this post was submitted on 05 Jan 2024
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I saw this post and wanted to ask the opposite. What are some items that really aren't worth paying the expensive version for? Preferably more extreme or unexpected examples.

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[–] [email protected] 99 points 11 months ago (4 children)

Cars. Expensive cars require more frequent and complicated maintenance and repairs than cheaper cars. They over engineer them on purpose in order to make it unreasonable to maintain them in the long run. They don't want their brand sullied by old versions of their cars driven around by poor people.

[–] Potatos_are_not_friends 61 points 11 months ago (2 children)

When I was in college, I admired my boss and his BMW. He then told me that it was a hand-me-down, and he spends a few hours a month maintaining it because there's always something that breaks and he can't afford to bring it into the shop every time.

He joked on a few occasions of just giving me the car after a year, and after a while, it felt like a cry for help rather than a joke.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

kinda reminded me of,
when i signed up for a "driving safety training" course.

we had a particapant, with a brand new bmw,
that went from exited to salty as the course went on

for example,
when we tested our cars traction control (breakin without steering while one side of the path was slippery)

his car was the only one, that didnt stay straight by itself.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Hard disagree!

Are you saying that you've owned both cheap and expensive cars, and that your favorites have always been the cheap ones? That they've been more reliable, more comfortable, better-riding, and better-driving? Or, at least, no worse than the expensive ones?

Yes, more expensive cars are more expensive. They often have a higher cost of ownership. And, sometimes, brands really fuck up and cut corners they shouldn't, and result an reputational harm that takes years to recover from, long after they've fixed the production issues (c.f. Audi in the early 00's). But, IME, it's usually worth it, if you can afford it.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 11 months ago (2 children)

There's not going to be a huge difference between something like a Toyota and a Mercedes other than cost and reliability. You're paying for the brand.

[–] toybastard 8 points 11 months ago

I disagree as well. I think it'd be pretty obvious to anyone who's sat in each the difference in comfort, ride quality, material choice, technology, and drivetrain refinement between a Corolla and an AMG.

I would still buy the Corolla though for the reliability - or better yet, a Lexus which kind of has both.

[–] psud 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

This person has never driven a Merc.

There's a difference between Toyota and Lexus

[–] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago

You can buy a decent spec Highlander for $40k.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

100% agree here. They all need maintenance, but higher end ones have pricer parts and less common, affordable after market parts. Cars are for the most part a utility and a cost center. You want to minimize your cost and maximize your value gotten out of it.

I despise cars as a status symbol, because again it's just going to turn into a rust bucket like the rest of them at the same or worse rates, but also it just sets people up for failure in the lives just tens of thousands down the drain, literal years of work, for something's that's nearly worthless by the time they pay it off.

[–] LemmyIsFantastic -1 points 11 months ago

Lolol you just going to ignore that brands like Porsche are consistently in the top 3?

Expensive cars mostly fail because people who can't afford them don't do basic maintenance. The only real German brand when any reliability issues are Merc.