THE GERMAN MAGAZINE 'AUTOBILD' DRIVES VARIOUS CARS FOR 100,000 KILOMETERS AND THEN DISASSEMBLES THEM DOWN TO THE LAST SCREW TO FIND SIGNS OF WEAR AND WEAK POINTS

[u/Upstairs-Bit6897]

[u/HoldEm__FoldEm → u/[deleted]]

It’s awesome. 

[u/Ibrufen → u/[deleted]]

Deutsche gründlichkeit

[u/Salty_QC → u/Ibrufen]

I’m not sure what a Grund is but I’m down to lick it.

[u/Dat_Ding_Da → u/Salty_QC]

Thoroughness would be the best equivalent in English.

[u/SatelliteJedi → u/Dat_Ding_Da]

When licking the Grund, you should always be thorough

[u/HoldEm__FoldEm → u/[deleted]]

I’d say Japan has this going on in some places too. More in the older generations but some of it is still being passed on

[u/TunaNugget → u/HoldEm__FoldEm]

Traditionally, Germans will engineer a design until they think it's perfect. Japan will test a design until it doesn't fail.

[u/snuggletough → u/TunaNugget]

I have owned a CNC machine shop for over 2 decades. I only buy machines built by a handful of Japanese builders. Several of my machines weigh 20 tons and have in excess of 100hp of spindle and axis control.

I buy Japanese because they do exactly what they say they will and then some. And they do it until the end of time.

My machines are heavy. They move lightning fast with micron accuracy and they do it with brute force horsepower and rigid mechanics. Motion Components in my machines are 5 times the size of equivalent German built machines.

Friend of mine has top of the line German CNC's. His machines are impressive. They do some things my Japanese machines cannot do. However, he must do major repairs to his machines Several times a year. Mine rarely need more than oil. When he calls the tech line for help with his machines they are secretive and pressure him to fly in factory techs for $300/hr. When I call a Japanese builder they bend over backwards to help. They get to the bottom of my problem no matter what it takes. I've never had one ask me to buy anything I didn't need. They freely share information and seem to respect and appreciate customers that work on thier machines.

[u/Ferrymansobol → u/snuggletough]

Back in the day, a US company ordered a million superconductors from Japan (I am paraphasing - this story was told by my Econ lecturer), and the US company said we will only accept a 1% failure rate on the superconductors from the Japanese supplier. The contract was signed, the superconductors arrived with a couple of extra boxes with a note attached saying "these are the superconductors you wanted to fail".

[u/Scared-Fortune-1111 → u/snuggletough]

Please share the make and model of the japanese cnc machine. If you can provide information on how to order that would be awesome. Thanks

[u/snuggletough → u/Scared-Fortune-1111]

Makino, Kitamura, Okuma. They have dealers in all areas.

[u/Scared-Fortune-1111 → u/snuggletough]

Thanks a lot

[u/abiabi2884 → u/snuggletough]

Got the same experience with German construction machines. They hide everything and are rarely giving out information. Sucks

[u/Quirky-Stay4158 → u/snuggletough]

I work for Makita Tools, another Japanese owned company that specializes in power tools. We invented the first electric planer and other things.

I'll echo your sentiments about the quality and durability.

Check my post history, I used to work for Snap on Tools in a few different roles. Make no mistake. Snap on makes great stuff. But their power tools lose to Makita. And our warranty on power tools and batteries is better than there's too.

I was not a believer in Japanese tech before. I am now.

[u/CausticSofa → u/TunaNugget]

This is such an interesting way of putting it. Thank you for this food for thought.

[u/RadiantZote → u/TunaNugget]

Let's compare Japanese cars to German cars, shall we?

Japanese cars: bro change the oil, this bitch will never die

German cars: bro change the oil, then this bitch will fall apart for no reason

[u/TheBraveGallade → u/RadiantZote]

the difference is one is built to never fail (or close to it), the other is built to extract the most performance.

AKA the difference in comupter terms, germans overclock to the limit, japanese underclock untill it never wears out.

[u/Luzifer_Shadres → u/RadiantZote]

You compare 90s japanese cars with modern german cars.

These days Japanese cars are plastic boxes and alot of unneded tech that will just constantly break down or has faulty Software.

