Ok, I've heard many people saying that over and over again from most of the auto shop I go to and from most of my friends too even sometimes over the Internet, they all say that BMW, MB, Honda, Toyota and many other foreign car that built here in the USA aren't as good as when it's built in Germany, Japan in quality control etc. etc...

What do you guys think? Yes or No and why?

This issue not only concerns cars built in the United States - Toyota outsources to Thailand for their Corolla models for the ASEAN and Australian market as well (if my memory serves correct). Furthermore an even greater criticism is of BMW building their cars in South Africa. Believe me, my sis once owned an E46 made in SA, it just didn't feel like the ones built in Germany.

I believe the crux of the issue here is Quality Control. If you have mindful, fussy production line managers from Germany who have been in the business for so long minding the foreign production lines, I have all the confidence to believe that build quality would remain as impeccable as the source country. After all, all the part and materials used are all the same - it's the fitting together that makes all the difference.

That said, I can't comment on whether German workers are more immaculate with their production - Germans are always known for their quest for perfection and excellence - that could also play a factor in build quality.

That's my take.

This is a really intriguing question Hibiki. Thank you for bringing this up.

My gut tells me, yes, there's a degradation of the essence of car assembly that happens when an outfit is built on foreign soil. There's some cases studies that would bare out that that point of view - the Mercedes M-Klasse comes to mind.

However, there's much more evidence to the contrary suggesting that training, philosophies and techniques can be successfully transferred. Prime example of this is Toyota, whose cars consistently recieve accolades for their steadfast reliability regardless of model and point of origin.

An especially encouraging vote in the American worker has been made at their new San Antonio plant, where Toyota invested roughly $1.3 billion for the fabrication of the new Tundra pickup truck.

Which also raises the question - are vehicles like the Tundra really Japanese? Built by Americans with 75% domestic part content...

I believe cars like the Tundra are indeed Japanese. Yes, the Tundra is made here, but it is made the "Toyota way", developed with Toyota engineering principals in all aspects. Tundra really wouldn't make a whole lot of sense most other countries in the world. Toyota is simply making the most out of an opportunity to manufacture a vehicle in a market where there is a strong demand for this type of vehicle at a relatively small cost of investment. To manufacture the Tundra elsewhere in the world would cost more money, and in the end a futile attempt in increasing efficiency and productivity.

And to further press the point, is the Chevy Silverado really an American truck when the foreign parts content is about 75%?

I agree with you Deutsch, despite its American design and development credentials, the Tundra is still a Japanese vehicle, because the structure of Toyota's American operations, from product dev to fabrication is tightly bound to HQ.

the other day while having service done to our vw the service person was looking to see if the part was under warenty and then shes like its no but no wonder why this one was built in Germany. I then asked her why she said that and she was like of because those are the better ones less recals and all that junk. So idk what this all means but thats just something i felt like sharing.

It varies wildly between the brands. Mercedes' built in the U.S. models clearly aren't up to their German build conterparts. In interior design, material quality, build quality the ML/GL/R lag behind the E/CLS/CL/SL/S.

BMW's U.S. factory has seemingly matched their German counterparts in turning out Z4s and X5 much better, though not exactly a match, but they're much closer than Mercedes is. The first X5 was a bug-ridden vehicle, but still not as much as the first ML was. The new X5 seems to be very close in quality to the German built BMWs, almost to the point of being undistinguishable from the German built ones, almost.

Honda and Toyota's U.S. factories have come within 95% of the quality as their Japanese factories. They are masters at this and it shows, but some still say that they aren't. It is down to splitting hairs really IMO with these 2 brands.

Nissan on the other hand has had one problem after enother with their U.S. produced Titan, Armada, and Infinitx QX56 vehicles.....nearly on the level of Mercedes' original ML. Nissan's U.S. operations haven't even been close to their Japanese counterparts.

M

I think that the E46 story was a fluke. Yes, it was built in SA, but trust me when I say this, the quality control there is as strict if not stricter than in Germany. Besides, BMW SA has plenty of engineers and other co-workers working at Rosslyn.

I am not so sure that the issue is actual construction of the cars, but instead it is the materials used on USA built cars. For instance the interior materials used on the ML and R, and to some extent the GL aren't as rich as the materials used in even the C, but also E and and CLK, though the cars are in the same price ranges.

I wouldn't say that the ML/GL/R are that bad, they're at least better than the C for sure, but you're right there is noticeable difference between the material quality in the GL/ML/R compared to say the E which covers their price ranges. I guess when Mercedes said they were coming out with a Range Rover competitor I expected a S-Class level interior in the GL. Then there is the contrustion aspect of the U.S. made Benzes. They just aren't as solid, and they have more plastic and then to add final insult to injury MBUSA seems hell bent on offereing them with the smallest, ugliest standard wheels possible. It ridiculous.

M