[ExI] experiment regarding ethical behaviors vs status

[spike]

>... On Behalf Of Eugen Leitl

> _______________________________________________
> 
>> Unverifiable.  We have no way to know if they are rich.

>...I can tell you that I can't afford German cars, nevermind luxury ones. I
don't think you're driving a Cayenne or a BMW SUV either... Eugen

_______________________________________________
>...I.e. dicks buy BMWs.  10 year old BMWs are not that expensive, but are
still bought by dicks.  BillK


Here's a mostly entertaining aside for both of you.  BMW didn't design their
high-end luxury cars for the US, but rather the Autobahn, which they do very
well.  But the amount of heat produced by a V-12 five liter is a bit too
much for the occasional low speed summer day, which is hotter here in
California than is typical in Germany.  Consequently those cars suffer heat
effects, such as ruined radiators.  The krauts charge absurd amounts of
money for genuine BMW parts (Mercedes is even worse) which causes the prices
of ten year old Benzes and Beemers to be waaaay down there, lower than some
of their American counterparts, even if the purchase price of the
Kampftrager was three times as much.  

The BMW 750iL is a good example: the radiators go out regularly, and a
replacement cost is 1400 USD if you need Herr Mechaniker to do it for you.
I don't.  I can buy cheapy Chinese knockoff aftermarket radiators and hoses
(which I am told last as long or longer than the genuine German part because
they are made for higher temps.)  I can install them myself.  So I can get a
racy German Bond-mobile for a song (I mean it, those ten to fifteen year old
German V12s are cheeeeapy cheap, because mechanic bills eat you alive) then
fix it myself using all aftermarket parts.  

Hans and Franz assure you that the resale price goes way down if there are
any non-BMW parts on there, but that doesn't matter if the car is already 10
years old and you got it for a tenth of its original sale price, still
looking new.  A lot of those high end German luxury cars were used only by
internet fly-by-night executives who tend to be single, so the cars often
have fine leather back seats which have never had a pair of buns on them.
Furthermore,  those kinds of owners tend to take their car to the dealer for
service.

If the car was serviced by Hans and Franz, you know they occasionally
succumbed to the temptation to use Chinese parts for a tenth the price,
while charging German part prices, so I speculate that any older German car
already has Chinese parts anyway, even if the owner can show receipts
claiming only genuine German parts were used.  It might not even be a
crooked mechanic: there are counterfeit parts marked as German.  That
happens when you charge big bucks for anything.

I don't care if I only get 10 miles to the gallon, because I don't go very
far.

A fifteen year old 750, if parked indoors, still looks as shiny and new as
the day it came off the assembly line.  A person driving such a rig could be
any poor person who grew up in the days when we still had to work on cars.
Depending on how you count your time and how far you drive, a used German
luxury muscle car might be very low cost transportation, and ooooh my, you
cut a sharp image tearing around in one of those kraut-burner rigs.

Point: you can't tell a person's financial status by what she drives.

spike