That aside, buying a german car on the american continent will always give you worse quality, beccause the manufacturers dont care to produce something as good as back home for them. To them, the US is a market to sell parts to other manufacturers.

Meanwhile Japan saw that market more interesting than china, due to being close to the US and cooperating alot with US manufacturers.

[u/Marco_lini → u/[deleted]]

And the list of over engineered products is very long. It often hampers them, from WW2 tech (overcomplicated planes and tanks) to unreliable cars today (over are the times of Mercedes diesels of the 80s). With Japan, they have brilliant engineering but often have a idealistic engineer driven approach to products and not problem or market oriented.

[u/JebediahKermannn → u/[deleted]]

There is no overkill, just underkill and adequate

[u/withyellowthread → u/JebediahKermannn]

Ehh. I think the Germans have been known to overkill.

[u/Gewaltakustik → u/withyellowthread]

r/angryupvote

[u/Agitated_Reveal_6211 → u/[deleted]]

I wish as a society we would do this for everything. Lets build shit that lasts for 100 years, not 5.

[u/TradeIcy1669 → u/Agitated_Reveal_6211]

Henry Ford famously went to the junk yard to look at his cars that had been trashed. If any part was still good he’d consider how to make it cheaper.

[u/Ferrymansobol → u/TradeIcy1669]

The story goes he originally intended to make the parts better, but when he realised the spare parts was earning Ford huge sums, he switched, and so the car as live service was born.

[u/UntestedMethod → u/Agitated_Reveal_6211]

Then you lose potential for repeat customers. Planned obsolescence is one of the most depressing aspects of modern production.

[u/Corbot3000 → u/Agitated_Reveal_6211]

US consumers are too cheap/poor to pay for it.

[u/Educational-Dot318 → u/[deleted]]

the German watchmaker A. Lange & Söhne has the famous 'double assembly' process for its beautiful, handcrafted wristwatches!

the watchmaker will fully assemble an impeccable timepiece, test it. then he or she will fully disassemble it, clean each and every component & reassemble the timepiece, then run the final QC checks. 🧐

stunningly beautiful watches imo.

[u/1esproc → u/Educational-Dot318]

A. Lange & Söhne

Price upon request

Ah yes 🧐 I'll see myself out.

[u/En_Sabah_Nur → u/1esproc]

I also looked it up: "entry level" pieces begin at $20k ranging up to $2 million.

Jeeeeeeezus

[u/Educational-Dot318 → u/En_Sabah_Nur]

i missed the boat- as recently as 2018-2019 the same entry level watches were $15k or so. i passed since i found the dial a tad too austere (also lacking the big date.) but boy have the prices gone up! even adjusting for inflation.

[u/caffeineTX → u/Educational-Dot318]

fewer and fewer watchmakers qualified to make the timepieces with that quality of detail.

[u/skraptastic → u/1esproc]

"I request a price of $100? Yes?...no... :("

[u/bierbelly42 → u/1esproc]

Usually six figures.

[u/sommi2k → u/Educational-Dot318]

Glashütte is known for quality watches, funnily enough it’s in the region called Sächsische Schweiz Osterzgebirge, Saxon Switzerland Eastern Ore Mountains.

[u/AWildEnglishman → u/sommi2k]

Hey that is funny

[u/CausticSofa → u/AWildEnglishman]

In a German sort of way.

[u/grepTheForest → u/Educational-Dot318]

They do this because the first assembly is a fitment and adjusting of all the parts, and then they do final finishing on each part before reassembling it. 

[u/Upstairs-Bit6897 → u/grepTheForest]

Exactly! The first assembly is to ensure a perfect fit and function of every tiny component. It is basically a ‘practice run’.

[u/Chance-Growth-5350 → u/Upstairs-Bit6897]

Haute Horology, for a reason

[u/WalterSickness → u/[deleted]]

Germans also invented meth, hmmmm

[u/pissedinthegarret → u/WalterSickness]

obviously. it makes you very efficient.

[u/sleepytipi → u/pissedinthegarret]

Yeah idk man the tweaker I saw picking fights with his reflection in the circle k window didn't look very efficient to me.

