| Michael-5 said: BMW might be average, but Chevy and Dodge are far below average. My sister owned a 1998 BMW 318i, and she was an agressive driver. We just threw out the car last year at 290,000km. My friends 2002 Impala, with a careful slow parent driver, is dead at 210,000km. My other friend has a Pontiac Montana minivan, and just after spending $3,000 on a new transmission, they are throwing it out with a busted engine at 140,000km. I know actually quite a few American car owners, my parents even used to own a Chevy and a Ford, and I have yet to meet someone with a Chevy with over 230,000km.
BMW's are expesnive to repair, I agree with you there, that's why Subaru has the first 3 votes on my poll, LOL. Yea, while my sisters BMW did last long, when something broke it cost $700-$2,000 to fix, and something broke every year. Benz is better, the old SEC we had only had a broken AC, and a broken exhaust pipe. The exhaust pipe only cost $200 to fix, the AC $2,000, so we just never fixed it. We eventually sold it because the gas was bad, there was a lot of rust, and regular engine work (like new spark plugs, and oil changes) just cost a lot of money because this was a 5.6L V8. It had about 240,000km. Ford I think is okay. One of my friends has a Mustang with 170,000km, and it's running okay. We threw out out Crown Vic at 245,000km, we literally drove it until the engine seized. I think a Ford taken care of can make 250,000km, which isn't bad. I dismissed the Mustang though because I don't like the way it drives, and I'm not crazy about the look. I haven't driven a challenger, but one of my friends was looking at Camaro's and I pushed him to get a Mustang, but we test drove both in the process. The Camaro feels like a low riding truck, the suspension is really soft, the car really leans when you corner hard, and it's so needlessly bulky. The Mustang was A LOT better to drive, but it still feels very heavy, not very nimble. To put in in perspective, I think my FWD sedan handles about as well. --- As for the BRZ, I was actually really surprised at this car. The back seats are surprisingly big, the car is well designed. I had more room in the rear then in the back seat of a Camaro, but the Mustang and BMW 3 coupe series are the biggest in the back, I wouldn't want anyone as tall, or taller then me in the back of a BRZ for long, I'm 5'9. Also the BRZ, while really.....really slow in a straight line, handles amazingly on the corners. Now, let me just say, I took a racing program at Mostport, I have a racing licence, and I've been on a track with an F2000 car before. The BRZ felt a lot like the F2000 car (obviously nowhere nearly as fast, or grippy, but the amount of feedback returned to the driver was similar). What I do for a benchmark for performance, Is I take every car I drive onto a specific butterfly onramp in Toronto (427 S onto QEW E). My car can push it at 70-80km/h, but I know my car. I did it at 80km/h in a Mustang, but I think I could do 90km/hr. My sisters BMW did it at 90km/h, I drove a modern BMW on it at 100km/h, but I think I could do it at 110km/h. The BRZ did it at about 110km/h, but I think I could push it to 120km/h, after that I would need better tires. I think the BRZ handles a little better then a Corvette, but unlike the Corvette, it's so damn slow in a straight line. Still, this car is well designed, I hear that it's got the lowest center of gravity out of any car <$200,000, it's lower then a Corvette, a GT-R, and Porsche too. The back seats fold flat, so I can fit a couple snowboards inside, but it's not split folding seats, so unlike a BMW 3 or a honda civic, I can only have 2 or 4 people in the car, not 3. |
You're LOL'ing at me saying domestic reliability is on par with foreign brands, but the only real lol is that you're using antecdotal evidence to say what lasts longer. I go by market research and publications like Consumer Reports or JD Power. My folks gave me a Dodge Intrepid that lasted past 350k kms, but that doesn't really say anything about expected reliability for someone else. Reliability also varies wildly by model, so an S-Class may be great but an E-Class terible, an Intrepid fine but a Neon a shit box and so on.
I would agree if you were saying past models had poor build quality. The Montana you mentioned being an example. But if you look at brands like Ford or Hyundai - which was once abysmal - new cars that you buy today are quite possibly every bit as good as a Toyota or Honda. Or at least close. Certain brands like Lexus, Lincoln, Buick and Porche stand out while models from Land Rover and some others are quite poor, but most of the mass-market is similar.
More on topic though, are you considering model changes? Since you're a couple years away, the new Mustang will launch with IRS and new look, and the Challenger will also be new. I plan to give them a good look over. Personally, I love the 335 convertible so it's a front runner for me even though like you said, it's about to be replaced by the 435 next year, and I can't/won't afford it completely new right now. I also like the Lexus IS350C. I like the Genesis but don't like the image enough. I'm also debating a used SL-class, but it would require going older than I would like and no back seat is an issue.
If you like small and light I think the BRZ seems like a great fit, or the new 2-series. BRZ's are less pretentous, but they do seem to be cop magnets.
