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Yeah but nothing handles when it’s on the side of the road.
Mine's only been on the side of the road when I intentionally parked there to take pictures of scenery.
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Your cost of ownership is probably in the weeds. I had a 740IL years ago. Got it for free from my boss. His wife absolutely hated it. And it was about 5-6 years old. It always needed something fixed. O2 sensors radiator, constant brake jobs and ate batteries. . And I only had it for less than a year and i got rid of it.
in 5 years of ownership, my '98 740iL (bought at 143k and sold at 185k) needed about $1000 in repairs (did the cooling system once and the water pump twice because the first time I bought cheap Chinese junk). But it never stranded me. My '01 740i is my daily driver and has needed $200 in repairs in just about 3 years of daily driver ownership. It has 176k on it now and is dead nuts reliable. I'd drive it anywhere (and do: it's been down to Florida and up to upstate NY a few times). I'm the founder of midatlantic 7s, a 740i/iL owners' group here in the midatlantic region and I know hundreds of owners with similar stories to mine.
The E38 bodystyle is my favorite BMW and one of my favorite cars ever made. Outstanding handling, agility, and ability in a luxurious, comfortable, stylish package.
Don't get me wrong, Honda and Toyota make some great vehicles, alot of them are the leaders in their class. But I still think their is too much hype, and people come up with almost a mythical reliability for these vehicles. Seems like it fool non-automotive enthusiusts into believeing they are more reliable then you would expect, which fools them into buying them which jacks up the price to a point where its not worth it.
I mean a vehicle is worth what someone pays for it of course, just seems these get jacked up too high. Then again that is just my opinion.
Some other examples of individual models that have inflated prices. Chevy Traverse and associated models. These things still go for $25-30k with 100k miles on them. There are 12 year old suburbans with nearly 200k and they still sell for $7500. 99-04 Grand Cherokees with 150-200k selling for like $5-9k. Rav 4s fit here as well.
I would buy any of those vehicles, but the pricing is just too high for a vehicle with that many miles, don't care about the reliability, a car that hits 100k, is on its way down.
This post is from 2012 but it's my view. Millions of people pay a big brand up-charge for Honda and Toyota "reliability". That's based on their 1990's reliability performance compared to the awful garbage available elsewhere at the time. In 2018, most manufacturers have caught up. A Chevy Cruze is just as likely to give you 150,000 trouble-free miles as a Honda or Toyota, not that I'm a Chevy Cruze fan.
Hyundai? I don't think there's enough long term reliability data on the new ones with a timing chain instead of fragile timing belt to know for sure. They're solid for the first 3 years but the brand reputation comes from how solid they are when they hit beater status at 150,000 miles.
I'm pretty affluent but I don't buy luxury brands. I prefer to squander my discretionary income elsewhere. I don't think any of them are overrated because their value is as a status symbol, not in utility. If you think driving a European luxury sedan or the Japanese/'Murican equivalent gives you status, have at it.
Mazda and Subaru are not on the list. Those would be my picks.
You live in Florida so you likely don't see the value proposition of Subaru.
In New England ski country, Subaru has always been cheap, low cost of ownership 4wd.
I'm 6'2". Subaru had always been off my radar screen because I didn't fit in them. Mom bought her first DL wagon at the Arab oil embargo in 1973. My sister's first one was a 1976. They have a beater Loyale wagon and a new Outback 6-cylinder in the driveway now. I've had a 6-cylinder Outback for 3 years.
The value proposition math on the Outback:
The sweet spot for pricing is the 4-cylinder Premium trim level with EyeSight adaptive cruise control. The street price is about $25K. Four 6'2" adults can fit in it comfortably with ample cargo room behind the back seat. With the rear seat reclined, you have 6 feet of cargo area length. If you live in a place where AWD is valuable, there's really nothing else on the market at that price point.
The 6-cylinder optioned out is about $10K more. It's not quite the same value proposition but the $10K gets you a much better weight to HP ratio with plenty of torque, less engine noise, leather, sun roof, power liftgate, keyless entry/exit & pushbutton start, Nav & better audio. You're still not going to find anything else on the market like that for sub-$35K.
If you want an AWD hatchback econobox, the street price for an Impreza 5 door with Premium trim plus EyeSight adaptive cruise control is $22K and has the normal winter driving features like heated front seats, heated mirrors, and roof rails for a ski/snowboard rack. A stripped one with CVT is $19K. That's an extremely strong value proposition in mountain country.
I vote for all Asian models since there is a way overblown "reliability" perception out there.
Since I owned well over 30 cars, I used to buy in that myth of "reliability" and have had over 15 of these vehicles (Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, etc).
Each of them have been just as "reliable" as American or European counter parts, but much, much worst handling than German cars.
I am at a point in life that I would only buy great handling cars that are fun to drive and have great interiors.
Mercedes C class is a poser car. For people who HAVE to have a Mercedes. Honda isn’t as good as they used to be. Lots of cheapness crept in. Some are quieter. I think the best value is Toyota/Lexus brand.
My reason is they are most bland cars produced (they exemplify "road appliance") and their reliability it is far from stellar in my experience (definitely no justification on how high they keep their price when used).
Most people buy Toyota just for reliability (I cannot see why else) and find out the hard way that their reliability has been greatly exaggerated.
+1, exactly spot on. Here's an example of that wonderful Toyota "reliability" -- premature frame rust on trucks and SUVs:
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