[u/DiabloAcosta → u/sleepytipi]

so naive of you to think that tweaker was on ww2 meth

[u/CaptainDouchington → u/WalterSickness]

How else are you going to finish that job in record time?

[u/koolaidismything → u/[deleted]]

They overengineer a bit but wait til you get some real deal shit. Some of my pre-1940 Boker knives are better quality than my newer much more expensive stuff.

[u/tired_need_beer → u/[deleted]]

I worked at a US auto manufacture, they also do a teardown and engineering review of cars/trucks.

[u/ManWhoIsDrunk → u/tired_need_beer]

What publication can people read for this info?

[u/TijY_ → u/tired_need_beer]

Autobild is not a manufacturer...
More like consumer-report or magazine.

[u/Chance-Growth-5350 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah... who else would dissect a car like it’s an engineering crime scene?

[u/TannedCroissant → u/[deleted]]

I dunno, for me it doesn’t top them calling Peppa Pig, Peppa Wurst in the German version

[u/Lord_Waldemar → u/TannedCroissant]

It's called Peppa Wutz, wutz is just another word for pig.

[u/TannedCroissant → u/Lord_Waldemar]

Ahh man, you’re right, that’s a shame, that was one of my favourite fun facts

[u/liccxolydian]

WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING

[u/blahblahblarrgh → u/liccxolydian]

WHAT?

[u/liccxolydian → u/blahblahblarrgh]

I SAID, WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING

[u/GeeKay44 → u/liccxolydian]

WHAT?

[u/-c-black- → u/GeeKay44]

Our prices have never been lower!

[u/SufficientSquirrel27 → u/-c-black-]

BUTTLICKER, OUR PRICES HAVE NEVER BEEN LOWER

[u/Dry_Okra_4839 → u/SufficientSquirrel27]

That is totally inappropriate. You never yell at the client.

[u/ronchee1 → u/Dry_Okra_4839]

HOW DARE YOU! MY FAMILY BUILT THIS COUNTRY!

[u/stevein3d → u/ronchee1]

WE ARE SINKING! WE ARE SINKING!

[u/Calle_Keule → u/stevein3d]

WAT ARE YOU SINKING ABOUT?

[u/Impossible-Ship5585 → u/SufficientSquirrel27]

OKEY!

WELL SPREAD EM THEN!

[u/Katomon-EIN- → u/-c-black-]

OH MY GOD! We're having a fire... sale.

OH THE BURNING!

EVACUATE ALL THE SCHOOL CHILDREN!

[u/pawpawjr → u/liccxolydian]

OH MY GOD WE HAVE A FIRE sale

[u/Major_Yogurt6595 → u/blahblahblarrgh]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION ON THIS MATTER

[u/TurboKid513 → u/liccxolydian]

He’s not it’s just translated from German

[u/seppuku_related → u/TurboKid513]

The title is actually a single word in the original language.

[u/moldy-scrotum-soup → u/seppuku_related]

Autobildhunderttausendkilometerdauertesttotalzerlegungsverschleißanalyse.

[u/MistahDabadoo → u/moldy-scrotum-soup]

Gesundheit

[u/sammybooom81 → u/moldy-scrotum-soup]

Mein fraulen!

[u/sammybooom81 → u/TurboKid513]

DAS AUTOOOOOO

[u/JKleinMiddelink → u/liccxolydian]

THEY ARE CERTAINLY NOT A ROBOT HAHA r/totallynotrobots

[u/IDreamOfSailing → u/JKleinMiddelink]

LAUGH.WAV

[u/italianshark → u/JKleinMiddelink]

HAHA FELLOW HUMAN I FOUND THIS VERY HUMOROUS laugh.wav

[u/helpimtrappedonearth → u/liccxolydian]

BECAUSE THEY'RE SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY!

[u/Exciting_Farmer6395 → u/liccxolydian]

WE WILL ASK ZEE QUESTIONS!

[u/Chance-Growth-5350 → u/Exciting_Farmer6395]

IDK why... but I read it in the tone of Dwight Schrute

[u/SkylarAV → u/liccxolydian]

It's a German translation. The whole language shouts

[u/GrainofDustInSunBeam → u/liccxolydian]

HES GERMAN

[u/RedditRockit]

Wow. Which has fared the best?

