1998 Volkswagen Passat from North America - Comments
18th Jan 2020, 18:44
I don't believe for a moment in the 'lemon' car idea. I think it's an idea made up to justify cars with problems. All cars are made with the same parts - usually the parts are made by many different companies; the car maker is just assembling them and producing the metal 'chassis'. Assembling the parts on a Friday evening is not going to make a car more problematic because most parts don't break or malfunction because of the way they are assembled (well, it may happen, but it's rare and usually will be fixed within the few first months of the warranty). And also, no way I will believe a 'lemon' car will get all the 'bad' parts while the other cars will get only good parts: so it makes no sense a car is going to be significantly worse than the other cars of the same lot. What however DOES make a car worse is the way the owner(s) is maintaining it (or rather it is not). What quality of parts he is using, is he replacing the faulty parts timely and just ignore and let several faults accumulate, then sells the car, etc. So very easy to see when someone is buying a car that was badly neglected, how many things will need fixed and how problematic that car will be. That's the reason some cars are called "lemons" : these were either badly neglected (or abused) or were crashed and poorly repaired.
A final tiny hint: many many second hand buyers judge a car by how clean it is, how few dents it has, how clean the engine bay is, how clean the interior is. Little do they know how good professionals are at detailing a car. Many salesman put a lot of blah blah too saying, look it has a little scratch here and a little dent there, but the rest is pristine. Cars are about the only thing that can look like new inside out, while still being a mechanical and electrical garbage that will cost you many thousands in repairs.
18th Jan 2020, 18:44
I don't believe for a moment in the 'lemon' car idea. I think it's an idea made up to justify cars with problems. All cars are made with the same parts - usually the parts are made by many different companies; the car maker is just assembling them and producing the metal 'chassis'. Assembling the parts on a Friday evening is not going to make a car more problematic because most parts don't break or malfunction because of the way they are assembled (well, it may happen, but it's rare and usually will be fixed within the few first months of the warranty). And also, no way I will believe a 'lemon' car will get all the 'bad' parts while the other cars will get only good parts: so it makes no sense a car is going to be significantly worse than the other cars of the same lot. What however DOES make a car worse is the way the owner(s) is maintaining it (or rather it is not). What quality of parts he is using, is he replacing the faulty parts timely and just ignore and let several faults accumulate, then sells the car, etc. So very easy to see when someone is buying a car that was badly neglected, how many things will need fixed and how problematic that car will be. That's the reason some cars are called "lemons" : these were either badly neglected (or abused) or were crashed and poorly repaired.
A final tiny hint: many many second hand buyers judge a car by how clean it is, how few dents it has, how clean the engine bay is, how clean the interior is. Little do they know how good professionals are at detailing a car. Many salesman put a lot of blah blah too saying, look it has a little scratch here and a little dent there, but the rest is pristine. Cars are about the only thing that can look like new inside out, while still being a mechanical and electrical garbage that will cost you many thousands in repairs.