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I'm at 4 years & counting with my current bmw. Must sound like heresy here, but I sort of bond with cars I really like/are not giving me problems (knock wood). You know, the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" theory.
Also I'm still doing penance for some of my previous splurging over the past 15 years. In backwards order (pre-my current 5-series): '98 Range Rover (you want to talk depreciation? & repairs? Still, I miss it), E24 bmw M6 (still can't believe I sold it; long story, owned for 10 years), Saab (pre GM) Turbo (I loved pre-GM Saabs, owned it for 10 years), & before that, for 6 mo., a Passat (Yech).
The $10K I spent in repairs & depreciation on the RR owning it for a year was by far the worst record of the bunch; & definitely gave me a "more conservative attitude" towards car buying......
My last car purchase was 6 months ago but was terribly unsatisfying since it was for my daughter. I rode in the ION this past weekend and noticed that she only has 3500 miles on it. I suppose the good news is that when the car is paid off she'll only have 35K on the clock (assuming she averages 7K a year).
but I sort of bond with cars I really like/are not giving me problems (knock wood). You know, the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" theory.
Funny, that's how I'm feeling about the L300. We've owned it four years now and with only a couple of exceptions (brakes, BCM) it's been remarkably trouble free. Can't see trading it in on anything else at the moment, especially with only another year's worth of payments to go. It will probably turn 55K on this tank of gas.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Oh yeah, I said ES330...it's an ES350, the new style.
LOL, I bet that was a odd experience
Rocky
I'm glad to have my car back...bigger windows and actual feedback when I make a move. I also don't have to move my head under the sunroof to get some headroom.
Rocky
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Does the '07 have a better motor than the '06 I5 or was the Colorado to powerful and efficient for you?
The engine in the 07 has been bumped up to 3.7 liters. It now has 242 horsepower. Definitely not fast, but I got a manual transmission, so it feels just about the same as the Envoy. Good thing I'm not looking to race anybody.
I "rented" my car out to my co-worker during the week, and when it was returned, the car had no power steering at all.
My mechanic had a quick look and added some power steering fluid, which got rid of my noise, but this morning I saw the driveway being all rainbowy, so I figured some of the fluid leaked out.
I'll have it checked out after Christmas.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
If it is a seal failure, it will be several hundred, but maybe under a thousand.
I'd never let a coworker rent ou my car! I am sometimes uneasy having them ride in my car!
Not a problem with me. To me it's just a car, that's why I let my fiancee drive it a bit too.
As for the steering, I hope it's something small too. Don't feel like shelling out $1000 to replace a power steering pump or something.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
I had to have the steering box in the fintail resealed several years ago. The whole job was like $350 at an independent shop. I know that doesn't really relate to a car that is 40 years newer, but I can't imagine it being tons different. Have you found a good mechanic for it yet? Knowing a good specialist can be the key to running one of these cars affordably. The dealer will charge highway robbery prices....larger jobs can literally be 50% cheaper at an independent, and the work is often even better.
You're not the only one, lol. I don't like to let even my husband drive my truck. The kids get read the rules before they get in the truck, course that stems from the time I found gum on the leather seat of the Titan. I told them if they do that in the Ram they will be riding in the back of the truck!
A friend of hubby's has an 06 F-350 Lariat, fully loaded, was a beautiful truck until his kids got in it. Now the back seat has marker and crayon all over it, coffee/soda spilled on the carpet, its just trashed. I think the truck has about 15k on it and is a year old. I think he said he financed $51k on it (full msrp) and his kids have aided in its rapid depreciation. His wife had a 2000 Mercedes E-class wagon 4Matic, was a nice car but the kids destroyed it, it had big scratches and scrapes from them hitting it with their toys and such, interior was trashed. She traded it recently for a Kia Rio.....go figure, lol. :sick:
I would disown my children if they did things like that! My daughter helped order my truck and since she wanted black she now helps wash it too!
I dread thinking what my truck will look like when we get back from Washington after driving 5200 miles round trip. *shudder* Gonna take me a week to get it clean again, poor thing.
Around the time I was born my mother bought a car she really liked, a new white-on-white T-bird. With a couple of kids, the car was very well worn when she got rid of it ca. 1983. I cringe at the thought of kids in my cars.
He knows European cars very well as he worked on them back in Poland, and he drives a mid 90s 5 series wagon and a 96 E320.
And since I get half price on labour, and can get him to do almost any repair, it works out for me quite well as I can leave the car here while I'm working, and go into the shop when it's up on the hoist and have a look for myself.
And as much as I like cars, I don't mind sharing them with others. I'm probably more possesive of with my brochure and magazines collection.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Now I don't even have my own car. In the past two or so years I have had like 50 or 60 demos. Some just for a day or so and some for a few weeks or months.