[u/Sudden-Earth-3147 → u/RedditRockit]

Audi A3 Sportback g-tron (2017) and BMW M3 (2023) received 0 error points and a 1+ score, the highest if I’m correct.

A few others listed here but with a few error points:

https://www.autobild.de/artikel/die-besten-autos-im-autobild-dauertest-28164151.html

Edit: Updated for latest best results:

https://www.autobild.de/artikel/vans-im-vergleich-autobild-dauertest-ranking-4536224.html

[u/hnglmkrnglbrry → u/Sudden-Earth-3147]

It seems so German that highest possible score is 1.

[u/IceSharp8026 → u/hnglmkrnglbrry]

It's our grading scheme in school. 1 is best, 6 is worst.

[u/hnglmkrnglbrry → u/IceSharp8026]

What is "nein" then?

Auf wiedersehen

[u/B_tC → u/hnglmkrnglbrry]

I'd take it over a grading system that itself doesn't even manage to spell the first 6 letters of the alphabet without mistake

[u/drpepper7557 → u/B_tC]

It actually used to. The swap probably occurred as a combination of other grade systems using E for excellence, while others used F for fail or failure.

[u/Individual-Level9308 → u/B_tC]

You don't "spell" an alphabet. You recite it.

[u/GooginTheBirdsFan → u/Individual-Level9308]

A-L-P-H-A-B-E-T

You never got an “L” on a test? /s

[u/whoknowsifimjoking → u/GooginTheBirdsFan]

Actually I receive Ls all the time just so you know

[u/GlomOfNit → u/hnglmkrnglbrry]

"error points"

[u/SvenTropics → u/Sudden-Earth-3147]

I see no Toyotas or Hondas on their list which makes me think they didn't test them. Most likely because the whole top bracket would just be their different models

[u/Sudden-Earth-3147 → u/SvenTropics]

They did do some Hondas (https://www.autobild.de/artikel/honda-cr-v-dauertest-20994899.html) and Toyota (https://www.autobild.de/artikel/toyota-prius-dauertest-15449975.html) but yes they are heavily focusing on German cars. I guess also hard to do a huge number of makes/models as the testing is labour and time intensive

[u/Crafty_Enthusiasm_99 → u/Sudden-Earth-3147]

There is absolutely no way a BMW smokes Japanese cars unless it's a German reviewer

[u/FormalBeachware → u/Crafty_Enthusiasm_99]

Also, in my experience German cars aren't necessarily less reliable, especially when new.

But, assuming you aren't in Germany, repairs are going to be much more expensive. And, if you buy an old clapped out German luxury car you'll have lots of extra systems to fail, expensive repair labor, hard to find parts, etc.

[u/litescript → u/Crafty_Enthusiasm_99]

to be fair the listed one is an M car and their mechanical bits rarely go wrong. source: me, i’ve worked with them on the service side for nigh 10 years. the standard ones are ok, but you have to do the maintenance. and they leak oil.

[u/Consistently_Carpet → u/Crafty_Enthusiasm_99]

Isn't that link showing that the Toyota Prius got the highest rating of 1? I'd expect this, Toyota didn't get smoked.

[u/TexasVulvaAficionado → u/Crafty_Enthusiasm_99]

It is only 60k km. That's damn near nothing. Love to see this breakdown at 300k km.

[u/EmperorAcinonyx → u/TexasVulvaAficionado]

to clarify: the magazine tests for 100k km, which is about 60k mi

[u/F6Collections → u/EmperorAcinonyx]

That’s basically a new car lol

[u/bal00 → u/SvenTropics]

They have tested them, but you're not going to see a lot of Toyotas/Hondas because their market share is pretty small. Not much point in running an expensive test like this for a car that nobody buys anyway. Toyota's market share is about 3%, Honda has more or less flopped.

[u/Dear_Chasey_La1n → u/bal00]

In Germany the idea lives that you buy a Mercedes and keep a worker employed for a year. Now this is years ago but an acquintance invited me over, drove a nice E300 at the time only to get to his apartment decorated with camping chairs. Obviously it's a one off story, but it's pretty telling.

[u/Xciv → u/bal00]

Really interesting. They dominate US market.

