Dilemma
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Two years of writing about Bertie have taught me many things - mostly about being flexible in my plans! In looking for a new mount I am forced to re-evaluate my priorities. Tedious, practical considerations keep creeping in like uninvited in-laws. Do I want excitement and passion, or an easy life? Of course, that’s the question many have asked while I wrestle compressors in car parks. And it’s a question Western manufacturers must answer too.
While Volkswagen, Mercedes and Co. pile on ludicrous luxury - buffalo leather, shagpile carpets, hardwoods so exotic they're on a watchlist - and pointless performance (0–60 in 1.5 seconds, 190mph in a country where 30mph is the devil’s work), the Chinese have taken a masterclass from Michael O’Leary of Ryanair.
Most people don’t need a leather-lined missile; they want low prices, reliability, and not dying. The cars might be as exciting as a PowerPoint presentation, but when you want to nip down to Barcelona for the weekend, would you rather pay £50 or £200? Western makers are still selling us the dream of luxury and speed, while the Chinese are selling us the reality of getting from A to B without drama or a second mortgage.
As Jeremy Clarkson pointed out last Sunday, despite the West’s best protectionist efforts, you can buy something like a Jaecoo 7 for around £29k–£35k - roughly 25% the price of a near-identical-looking and equipped Range Rover. It’s like a Rangie had an affair with an accountant: it’ll do 56 miles on the batteries and claims 403mpg - a figure to be trusted about as much as Ryanair’s claims you’ll have a pleasant experience! And this is from a company that didn’t exist four years ago. So much for JLR’s “ingenuity,” eh?
In the last twenty years, over a hundred Chinese manufacturers have popped up, offering easyJet on wheels, while Western brands - the national carriers of this metaphor - stagger on courtesy of taxpayer subsidies and tariff walls. Even if you buy a domestic EV, more than half the components will come from China (batteries, motors, electronics…). You’re really flying Ryanair with a BA codeshare!
Which brings me to my personal dilemma: Do I chase low running costs and reliability, or remain loyal to bankruptcy and anxiety? Do I want a Lexus LS (400, 430…) or a Mercedes W126 (300SE, 420SE…)? Competent, rational, and refined, versus characterful, covetable, and liable to leave me on the hard shoulder. It seems the market (and Mrs.) has spoken: competency trumps character, and rational beats desirable. So, have you defected? What do you think: sensible or soul?
Aren't the Lexus LS 400 and 430 also characterful and kinda covetable cars? And I've heard that the Mercedes W126 (300SE, 420SE) are also pretty reliable, rational, and refined. Seems like both are good options to me, though one thing that I think is a good deciding factor is how expensive and easy parts are to buy or find. But who knows, maybe you'll come across something that you'll want that is neither of those two cars.
We will really miss sitting in the Rolls when you have so kindly and generously entertained Hanna and me in Gran Canaria !!!! We are looking forward with joyful expectation to one day meeting Bertie's successor Love to you both David xx