Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
best of luck!
I think that is a dealer experience that I could do without.
I doubt that MB are even in the top 5 of the "Any Luxury Car" category, although they would have you think so. Rolls Royce, Bentley, Bugatti, Maybach are surely top of the heap and then there is a whole slew of builders who would tie for the next places. MB would have the "S" class in there but not much else in the past 5-10 years. Here in UK they rate pretty poor in JD Power surveys. Lexus always beats 'em - as do Skoda, and that's a VW cheapo-brand, (although it also beats VW and Audi every time).
Then, of course, Maybach is to MB as Lexus is to Toyota.
The best built for cars is actually a near tie between Nissan, Mazda, and Honda. Honda gets the 3# place(by maybe a foot behind the others) if only because their prices on parts have gone up in the last few years.
For trucks and SUVs, Nissan and Toyota if you get one with a manual transmission, that is.
With the exception of the a Camry is more expensive to own than a G37, debating who makes the more bulletproof car is like debating vanilla vs chocolate. Most cars will easily make it to 150,000 miles. I know a few BMW owners north of 200,000 miles.
It's what happens after the warranty where it gets interesting.
That's because there's no room... :P
I might be buying a 54K mile E30 M3. I'm just trying to decide if I should use it as my daily driver.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
Also, I guess I should to admit to you that I don't think I could drive mine every day. I love driving my M3 on the weekends and during the summer, I do drive it to work occasionally just because it's just such a joy on a nice day. Oftentimes though, I'm grateful I have a 4-door slushbox company car for my commute - especially during the winter months. A smooth, quiet ride, with cupholders and an automatic transmission is usually what I want when the weather is gloomy, I'm tired, and I just want to get where I'm going without any drama.
Honestly, I wish I had kept my E30 325is when I got my M3. Having both would have been perfect - the 325 is a much better DDer, still a lot of fun to drive, fun to tinker on, and parts are cheaper. It doesn't have to be another E30, but if you can do it, buy the M3 for when you want to drive, but have something else for when you have to drive.
EDIT: I guess I didn't really answer your question, did I? Sorry, I'm tired and honestly, I go back and forth about my M3 lately. There's nothing else like it and I love it, but sometimes when the rear speakers stop working, the interior lights fail, or a dashboard panel comes loose, I secretly think to myself that a Cayman S would be so much easier to live with. But that's crazy talk...very few cars are more fun to drive, and none of them have a back seat and trunk. It's really a very special, fantastic car - arguably the best BMW has ever produced. If I ever do part with mine, I'll be forever grateful that I had the privilege and pleasure of owning and driving one.
Mercedes makes its cars in Europe with manuals only, essentially. They add in an automatic to placate the rental fleets and taxi users and the like. As a result, it's almost like an aftermarket accessory in their minds - just put something in and ship it out the door, who cares as it's not going to someone who cares or can't afford the maintainance.
They don't re-design the transmissions for export, and so you get a great car with a Chrysler quality automatic stuffed in it(trust me - the designs are still very similar on the automatics).
The only way to avoid this is to buy a manual like 80%+ of Europe does. The problem is, of course, that almost nothing shipped TO the U.S. by Mercedes(or most other makers other than VW) is offered with a manual.
One could do a search on Infiniti transmission problems and find some stuff.
So you think that the Mercedes 7-speed automatic was an afterthought for the rental fleets and taxi's? I don't think so.
Name one domestic car that has a 7-speed transmission.
Well, I'd still have my 318ti Club Sport as well as my 2002A. I also don't really have a daily commute; my annual mileage depends on how many out of county assignments I receive. And when all's said and done, I don't recall the M3 being any less civilized than my Mazdaspeed...
The thing is, I keep reading about how you should get an E30 M3 while they're still relatively cheap- and then there's the incomparable racing heritage. I guess the hook was set back in 1989, when I spent a day lapping Sears Point(Infineon) in a friend's 1989 M3. At any rate, I don't have to decide right away, but I will need to make a call sooner than later.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
The right time to buy is when you find a good one. If you've found "the one," then grab it before it slips away (or give me the guys phone number... :shades: ).
50-60K seems to be as much as you typically get out of a Mercedes automatic, while the manuals last for hundreds of thousands of miles.
The number of speeds and complexity isn't a bragging right if it breaks all the time.
Of course, if you insist on buying any modern car, European or otherwise, with an a complex automatic, then the old adage, "buyer beware" comes to mind.
The threads here (German, Japanese, and Domestic) are filled with people flailing their arms and seeking class action lawsuits because their transmissions failed at 80, 90, or 100K miles. Most of them , I'll venture to say, either bought the car second hand and have no idea of the maintenance history (or lack thereof), or bought their car new, and never thought to flush the tranny).
I say, these days if you really want your transmission to last, row your own gears.
