I have a few problems with the broad statements posted by both parties. First and foremost, the Precor 9.31 treadmill was just named "Best" in Consumer Reports, a non-biased publication. Hardly "truly garbage" as stated in the original post. Secondly, if you keep an eye on the industry and have a knowledge of sales vs. warranty you would undoubtedly know that Precor consistently runs at around 3% warranty vs. sales, which translated means that for every 100 units sold, three get some sort of claim placed against them which is much lower than, lets say, Natilus which is running around 17%. Finally, using Mercedes as a comparison is reaching quite a bit, because Damlier Benz was consistently at the top of JD Powers survey in both initial and long term reliability up until the point of the ill fated merger with Chrysler, which unfairly allowed Chryslers poor quality to drag Mercedes numbers down. Since the sale of Chrysler, Mercedes is not only now above the industry standard, but climbing back into the top yearly. As for expense, Mercedes and Precor, use higher quality materials in manufacturing and therefore cost more.