It looks like for now I am stuck with my current deme though as I can't sell it. Before I would get a new demo whenver I sold my old one and I was rolling out of cars on a regular basis. I can't sell this one cause it has too many miles so I just got to drive it till it pops.
Not really true, my kids have learned to respect my truck and they know there will be hell to pay if they don't. I'm training them to be as obsessive as I am, lol.
I had a friend get in my truck a couple weeks ago, he was riding in the back seat, first thing out of his mouth was "your kids don't get to ride in here do they?" I said sure they do, all the time. He was impressed by how clean the truck is.
I take excellent care of my truck, even the Titan after 56k miles and 2 trips across the US it was still in really good shape on the inside. Exterior I don't have much control over, rock chips, scrapes, stuff that other people do to it, well, that just happens.
My black Ram right now has 4 rock chips on the hood, a chip in the windshield, and a lovely broken foglight, all thanks to DOT's obsession with putting rocks down on the hwy in the winter. Not to mention a few scratches thanks to some darn ravens that seem to have a thing against my truck, drives me nuts too, especially when they feel the need to poop on it. I wash it regularly, then add in a clay bar treatment and wax a few times a year, 'bout the best I can do for a black truck. I also removed the factory floor mats and put them in my closet, I have a full set of Husky Liners, MUCH better to keep junk off the light grey carpet.
No animals in my truck either, can't imagine what a dog would do to light grey leather........ :surprise: .
I don't even know anyone personally here who would want to borrow any of my literature. When I bring a vintage magazine to work to read, they look at me like I am crazy
What's the current demo?
2001 Subaru Forrester.
Its not so bad fairly comfortable good on gas and holds lots of stuff.
More importantly it can get to my house in snow because of the AWD. No 2wd car is going to get up my driveway in the snow.
Earlier this week I picked up one of my clients Supercharged Range Rover from his farm in NY so I left my subaru at his place and drove the Range Rover back.
While they were working on his Range Rover I drove an Acura TSX for a couple of days which was nice. Then I drove his Supercharged range Rover home one night so I would have a shorter trip to his farm.
He only lives about 45 minutes from my house but he is almost an hour and a half from the dealership.
I wonder what I could demo as a MB dealer...not that I would want to be one here, the franchise in my area doen't give me any warm feelings.
2001 Subaru Forrester.
Not sure how to break this to you, but here goes. That's not a demo, it's a previously cherished automobile.
By the time we get back my nearly 6 month old truck will have 17k+ miles on it. Its got just over 12k on it now.
I did ask for it though as the Discovery I was driving could not fit in my new garage since it is about 7 feet tall. Also when I only lived five minutes from work I didn't mind the 13 mpg but now that I live 30-40 minutes from work 13 mpg was not going to cut it.
My ex-live-in-G/F & her Psychotic Cat proceeded to destroy my house, nice furniture, etc. as soon as they moved in. I mean seriously, urine on new places every day or 2, scratches on furniture, etc. Oh, & Poop in the Attic (Sounds like the name of a new rock group). It was an un-winnable argument (for me), & guess who the jerk was, for wanting to have a normal household?
Fortunately, neither she, nor her cat, destroyed either of my nice cars.
The people with kid-destroyed 06 F-350 Lariats & M-B wagons.....I grew up as a kid in the (19) 50's & 60's......that sort of thing would have lasted about 30 seconds with my parents or grandparents.....
Just curious, good luck with The Leak.
My ex-live-in-G/F & her Psychotic Cat proceeded to destroy my house, nice furniture, etc. as soon as they moved in. I mean seriously, urine on new places every day or 2, scratches on furniture, etc. Oh, & Poop in the Attic (Sounds like the name of a new rock group). It was an un-winnable argument (for me), & guess who the jerk was, for wanting to have a normal household?
Fortunately, neither she, nor her cat, destroyed either of my nice cars.
The people with kid-destroyed 06 F-350 Lariats & M-B wagons.....I grew up as a kid in the (19) 50's & 60's......that sort of thing would have lasted about 30 seconds with my parents or grandparents.....
If my cats did that my husband would hang them. I have 3 cats and if you don't see them you certainly don't know they are here. My son keeps the cats' litter boxes very clean.
As for kids destroying vehicles, my parents never cared if we trashed a car. Then again they drove 20+ year old vehicles that were already on the way to the junkyard.
I wouldn't put up with my kids doing damage to a vehicle for a second and they know that. They also know that nobody cares what goes on with the 97 Ford since its beyond help as far as cleaning it up. Its so bad that when the dog threw up in it I just laughed, lol.
Wow, someone who drives more than me!! Actually I haven't been driving as much as I usually do, plus we have 2 6 month old Rams, so the mileage gets split between them. Right now mine has 12k on it and hubby's will turn 12k today most likely. So add them up and that's 24k in 6 months, lol. Well, then add in the 5k we've put on the 97 Ford in that time......