Honda, Infiniti, Acura, BMW, Mercedes all new transmission are between $3500 and $4500. People will buy a remanufactured transmission for thousands less. It's a rare bird that will swing for a new tranny at 100K. I also don't believe it's a normal occurence to have a Mercedes tranny fail at 100K. I'm not saying it never happens, heck I'm saying I'm sure it happens to all manufacturers, but not as a matter of course.
I found this in a typical search:
C, E, and S Class Vehicle $2195.00
1996 and Up $300 Core
Only a 12K/12 month warranty at that price as well. And that's if you buy direct. Your mechanic still has to install it, plus you pay tax and shipping and so on on the thing, plus tax on the install.
$3500-$4K total for a *Rebuilt* one. Just insane.
Here are the warranty terms on the Infiniti transmission:
Our transmission comes with a 1-YEAR UNLIMITED WARRANTY.
You may purchase our 2-YEAR WARRANTY for additional $1013.00.
You may purchase our 3-YEAR WARRANTY for additional $2154.00.
Core deposit: $800
Not any different.
There is one other choice, though. A full manual trans conversion. Even that will run close to $3k, though, and that's with me doing all the labor myself.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Same here! This board has been dead for the longest time then all of a sudden it explodes back to life with off topic chatter about maintenance?? There is a maintenance board, ya know. Maybe there's been a mistake on the server side and the posts are showing up here by accident. :confuse:
The question that keeps being brought up is how do I get a luxury sport sedan that won't give my mechanic a free trip to Hawaii every time I get it worked on?
Manufacturers make warranties to fix cars that have issues. I buy the car I like and let the chips fall where they may. I don't worry about things. That's what lemon laws are for, although I've never needed to use them. The manfacturer who holds the distinction for the most trips to the dealer is Nissan. So needless to say I have no burning desire to own anymore models from them or their luxury brand.
One last thing, if one spends a cool .5 million on a car your logic suggests it would be bullet-proof, since Honda can make a Civic nearly bullet-proof. However, it aint so, is it? Infiniti can't even make a G35 as bullet proof as a Civic. At least a Civic as far as I know has never had a recall to fix an issue that cause cause an engine fire.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
by the way, why is the G35 listed for comparison here, lets update it to the G37; the G37 is a vast improvement over the early model year G35s in almost every regard!!
kdshapiro is right though that you should, when deciding on a luxury car not put too much stock in what people say here or JD Power or any of the other car mags say because in the end you have to do what you want and you'll always get people who had the opposite experience with a company
for instance, kdshapiro had trouble with Nissan and Infiniti, I have had the best luck with those two companies in regards to few problems and the fit/finish and reliability which contradicts what he said; I have several family members and friends who have German cars all who have had extensive problems with some of their BMWs and MBs!
so my point is, you have to take what people say here with a grain of salt and basically talk to people YOU KNOW who have cars or car manufactures your looking into possibly getting and then make your own decisions what you want to do; really, any car this day, as kdshapiro pointed out is a gamble and that is why we have lemon laws and hopefully new recall laws to enable people who have problem with their cars to either get rid of them or get them fixed!!!
I discount the FOR comments made by most on these forums because they are "all about me" -- that is, one person, once or twice had a problem and somehow it is, according to their post, "proof positive" that "fill in the name of the car or brand here" is expensive or unreliable or will crap out after about 100K miles.
If you want to talk to someone who you ought to listen to it really should be me, however. You see, since the 1970's, my wife and I, combined, added together, that is, have had 29 Audis, 3 VW's and 3 BMW's. If I were to tell you Audis are bullet proof (and this is for exposition only) and one or two other folks who may have had one or two Audis tell you they are junk, well, "it's all about me. . ." I know, I am not reporting what I have heard or read, I have lived with nearly 30 Audis and overall, have lived with 35 German cars, 32 of them from, the same family tree. :P
Buy or lease the car that you like -- for whatever reason. Don't listen to those who post their anecdotes about that one Volvo they had that nearly bankrupted them back in the 60's or 70's or 80's or whatever.
Just listen to me. That's all you need. Me. I'll say it again, "me!" :surprise:
I crack myself up.
This is, after all, supposed to be both informative AND entertaining! Kwitcherbitchin'!
It surely is. The only thing is, however, you probably have no data to compare with the Japanese makes. :P
What will I buy next ? Maybe another Skoda. Audi components, Audi quality at bargain-basement prices.
I always enjoy reading your posts.
I recall reading your posts a long time ago - during ‘the A8 brake rotor thing’.
The amount of time spent in dealer visits alone stood out to me – since I just do not typically have the flexibility in my work schedule to deal with such repeated car related repair issues.
And I recall distinctly thinking at the time:
“If this sort of thing happened to me, it would absolutely be the last Audi I ever drove.”
