snowday

I agree, the upshift indicator is programmed as an aid for fuel economy. When driving casually, I will often skip a gear while upshifting anyway. The S5 gear ratios are relatively closely spaced and the engine is quite torquey so you have to really be not paying attention to wind up lugging the engine. The upshift indicator programming does not result in lugging either.

Big Andy

I don't have a problem with electronic monitoring of fluid levels but it's nice to have the dipstick option.
After I've washed and cleaned out my car on a Sunday morning I like to pop the bonnet and top up the washer fluid, dip the oil, adding more if necessary and checking for any obvious fluid leaks. It just makes me feel better.

mmarshall

Yes. True to an extent. They CAN be marketing gimmicks, but, marketing gimmicks or not, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. If your product doesn't hold up with use, the longer the warranty, the more money you, as a manufacturer, are going to lose on it.

Manufacturers, of course, get around this dilemma with long warranties that are only good for the original purchaser or have special service requirements attached. They know that many people don't keep their car 10 years or put 100,000 miles on it, particularly those who have to keep up with the Jones' or have the latest fashion. Hyundai/Kia, for example, will allow a warranty transfer, but only to an immediate family member like mother, sister, etc...and after 5/60 it may only cover Hyundai-sourced parts in the druvetrain; the rest of the drivetrain expires at 5/60.


In contrast, the smallest vehicle in the American market, the Smart-for-Two, offers only 2/24, including drivetrain, despite being a Mercedes-affiliated product. It is sponsored and imported here by Penske Automotive, not Mercedes itself, although Smart dealershps usually are co-located with those of Mercedes.

Back in the early-mid 60's Chrysler products, drivetrain-wise, WERE the most reliable American-made cars (Chrysler ws the first company, back then, to introduce 1/12 on the whole vehicle and 5/50 on the drivetrain), but that was a long time ago. In the 1970's, they went seriously downhill, and Chrysler, despite some occasional long warranties in the meantime, has never really recovered their former place in history 40 years ago. In fact, since the 1960's, they have done some of the WORST in reliability. The Omni/Horizon and virtually all of the K-Car-based products of the 80s/early 90s were a joke. The only good thing to come out of the Chrysler lineup of that era (in 1984) was the concept of the modern front-engine minivan, which, though unreliable, ended up replacing station wagons of the era.