The family car had vinyl seats that were easy to wipe up from spills and had kind of disposable seat covers in the summers so our butts didn't burn. I haven't had in issue in my life yet where anything (spouse/child/animal) disrespected my things.
I completely agree. Whenever we are over there I guard my truck like a mother bear, they have come VERY close to clobbering it with toys. I refuse to let them ride in my vehicle, ANY of my vehicles, well, except for maybe the old Ford, kinda hard to hurt that thing.
Our kids are very careful about the vehicles, so much so that my daughter managed to hold out until we got the truck stopped tonight and she could get out and uh, lose dinner. She was so worried about messing up Daddy's truck, lol. :sick:
I am curious about that too. I was doing a google search tonight for a specific Mercedes Benz dealer in my area (but not my local one) and instead of getting the dealer I was looking for, I got a massive consumer complaints page about the C-class cars, including some of the last models of the sport coupe as well as the current sedan. There were just pages and pages of people with problems with their C-class cars, including a number who specifically mentioned trading out of a Honda and praying to their deity of choice to give them a way to go back to Honda and never darken Mercedes' door again. It was a depressing read.
I was looking the other night at a 2000 E320 4Matic wagon, 78K miles, white, advertised by a local dealer (not the MB dealer) for $16K, and I was thinking it might be fun to take it for a whirl. But of course, it would have no warranty at all. Maybe not such a fun whirl, huh? :-/
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Actually I'm an animal lover, esp. w/cats. In my experience 99%+ of cats are very clean, & fastidious about using their litter boxes, etc. But my ex G/F's Psycho Cat I mentioned not only urinated on everything, but attacked the other pets, & actually sent the ex G/F to the emergency room once. Didn't faze her a bit. (Sorry if I'm grossing people out).
Someone mentioned that that cat Was like "something out of a Stephen King novel".....scary.
With that said, I am thoroughly enjoying it and it has definitely slowed down our CCB ways. We have had the Accord for 2 1/2 years with no immediate plans to get rid of it. 53,000 miles and still drives and looks like new.
My current demo is a 03 TL Type-S. Gorgeous car. Pearl White w/ tan leather. NAV. 27k. It has a lot of the accessories like the underbody spoilers, wood-grain accents, and fog lights. If I wanted an automatic sedan this one would be high on my list even though it's the previous body style.
As for the pet issue, we have two cats but you wouldn't know it. They are declawed and they hide from company. They go potty where they are supposed to and aren't destructive. As for the kid issue, our son leaves lots of toys in the car, but he doesn't really eat anything other than french fries in the car so they stay pretty clean.
I am paying double for gas compared to the Civic I had, cause this takes premium gas and it's a V6.
One thing with luxury cars is that it takes a little more money in upkeep to drive them. My Civic was almost new, this one has about 90k miles on it, and even though it's a Benz I have to be prepared that something might go on it.
Case in point the power steering leak that I have now. Yes it's a bit frustrating, but I can deal with it. :sick:
I saw that MB complaints page as well on the internet (looks very much like an official MB web site but it isn't), and I did read some complaints. I can understand some complaints, but others, like burnt out lightbulbs should be non isuues. I had three light bulbs burn out on me so far, but then again there's about 23 light bulbs on the car. I would be a bit choked too if this would be a brand new car, but thankfully I don't think I will ever be upside down on it because I picked it up for so cheap. I'd be more worried if this would be an S Class and I'd be paying $1000/month, AND have problems with it. :lemon:
In addition some of the complaints on some of the pages seem like they're written by the same person. Case in point, one page has complaints about SL500s, and half of the entries in there have horrible grammar and spelling. I don't think anyone who drives such a car would have problems with their english.
If you do a search you can pretty much find similar complaint pages on almost all luxury cars including BMWs and Jags. It's hard to find a prefect trouble free unique car nowadays unless you want to drive appliances like Toyotas or Hondas (well Hondas are more fun appliances).
Driving a Benz is like having a high maintenance girlfriend. She may look hot, and turn heads, but leave you paying along the way. :shades:
And life is all aboput different experiences, so a little adventure with cars doesn't hurt.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Yeah, my Range Rover was like that. And my E24 bmw, but really only once it got to maybe 10 years old, & then partly because I was having trouble finding a top-notch indie repair shop to replace the suspension, etc.
If they're beautiful, & you dig them/it/her, it can be worth it. At least for a while.....I guess for me, bmw's are what I "know", or think I know, from owning a couple, & reading the Roundel, etc. for many years, so I tend to gravitate to bmw's. The Land Rover Obsession was a bit hard to get over tho, even after owning one that was in the shop a lot. I might be tempted again if I lived really close to a good indie L-R mechanic, owned 2 cars, & felt adventurous.
Anyway, good luck with the Benz! Woody