Sigs and HK's

[Disaster]

You pay more for a couple reasons.

1. The name and the reputation.
2. The expensive manufacturing process with lots of machining operations.
3. The extra attention to details and refinement, like surface finish.

Does either of these make them more reliable? Being reliable is partly how they got their reputation. Having said that, there are a lot of less expensive guns that are uber reliable.

Speaking of Mercedes vs. Chevy it is similar. It costs more to make a Mercedes because there are generally more features and more craftsmanship involved. Does that make a Mercedes more reliable? Unfortunately, no. In fact, a few years ago, Mercedes was at the bottom of the barrel in luxury cars. They tried to include too much and didn't have time to check it all properly before releasing it for production. The C series went from one of the most reliable luxury cars to one of the least.

By the way, the million mile thing is a bit of a marketing gimmick. Once you get into the 100,000's of thousands of miles range you are getting into the territory of lots of things being replaced and serviced. Also, a uber high mileage capable engine is not necessarily going to be any more reliable in the short term. I know that sounds counterintuitive but it is true. Take it from an engineer who's worked on these products. The Japanese have been the best at figuring out how to design a super reliable product, over the real lifetime of ownership. The U.S. companies have made great strides over the last couple decades but haven't caught up. The luxury car manufacturers got their _____ handed to them and now, like the U.S. mfgrs, are playing catch up.

 

[PawDaddy]

Well, personally I have always prefered Ford's. But, my original question had more to do with reliability than craftmanship.

I realize that it costs more to make certain items because of the way they are manufactured. But, is it really worth the extra money. I am not asking is it worth it to you if you want it bad enough. I was asking is the total cost including materials and labor worth the price over a less expensive brand?

 

[Deer Hunter]

A thread dissing Chevys?

Me and my '95 chevy will just stay out of this one. I'm too busy not fixing it to reply.

 

[Disaster]

I realize that it costs more to make certain items because of the way they are manufactured. But, is it really worth the extra money.

Sometimes yes and sometimes no. For example, for all the dissing on these forums of cast parts, often they are as good, in a particular application as a forged part. Heck, a cast part can even be less prone to certain quality issues...like dimensional accuracy, then a machined component.

However, sometimes you get better performance or reliability for your money. Here is a car example. In the old days, they would just use the frame as the ground for the car. Many electrical components were grounded to the frame, in american cars with a wire held to the body with a self tapping screw. Quick and cheap...and not real durable. Rust and vibration would weaken the electrical connection and play havoc with it. Mercedes also used the body but they would have the electrical wires hooked to studs that were brazed to the body and then held on with locking nuts. This was considerably more expensive...but considerably more robust.