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Here's Why Expensive Cars

Aren'tAlways Reliable

By Jeff Glucker

When you think about expensive the top is up or down. Additionally, there's two to three years occupied by a leased car.
automobiles, there's one data point that an air quality sensor which makes sure During that period, any faults that might
doesn't often enter into the discussion. the air the occupants are breathing and pop up are covered. And then the well-to-
That would be reliability. experiencing is as good as it should be. do owner moves on to the next latest and
greatest.
It seems the more you spend on a car, the That's just the climate control system,
less reliable it becomes. But is that truly which utilizes 18 actuators just to keep Fesnke makes a great point that the
the case? Jason Fenske from Engineering the cabin cozy. Now multiply the amount automakers in this space are building a
Explained is here to examine this idea, see of sensors, actuators, filters, wires, fuses, feature-packed vehicle aimed at the dollars
if it holds up, and discuss why it might not and other controlling elements used by the of those who will only own their car for a
really matter in the end. myriad systems present in a car like the few years. So you wind up with a car that
Benz S560. has a massive list of things it can do, and
The conversation unfolds as Fesnke pilots over time some of those things will act up.
a Mercedes-Benz S560 Cabriolet. It's a With greater amounts of controllable
$155,000 drop top filled with all manner and adjustable features, there is a greater But it doesn't matter as much to those who
of technology and upscale features. This amount of items that can fail or act up. But need to be first...their future car problems
Benz is a great platform to use as an they're not likely to do so during the initial are left to the second and third owners of
exploratory element in the discussion. For period of ownership. And that's just fine the car. The result, of course, tends to be
example, the climate control system adjusts for the initial owner of a luxury vehicle. huge depreciation. n
automatically based upon whether or not The typical ownership period these days is

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