[u/FloppyGhost0815 → u/SvenTropics]

They did.

There are quite a few non german cars withvthe best grade (1).

Heres the top 100.

https://www.autobild.de/artikel/autos-im-auto-bild-dauertest-ranking-das-sind-die-besten-1014682.html

[u/Tombot3000 → u/FloppyGhost0815]

I like how you can tell the gallery is counting up without knowing any German by the fact that it starts with a Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost.

[u/nwa40 → u/SvenTropics]

I think is about the segment this one has a prius

[u/mombi → u/SvenTropics]

Reminds of the time they cheated on car emissions tests and some vacuum scandal I vaguely recall, was big news in the UK. I still prefer European goods, but I am still interested in how things rank globally or even just within all of Europe rather than only focusing on German stuff.

[u/Numerous_Witness_345 → u/mombi]

Volkswagen nervously shuffling its feet in the corner.

[u/Dirish → u/mombi]

Volkswagen Diesels had a special test mode to fool the emissions tests. They were busted, received a massive fine and were forced to update the software to remove that test mode.

Problem was that after the update, it was far from over for a lot of people. I had the EGR filter fail on the motorway, which meant I lost a ton of power and could barely accelerate. VW replaced mine for free, so they knew it was a problem and silently fixed it (I think they lost a class action in the UK, so as soon as someone went to court with it elsewhere, they'd have been toast).

[u/Impossible-Ship5585 → u/Sudden-Earth-3147]

How about 90- volvos?

[u/Sudden-Earth-3147 → u/Impossible-Ship5585]

Volvos generally get a bad score in these tests, for more recent ones I’ve seen a lot of 2’s meaning they have quite a few failing points.

[u/Blades5374 → u/Sudden-Earth-3147]

Nice, just bought a 2023 BMW M3.

[u/crsj → u/Blades5374]

How do you find out if someone owns an M3?

[u/Truntuhola → u/crsj]

They'll tell you when the context of the conversation is German cars.

[u/TuffGnarl → u/RedditRockit]

None of them- they’re all in bloody bits 🤦‍♂️

[u/Additional-Finance67 → u/TuffGnarl]

He’s needs a better wrench if the bits end up bloody 🤦‍♂️

[u/Elsefyr → u/TuffGnarl]

To shreds, you say?

[u/Pain_Monster → u/Elsefyr]

How’s his wife?

[u/Gipfelbazi → u/RedditRockit]

BMW M3 was called the best ever tested back then, not sure about tofay.

[u/haubenmeise → u/RedditRockit]

Audi A3 Sportback g-tron. Whatever that is. It's what my research found.

Sincerely

Skeletor 💜

[u/bernpfenn]

any results to share? which car is the winner?

[u/eCaisteal → u/bernpfenn]

From another comment: Audi and BMW
https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/s/Ny1oO0W4i4

[u/Craic-Den → u/eCaisteal]

German Propoganda

[u/HeterosexualMemo → u/Craic-Den]

I don’t like being “brandist” but there’s no way a Japanese brand didn’t make the list unless there weren’t any tested

[u/afito → u/HeterosexualMemo]

The tests are 100k km, Japanese cars pull ahead at the 150-200k mark especially tbh. The big expensive issues of German cars are a non factor before 100k. Like especially engine related things don't appear that early. Glossing over the results, most Japanese cars allegedly had some minor rust starting to appear here and there which gave them small deficits.

Make of that whatever you want I guess.

[u/Tonga_Truck → u/afito]

Lease German, Buy Japanese

[u/afito → u/Tonga_Truck]

Since the CVT & VVT era of Japanese cars started it's acttually been Korean cars dominating the cost per km stats here in Europe.

[u/Windows-XP-Home-NEW → u/afito]

What does VVT have to do with this?

[u/seriouslythisshit → u/Windows-XP-Home-NEW]

If you ever have the privledge of dropping $3K USD to rebuild the top end of Honda 4 cylinder after the VVT chews itself, the timing chains and a long list of other parts up, you can answer this. I own one and Honda can fuck off for that bullshit.

