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In general yes ... but at the end of it's life the production of some low-volume cars are farmed out, so quality may suffer (Cadillac El Dorado was farmed out ... BUT, not sure if quality suffered or not)
Wasn't the 1991-1997 8 series considered BMW's Flagship model, just discontinued due to low sales? (As to BMW)
God, I hope not: I had a 1997 E39 540i, and those not being the most-reliable car on the road either I was on a first name basis with my BMW independent mechanic. Mike R., still in business I hope.
Old Mike had a lot to say, seeing various BMWs flow through his shop for decades. I tend to listen to these grizzly old timers as they see hundreds of cars and definitely notice trends.
Old Mike's most (and least) favorite was the infamous BMW 850i, the genre you specify. V12 engine, very twitchy, and heaven help you if it needed to be replaced. He claimed these helped put his daughter through college, given all the repairs. He had less to say about the 840, but neither was exactly "high quality".
I think he "liked" my E39, too, given all that went wrong. I got rid of it after 2.5 years of ownership (early 2002 - mid 2004), tactical mistake buying with high-ish mileage, five years old, about the exact time they started to break along with Mercedes sedans of that era.
In Mike's parlance, the 840i and 850i were defeated by low sales (as you mentioned) because they were "horribly surprised" by Lexus and others. JPN sport coupes that blew those things out of the water in terms of reliability. Remember the SC400 and similar? I do, friend of mine in grad school had one, and there was no way any aspect of a BMW 840i had an inch on that Lexus, other than looks. One very seldom broke down, the other...well, how many of the admittedly-gorgeous looking 8-series does one see on the road today?
The Japanese in-general started to get their act together in the 1990s, surprising the Euro car makers with higher performance and quality (everything).
I bought the first year the Durango was completely revamped in 2014. I've been happy with it. Sure, things have died/broken, but that happens with every vehicle. They're mechanical parts and there will always be part failures not to mention things just wear out like brakes.
Some model years could just suck because well the vehicle needs an update. Everyone has a different opinion on what a vehicle sucks means, too. Like to me, a SUV with a shifter on the steering column is way old school and tells me the manufacturer is stuck in 1980....cough cough GM. It was rather comical watching me try to find the shifter when I test drove an Arcadia. I owned a Dodge Journey for 4 years at that point. I also haven't had a vehicle with a shifter on the steering column since the early 90's. Things like that make me wonder what else is incredibly dated technology.
God, I hope not: I had a 1997 E39 540i, and those not being the most-reliable car on the road either I was on a first name basis with my BMW independent mechanic. Mike R., still in business I hope.
Old Mike had a lot to say, seeing various BMWs flow through his shop for decades. I tend to listen to these grizzly old timers as they see hundreds of cars and definitely notice trends.
And yet they only see broken examples, not the tens of thousands of non broken examples, so I always take their musings with a rather large grain of salt. I daily drive a 2001 740i, my second E38 (the first being a '98 740iL) and they've both been quite reliable.
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Old Mike's most (and least) favorite was the infamous BMW 850i, the genre you specify. V12 engine, very twitchy, and heaven help you if it needed to be replaced. He claimed these helped put his daughter through college, given all the repairs. He had less to say about the 840, but neither was exactly "high quality".
And yet I know many with them and the 850 was the better of the two (they didn't have nikasil liners in the M70/M73 V12s, and no VANOS, not timing chain guide issues, etc. Same for the 750 vs the 740. The M73 5.3 liter V12 was more reliable and robust than the M62TU V8). I'd definitely take an 850ci with the available 6 speed manual trans.
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I think he "liked" my E39, too, given all that went wrong. I got rid of it after 2.5 years of ownership (early 2002 - mid 2004), tactical mistake buying with high-ish mileage, five years old, about the exact time they started to break along with Mercedes sedans of that era.
Mine is 16 years old with 170k miles on it. I BOUGHT it with 150k on it. My last one I bought with 140k on it and it was killed at 183k, still in great shape other than the damage that wasn't it's fault.
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.well, how many of the admittedly-gorgeous looking 8-series does one see on the road today?
Quite a few, but then I'm a member of the BMW CCA and see many that show up to meets. And there are 3 850s for sale near me right now. They hare holding their value quite well at this point, since they hit the bottom of their depreciation curve and are starting to go back up in value.
No, the 8 had been in production for many years when it got discontinued, and a new 6 was planned. And now, once again, the 6 is going to be replaced by another 8 series.
Typically speaking, it's best to avoid first year models, but as others have said, sometimes later year models actually lose features in the name of cost cutting.
The 3000GT/Dodge Stealth was a great example of this. The turbo trim models in 1991 came with a twin turbo engine, all wheel drive, all wheel steering, electronic adjustable suspension, active aerodynamics, and even an active exhaust system.
By the time production ended in 1996 for the Stealth, and 1999 for the 3000GT, many of those features had been phased out as the MSRP kept rising.
I think it's a wise move to avoid the first model year, if possible. There's always the chance that one or more new components could fail or malfunction and cause some headaches. By the second model year, most of the significant problems should be corrected.
As for the final year being the best, I haven't found that to be true in most cases. If a model is on the market for five years, it's very possible that years 2-5 will be equally reliable.
When the new Sonata came out in 2011, they suffered all kinds of suspension problems, alignment problems, radio head unit problems, as well as the plastic starter lever that often broke. Those things were corrected for the final year of that bodystyle (2014).
For the 2nd gen Tacoma (V6) I currently own, the first two model years (05-06) often had defective head gaskets. The 2007 and newer models got improved gaskets.
I also used to own a 2004 Chevy Venture, the earlier models (97-03) had the defective intake manifold gaskets, while the last two model years (04-05) got the redesigned gaskets.
So, from my experience the first couple of model years are to be avoided.
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Originally Posted by southernnaturelover
When the new Sonata came out in 2011, they suffered all kinds of suspension problems, alignment problems, radio head unit problems, as well as the plastic starter lever that often broke. Those things were corrected for the final year of that bodystyle (2014).
For the 2nd gen Tacoma (V6) I currently own, the first two model years (05-06) often had defective head gaskets. The 2007 and newer models got improved gaskets.
I also used to own a 2004 Chevy Venture, the earlier models (97-03) had the defective intake manifold gaskets, while the last two model years (04-05) got the redesigned gaskets.
So, from my experience the first couple of model years are to be avoided.
Don't remind me! As part of an insurance claim in my favor, I bought a 2013 Sonata to replace my Kia last year, thing practically steered itself! Decent build quality, just couldn't hold a lane, even after dealer programmed the EPS to sport(heavier steering) and both dealer and an independent shop aligned it perfectly. Traded it in for 2015 Elantra, lost the sunroof and other bells & whistles, but more predictable steering.
I heard 2015+ Sonatas no longer have steering issues, but if only Hyundai just admitted that their first foray into electric power steering was, as our esteemed leader would put it, a disaster! LOL
Given a quality car company and good engineers and production - and the desire for constant improvement...I believe the OP's statement to contact a lot of truth.
My current car is a 2010 VW Passat - German Made. It is close to the final year they made that exact car. I noticed that the reliability and satisfaction charts had increased over the years and many problems were addressed.
As a result, the car has served me well for 7 years (112K so far and runs and looks like new)....
In most cases, I would not buy a brand new car model. There might be exceptions in very high quality (cost) models or others based on well tested platforms.
We once bought a new MB - the C-series in 1994 when it was first coming out in a new model. It was one of the worst cars we ever had. We sold it after replacing the head gasket at 25K miles.
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