to ship all 2nd
grade parts to Alfa factory.

"Looking at my milano, components taht are most
troublesome are made by bosch (injection system,
including little things from injection, stuck
AFM flaps, thermoswitches, etc etc etc)...Even the
simple ignition switch was german part! glad the
replacement part was italian. The power window
switches that often get stuck are also german... combo
relays... just 2 relays stuck together... $200?!?!?!
BOSCH. ... see the trend here?!?!"

That's hardly a trend; it's been going on for some
time. My old 2000 Berlina was dead-nuts reliable in
every way except for its Bosch bits (and of course the
body rusting away While U Wait, but that's a different
story - and one shared by a lot of fancy Germans as
well!). I've told y'all before how I saved my
windshield wipers and about $70 by replacing the Bosch
motor assembly with a Marelli one from a Fiat 128, and
I guess I just did again...but one point Jess and a
few others have been making, one way or another, is
that the Germans (and the Swedes!) have done such a
good PR job on us that we somehow keep believing that
any machine they make will be as reliable as a hammer,
even after we've brought the SAAB or the Mercedes into
the shop three times in a month. And no, I don't think
Bosch and ZF sent Alfa any parts that were inferior to
what they sold everyone else; they're just as lousy
everywhere.

I'm convinced a lot of Japanese reliability is equally
based on myth, as well. I know a few Hondas and
Toyotas that have left their owners stranded several
times, and (though I've not conducted an in-depth
survey) appear to have been no more reliable nor
cheaper to maintain than our Milano has been, even
discounting all the cars' relative ages. 

Will Owen
'87 Milano (Good As) Gold
'89 Subaru Justy...you wanna talk expensive parts??
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