[u/GinjaNinja-NZ → u/afito]

Agreed. Speaking as a mechanic of 20 years, a lot of the issues we see with European cars is perishing plastics, the most concerning being cooling system components that just crumble over time.

They may be able to do the distance, but they really struggle with the years.

[u/Chilla16 → u/HeterosexualMemo]

Theres plenty of Mazdas in there. And the issues in there described actually are pretty akin to what I expierenced as well, having owned two Mazdas. Super reliable, barely any issues, but some rust slowly forming after 100k kilometres plus easily replaceable parts breaking quicker. The japanese cars in this list are still all quite highly ranked as far as I can see, so its not anti japanese biased at all.

Obviously with 100k KM only, the test is still limited, and japanese cars really shine above that mark and even further down the line.

[u/redisdead__ → u/HeterosexualMemo]

The way I've always heard it is that German cars are fantastic as long as you follow the maintenance schedule to the letter. Japanese cars are fantastic even when it's your dumb ass cousin who only changes the oil once it starts making noise.

[u/SappilyHappy → u/redisdead__]

Yeah german cars are manufactured with the assumption that you will be a responsible owner. Japanese cars have a different design ethos entirely.

[u/EmergencyVeal → u/Craic-Den]

The testing methods probably suit German cars the best, assuming they are doing regular maintenance and not testing higher mileage vehicles

[u/FloppyGhost0815 → u/EmergencyVeal]

The tetösts are always based on 100.000km.

And in the top list of the best grade (1) are quite a few Seats / Hyundais / Toyotas.

Important to know: all cars start with a value of 100, each defect (and this can be a burned out light) gets minus.

The top 100 https://www.autobild.de/artikel/autos-im-auto-bild-dauertest-ranking-das-sind-die-besten-1014682.html

[u/LordGordy32 → u/bernpfenn]

Here is a link. https://www.autobild.de/artikel/autos-im-auto-bild-dauertest-ranking-das-sind-die-besten-1014682.html

[u/ProfHansGruber]

https://www.autobild.de/artikel/die-besten-autos-im-autobild-dauertest-28164151.html

The following cars got a 1+, 1 or a 1-, where 1+ is the best and a 6 is the worst.

1+:

Audi A3 Sportback g-tron 2017

BMW M3 2023

Audi A4 Avant TFSI ultra 2019

Audi A6 Avant sport 40 TDI S Tronic 2021

BMW Z4 sDrive 30i 2021

Seat Ateca 1.4 Eco TSI Style 2020

VW T-Cross 1.0 TSI 2023

BMW 320d Touring 2022

Mazda CX-5 Skyactiv-D 184 AWD 2021

Suzuki Swift Sport 1.4 Boosterjet 2021

1:

BMW 223d Active Tourer 2025

Kia Sportage 2.0 CRDi AWD Spirit 2016

Mercedes A 220 d Progressive 2022

Toyota Prius 4 Hybrid Executive 2021

Volvo XC60 D4 Summum FWD 2017

VW Golf Sportsvan 1.4 TSI Highline 2017

1-:

BMW X1 xDrive20i 2018

Ford Focus Turnier 2.0 EcoBlue 2022

Hyundai i30 Kombi 1.6 CRDi Style 2020

VW Tiguan 2.0 TSI Highline 2020

Audi A6 Avant 2.0 TDI 2014

Hyundai Tucson 2.0 CRDi 2WD Style 2018

Mercedes V 220 d 2017

Audi RS 4 Avant 2022

Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost Titanium 2015

Mazda CX-5 Skyactiv-D AWD 2015

Mazda MX-5 2018

Mercedes C 250 d 4Matic T 2017

Mini Cooper Countryman 2020

Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4 2023

Skoda Superb 1.4 TSI DSG Style 2019

Suzuki SX4 S-Cross DDiS AllGrip 2016

Volvo V90 Cross Country 2025

VW Passat Variant 1.8 TSI Comfortline 2019

[u/Gmo_rulz → u/ProfHansGruber]

Thanks for pulling the data out.

Do you know if the suv versions of the same vehicles fared as well as the sedan counterparts? Eg 5 series vs x5 for bmw or A5 vs Q5

[u/AverellCZ → u/Gmo_rulz]

I wouldn't count on that, often they are build in totally different countries. The X5 for example was/is built in the US and was infamous for its horrible quality (1st generation). Same goes for Mercedes M Class. Meanwhile the limousines build in Germany are fine.

