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Re:The useful life of cars in the USA and in Germany

With Thanks to Olav Berthold< berthold@domain.elided> 

Henri:

A really interesting question that you pose. For i am German and i'm living
in Germany, i will try to give an answer (which is not representative, of
course):
I think, what was considered as the useful life of a car was something
between 100-150 kkm about 20 years ago. Today, i would say that people 
start
to loose confidence in their car at 150-200 kkm. I think, that at this point
the value of a car drops significantly.
Presumably, the average kms per car and year are lower in Germany 
(about 15
kkm per year = shorter distances). I think, that the life expectation of an
average car in Germany still is statistically 10-11 years. Less than 2 per
cent of our cars are older than 20 years.

I think we have a strong influence of our relatively rough climate (at
least: compared to California). Therefore, our cars tend to have rust
problems with increased age. This was the main enemy of "senior cars" in 
the
past, but it is improving. But i'm not shure that people are already aware
of the fact that cars are a lot more rust-proof than in the past.

If i had to choose a car for nothing but long life under German conditions,
i would buy a Porsche or an Audi. They both use zinc-plated steel.

But in Germany, we managed to create an enemy for older cars stronger 
than
rust: German tax legislation. In Germany, we have to pay tax depending on
the volume of the engine. Next year, we will have to pay 40 Deutschmarks 
(25
Dollars) per 100 ccm for cars without catalytic converters. It's twice as
much than in the past. Smog-equipped cars were introduced in Germany in 
85
or 86. So driving older cars will become very expensive (of course we 
have
to pay additional insurance, too). Therefore, a lot of older cars will be
wrecked in the next future.

Older bimmers aren't appreciated much in Germany. Compared to Porsche 
and
Mercedes they offer a good "sports value" for the money as a used car.
Therefore, people often think, that they have been abused by their (young)
drivers.

Send an E-mail if you have additional questions,

Olav

'71 1600-2 (137 kkm)
'74 2002 targa (??? kkm)
'80 M535i (324 kkm)
'81 525 (284 kkm)
= all statistically dead and becoming very expensive next year !