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tarheel91 on 17 March 2010
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mirgro said:
twesterm said:
mirgro said:
Except the Audie is better than the BMW, as much as I love BMW it's true.

Audi's use to be great, now they're not that good.

The first Audi I ever drove was my parents A6 from the early 90's which was really nice.  I later got an A4 which I loved to death, some moron hit me and totalled that, from the insurance money I actually was able to get an S4 which was fantastic...except for engine troubles and constant little things.  Talking to other people that have recent Audi's (within the last 5-10 years) they all also have constant troubles with theirs and maintenance is a bitch.

I later sold my S4 because gas was just too much and test drove a bunch of the Audi's and, I don't know, I just don't like them anymore.  Instead I went with a Mini Clubman and I love it to death.

That is interesting because I have been hearing the same thing about the recent BMWs, specifiacally the Z series. A co-workers handle actually broke, that cost him $500. All in all any recent purchasers have had to drop $1000-$1500 a year on a Z over the last 3 or so years. Then I noticed a trend, all the cars were not actually manufactured in Germany,  but in Mexico or some place like that. THe ones manufactured in Germany apparently cost a bunch more, but on the flip side they last you forever. Same with the Audis if I had to guess, I only know one person with an A4 and he has been happy, no idea where his was manufactured though.

The newest Z4 (E89) is manufactured in Regensburg, GErmany.  The previous generation Z4 (E85) was manufactured in Spartanburg, South Carolina.  The reason cars from Germany cost more is because you have to pay, not just for the car itself, but also everything associated with importing it (mostly transportation).  It has nothing to do with quality.  Do you really think BMW would let cars go out if they thought they were inferior to all the other cars they made?  Try again.

If you don't believe me, check out the X3's story.  It's currently built in Germany, but the next generation one is going to be built in Spartanburg.  Why?  It's largely a product for North America, and because the X3 has to be imported, it's priced nearly equivalently to the X5 which is built in Spartanburg.

This is a video game sales site, so I'm sure you've heard it before: the plural of anecdote is not data.  A few second hand experiences don't make BMWs any more reliable or unreliable than any other luxury brand.