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And yet all my BMWs have had 100k + on them and are pretty decent, robust cars. My current daily driver 7 series has 162k on it and has been flawless for the year and 12k miles I've had it.
Not knocking BMW's, but . . .
FWIW, I have driven Hondas to over 300k miles (highway 70% + city 30%) with only axle replacements aside from recommended maintenance. I know of Mitsubishis that have lasted as long.
Location: San Ramon, Seattle, Anchorage, Reykjavik
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HouseBuilder328
Correct. I posted this on another topic:
This is one reason that German cars have a reputation of being unreliable. They have technology that push the limits of mechanics at that particular point in time. Most people buy a car for $50k and then they approach the 60k maintenance that will cost them over $1000, if not close to $2000. Since these people might trade their German car before 100k miles or so, what's the point of spending that money on constant maintenance?
So you sell your $50k car at 90k miles without proper maintenance already skipped, to some kid who wants to look rich for $15k. Said kid barely has the money to pay for the car, let alone get maintenance done. Any money he has will go to aftermarket rims and a stereo system, and the skipped maintenance cycle continues.
This process repeats itself several times and in the end you have someone who buys a used BMW/Mercedes/Audi for $5k with and deals with all kinds of engine trouble, OEM rubber parts crumbling to pieces, interior trim coming off -on top of that having to listen to a smug coworker tell him how their beige Corolla has never given them any trouble with only basic oil changes.
Now if 1 or 2 people had owned this German car and did all of the maintenance that was required and not skip out on everything, you will most likely have a German car that made it to 200k with maybe minimal to average number of headaches.
I wish that for true for the Audis that I have had. I maintain things as they should be but they still have major failures. Shifted to Lexus and never looked back.
FWIW, I have driven Hondas to over 300k miles (highway 70% + city 30%) with only axle replacements aside from recommended maintenance. I know of Mitsubishis that have lasted as long.
I am bmw fan I joining Audi world soon once 2013 Audi a6 price go down or 2015
FWIW, I have driven Hondas to over 300k miles (highway 70% + city 30%) with only axle replacements aside from recommended maintenance. I know of Mitsubishis that have lasted as long.
And I know of 7 series that have gone that far, as well. our last E46 3 series (a 2002 yea) had over 250k on it when we sold it and it had needed a $50 water pump and a couple rear wheel bearings in all that time. And of course, Mercedes with over a million miles on them are not unheard of.
I hope to keep my current BMW well past 250k, as well, with proper maintenance. As I said, I got it at 150k and it's only needed an oil change since I first got it ready for inspection (replaced age cracked brake hoses that can happen to any 15 year old car) and has taken a number of road trips in the year+ I've had it.
Any car can last a long time if an owner actually cares about it.
The 2003 Audi A4 (1.8T) I had was a nightmare. It has caused me to steer so far clear of them that I no longer even notice if there are any on the road.
Between 80-115k miles it spent more time on jackstands than it did on pavement. Electrical gremlins, cheap plastic components that got brittle and broke in the engine bay, etc....
Between 80k-115k the following happened:
Replaced all 4 window motors (twice)
Engine sludged up (despite proper on time maintenance with receipts from new) and had to be cleaned out while I had the timing belt replaced
Coil pack wiring harness melted
Vacuum fittings dry rotted and cracked
Coolant flange dry rotted and cracked
Oil dipstick tube dry rotted and broke off
Sunroof switch malfunctioned and would open the sunroof when you hit a bump (and once in a car wash.....)
Rear tail light shorted out and the harness melted
Message center stopped working when it was hot outside
All the buttons had the paint worn off. You couldn't see what you were pressing
Arm rest latch broke
Sun visor clips snapped off
drain plugs in the battery box on the firewall clogged and dumped water into the floorboard
Clearcoat peeled off (despite twice a year waxing with a spray wax every time it got washed)
Maybe their reliability has changed, but it would take an act of Congress to make me even consider another one.
I still rember the 19998-2001 Second Gen VW/Audi B5 chassis Audi S4 quattro outside of the VW Sirocco and VW Corrodo VR6 it was stunning back in the late 90's early 00's same with the E36 S52/S54 BMW M coupe
I am assuming Cash for clunkers as he main reason there are not any on the roads today.
No; only five 1998-01 S4s (actually all 2000-01) were traded in under C4C.
I knew Audis weren't up on the reliability list but never thought they would qualify as a clunker. That said, they must be selling (or leasing) a ton because around here I see as many as BMWs.The A4, which is a glorified Passat, is priced as a 320. Anybody would pass up the 320 for an A4?
The 2003 Audi A4 (1.8T) I had was a nightmare. It has caused me to steer so far clear of them that I no longer even notice if there are any on the road.
Between 80-115k miles it spent more time on jackstands than it did on pavement. Electrical gremlins, cheap plastic components that got brittle and broke in the engine bay, etc....
Between 80k-115k the following happened:
Replaced all 4 window motors (twice)
Engine sludged up (despite proper on time maintenance with receipts from new) and had to be cleaned out while I had the timing belt replaced
Coil pack wiring harness melted
Vacuum fittings dry rotted and cracked
Coolant flange dry rotted and cracked
Oil dipstick tube dry rotted and broke off
Sunroof switch malfunctioned and would open the sunroof when you hit a bump (and once in a car wash.....)
Rear tail light shorted out and the harness melted
Message center stopped working when it was hot outside
All the buttons had the paint worn off. You couldn't see what you were pressing
Arm rest latch broke
Sun visor clips snapped off
drain plugs in the battery box on the firewall clogged and dumped water into the floorboard
Clearcoat peeled off (despite twice a year waxing with a spray wax every time it got washed)
Maybe their reliability has changed, but it would take an act of Congress to make me even consider another one.
I'm kind of wondering where this car was parked for a decade. My cars winter outdoors in Vermont and on the coast seeing salt water all summer. I have to dump them at 8 years. They look perfect. I have friends and acquaintances ask about buying them. Absolutely not. You don't want to deal with the weather and salt-related failure problems that are about to happen to the car. I'm sure the next owner ends up with something that looks like the above list of horrors. Electronics fail from repeated exposure to extreme heat and extreme cold temperature cycling. Road salt and heat destroy rubber. I don't care if it's a CamCord or an A4. You're going to have those problems.
My indie mechanic used to cringe and yell at me when I dragged in my old body-on-frame SUV for the next problem. Any repair required an air chisel or a torch to remove the part that had failed. Anything rubber failed. Cosmetically, the car looked perfect.
I would be willing, if it fit my needs, to own and maintain a BMW. There are enough independent BMW mechanics, and enough of a cult following, to get a good idea of what you need to do and be able to do it almost reasonably. Would it be more expensive than a beige corolla? Of course, but I believe that there is certainly value in the package for that car, if maintained and if its something you enjoy.
I almost feel the same about some Mercedes...
But Audi? Probably not.
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