Or at least the last one I even looked at seriously – for a long while.
Although my recollection is that the dealer certainly did ‘work with you’ on this issue, the fact that a quick and final ‘fix’ was not available from Audi in a timely manner certainly would have soured me on the brand.
- Ray
Thinking brakes that work reliably ought to be a really high priority . .
But, out of 29 Audis, well, it is like watching the Exorcist 128 times in a row, "It just keeps gettin' better every time!"
Seriously, my 2009 A4 Prestige 2.0T with Sport and ADS and every damn thing they offer 'cept AutomaticCruiseControl, has been as flawless as I could imagine any car ever being. My wife's current 2008 BMW X3, likewise, is flawless.
Now, my '09 Audi has been in for three oil changes, two new sets of tires (not the car's fault, the Ohio Dept of Road lack of maintence Department's fault) one chrome trim staining issue and right after I got it two new front end control arms.
During these visits, I was loaned for the 1/2 to day and a half time it took for these items to be taken care of, a Q7, A6, A4 and a 2010 loaded Q5. My dealer is on the way to and from work and other than the issue itself, none of my experiences deter me (so far) from buying Audis. I turned in my 2005 A6 with about 60K on it and it felt "virtually" unchanged from the day I got it.
And, it is true, don't ask me to opine on the Japanese or Korean or American cars. I have test driven lots of them; and/but they all seem "nice" -- I guess I'm just not into nice. But, don't get me started on that new Buick LaCrosse, now that is a comer, I'll tell you what.
But, if you want to know the great, good, fair, poor, bad and ugly about Audi's, I really am a walking encyclopedia of the brand since model year 1978. But, I haven't actually, yet, ever driven an R8 or any of the other R cars. Heck the S cars seem plenty, "plenty" to me.
- Ray
S4 S Tronic on my 'short list' . . .
I think it was a 2010 S4 S Tronic, Premium Plus, black gloss paint and sat nav, nothing else.
It was under $47K.
And the MPG's on it were about the same as my 4cylinder turbo.
Now THAT's an entry-level-Luxury PERFORMANCE Sedan. Nothing else even comes close to that level of performance AND lux (in this class at this price).
But of course, for me, I'd HAVE to have Audi Sport Differential (torque vectoring) AND Audi Drive select, which would easily add over $4K.
Hmm, maybe I could sacrifice torque vectoring, after all it IS R biased AWD these days, eh?
This time, however, you might at least test drive the S4 and the 335 back to back, considering this one time Audi's S4 did win the C&D comparo over the Bimmer.
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/09q4/2010_audi_s4_vs._2009_bmw_3- 35i-comparison_tests
Just a thought.
"2010 Audi S4 Sedan Audi Drive Select Package
Audi drive select offers up to 27 distinct driving configurations, which provide a balance between performance and comfort driving."
[ Edit: and "Sport Rear Differential, which dynamically varies torque between the rear wheels." ]
27?
Related to Sybil Dorsett?
- Ray
Need to try this out.......
It is, however, an amazing piece of technology. Good luck finding a car to test drive that has this option.
Mine is the only one I've ever seen that has it PLUS the 19' sport package.
Thanks for all the help!!!
'07 Audi S6 with 34K, three year old, certified with audi care, has brand new set of winter snows and rims, white with black interior, with carbon fiber inlays, tech pkg., and warm package(rare, it replaces the glass moonroof with solar panels that operate fans to change the air in the car when its parked.
the only options it doesn't have are adaptive cruise(regular cruise will b ok, wont use it much any way), driver side leather dash(nice but oh well), and the silver optioned head liner(this I'd like and may look into), also will need the i pod interface installed(expensive, any ideas?, hear $1k, from one dealer, $2K from another, but i will get it factory oem.
Car was sold and serviced buy selling dealer, who also capped my shipping costs at $500. 25 year audi salesman, previous owner trade it and an older porsche for a new S5 cab, my other dream car. Also getting 1.9% from audi for 24 months!
Pretty psyched!, will give price details later, may purchase the cpo audi care which covers additional 2 services. Any other ideas?? This is a beast of a car!
lexusguy was right, more S6s than 4.2, and only $1-2K more than the '08 4.2!
THANK U!
Replies to this message:
are the top 2 spots on my 'short list'...
Today.
- Ray
A week in Europe w/Daughter & a new car - yum
Does this mean that Audi finally started offering European delivery, as BMW & Merc have for years?
are not nearly as well versed in the program -
and the savings seem unlikely to be as great as
with the BMW program - at least compared to deals I have seen
for the other current 3s.
We shall see.
Link:
http://www.audiusa.com/us/brand/en/exp/audi_culture.html#source=http://www.audiu- sa.com/us/brand/en/exp/audi_culture/european_delivery.html&container=page