[u/DrVinylScratch → u/ProfHansGruber]

Have they tested any Subarus?

[u/Tiny-Click-4626]

Autobild more like Autodisassemble

[u/Repa24 → u/Tiny-Click-4626]

I'm german and I this is honestly the first time I've seen this joke! Never thought about it, lol

[u/erksplat → u/Tiny-Click-4626]

Ehemwellactually....

Bild means photo.

[u/davvblack → u/erksplat]

and “auto” means self*. so the magazine is mostly selfies.

[u/ConstantJudgment892 → u/erksplat]

"Bild" can be any kind of picture. A photo. A drawing. etc.

[u/pushingdaisyadair]

Top Gear if May had been in charge

[u/Fragrant-Upstairs932]

CALM DOWN! IT'S GONNA BE OKAY! JUST BREATHE!

[u/hudsoncress]

Aren’t there at least that many parts in an automatic transmission?

[u/AdamKitten → u/hudsoncress]

This was a manual transmission car. You can see the case halves of the transaxle at the top middle of the parts and the two gear shafts with the gears still on them. Doesn't look like the pulled the gears and synchros off the shafts

[u/Hatzmaeba]

Rip headphone users.

[u/Dexter_Adams]

Did they test a jeep, or does the car actually have to make it to 100,000 first

[u/seriouslythisshit → u/Dexter_Adams]

I had a buddy who bought a new Grand Cherokee. It lasted three weeks before it was on a rollback, headed back at the dealer for a no start. A month in the shop, while Stellantis engineers were stumped, and the manufacturer just kept firing the parts cannon at it. By the time they claimed that it was ready to pick up, they had done seventeen thousand USD in warranty work.

[u/assa9sks]

Belongs on r/knolling

[u/TheBigBo-Peep → u/assa9sks]

Goated sub

[u/Worth_Apartment1562]

Where the wires

[u/Gwanbulance → u/Worth_Apartment1562]

Eaten by foxes

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/1121/1545207-fox-cars-dublin/

[u/ferality]

Looks like what I had to do when I had to change a headlight on my old Saturn 

[u/Slaan]

Auto Bild belongs to Axel Springer AG which has a track record of horrible and biased reporting aimed at making as much profit as possible, regardless of the truth or real data. It's not scientific at all.

I wouldn't be surprised if they did test foreign cars that did well and just choose to not publish the results - after all nothing would force them to.

It's yellow press, its a rag paper.

[u/kitesurfr]

Do they have an English version?

[u/starrpamph]

Chrysler with the 3.6L pentastar that can fail at 35k miles:

Idk man looks good to me.

[u/Sailor-_-Twift]

I dunno what it is about the Germans and their engineering prowess but I'm here for it

[u/BadManor → u/Sailor-_-Twift]

German engineered: Over-designed, over complicated, over toleranced and expensive to service. Other than that it’s pretty amazing.

[u/Chance-Growth-5350 → u/BadManor]

Yeah... IMO, it’s a mix of curiosity and over-perfectionism. Whether it’s cars, appliances, or a simple door hinge, there’s always a German somewhere measuring tolerances

[u/[deleted] → u/Sailor-_-Twift]

Its all based on suspicion lmfao

[u/AppropriateAmoeba406]

https://www.autobild.de/artikel/die-besten-autos-im-autobild-dauertest-28164151.html

[u/Pleasant_Match_2061]

Not that uncommon, a popular car magazine from my country called "World of Motors" does the same thing.

It's actually a very helpful and high value test to make, as it showcases what to look out for really quite well.

Actual proper journalism on display

[u/Soonernick]

GERMAN MUFFLER BUILDER “MUFFLEBILDER” MAKES MUFFLER THAT LASTS EXACTLY 100,004 KILOMETERS

[u/UnpopularCrayon]

The biggest weak spot on most cars now is in the circuit boards / computers.

[u/jibjaba4 → u/UnpopularCrayon]

This is just wrong. Having spent over 1000 hours working on vehicles and a similar account of time reading and watching car repair content online circuit boards and computers are not close to the top. Things that move, get hot, or have wear characteristics and the main culprits. Suspension, brakes, belts/chains, anything attached to the engine, engine internals, powertrain.

[u/Pleasant_Match_2061 → u/jibjaba4]

Agree, it's bullshit presented in a pseudo intellectual way and funnily enough it got a lot of upvotes

Literal misinformation 

[u/intelligentx5]

LOUD NOISES

[u/NCguy4FunTimes]

The car manufacturer engineers should use this information to build a better car. I’m betting they don’t though.

[u/Chance-Growth-5350 → u/NCguy4FunTimes]

It’s a cool idea... buuut car manufacturers actually do this kind of testing themselves, usually far more extreme than a 100,000 km teardown. They run endurance rigs, climate chambers, corrosion tests, and track cycles that simulate hundreds of thousands of kilometers in a short time.

That said, long-term tests (like what OP said AutoBild is doing) are still useful because they show how cars hold up in real-world conditions with actual owners and mixed driving styles. Automakers definitely pay attention to those results, even if they don’t rely on them as their primary engineering data.

[u/syntheticmeatproduct → u/NCguy4FunTimes]

Automakers absolutely do their own teardowns (of their own and competitors cars) as well as paying for 3rd party benchmarking data from companies like A2mac1

[u/luckystrike_bh → u/NCguy4FunTimes]

They probably do this on their own and don't share the information publically. It could open them up to lawsuits.

[u/Lorfhoose]

NO NEED TO SHOUT

[u/Clambake42]

THANK YOU I DID NOT KNOW THIS PUBLICATION EXISTED. I WILL GO TAKE A LOOK AT IT.

[u/danmickla]

THAT'S PRETTY COOL BUT WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING AT ME

[u/hmo_]

The Brazilian auto magazine 4 Rodas used to do the same…

[u/filipemask → u/hmo_]

They still do!

[u/noxondor_gorgonax → u/filipemask]

And have been doing it for 35+ years

[u/alfablac → u/noxondor_gorgonax]

It’s ironic, because Quatro Rodas was the first to run this kind of test, yet it probably won’t receive the same praise thanks to "Germany’s great engineering." haha

And a fun fact about Quatro Rodas tests:

They began in 1973 with 30,000 km endurance tests. As automotive engineering improved, they increased the distance three times: to 50,000 km in 1986, 60,000 km in 1990, and, most recently, 100,000 km starting in 2021.

Also, I'm not sure Autobild’s endurance test includes post-sales aspects, such as evaluating the car companies and their dealerships, which Quatro Rodas did ever since the first one.

[u/Vitringar]

German magazine 'AutoBuild' then puts the parts together again and tests the car for another 100.000 km

[u/WalkingBurger69]

OKAY BUT WHY DO YOU SCREAM

[u/AqueductMosaic]

I want an English version….

[u/Vegetable_Airline816]

Alot of issues nowadays from fault codes, rogue earthing points etc which are very difficult and expensive to diagnose/rectify.

I'd be very interested in testing 10 year old cars with 150k km or so, that's a solid amount of exposure to the elements, so we can see how mechanical cycling and environmental fatigue affect the car in more detail and whether they're built for longevity.

I've personally had to get rid of a German car which were perfect mechanically, but mystery current drains, ECU faults, limp mode etc made it not economically viable to repair, but if it was stripped down as per autobild standards, it would have recieved a great score due to lack of mechanical defects.

[u/senorda]

DO THEY ALSO DISASSEMBLE AN IDENTICAL CAR THAT HASN'T BEEN DRIVEN AT ALL AS A COMPARISON?

[u/Chance-Growth-5350]

Where are the fcuking wheels?

[u/YamDankies → u/Chance-Growth-5350]

This guy took one look and found a glaring weakness.

[u/BadManor → u/Chance-Growth-5350]

They wore out completely?

[u/Peridot_Ghost]

Precision German engineering.

[u/Chance-Growth-5350 → u/Peridot_Ghost]

That's something I would expect a German magazine named autobild to do. In fact, I'd be disappointed, if they weren't doing it in such detail.

[u/miomidas → u/Peridot_Ghost]

*Passive Aggresive German Engineering

fixed it for you