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Maintenance Cost: Audi or BMW

OgS.MVP

By OgS.MVP
in Off-Topic General

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Magikal Canucks Third-Line

Magikal

Posted
Posted

MEchanical and electrical issues with German cars are definitely not a thing of the past. We get them all the time in our service department or on trade in deals. The North American crush on import vehicles is what is becoming a thing of the past. Domestic companies are now leading the way in technology, safety ratings and sales.

You can say i'm biased because I work for Ford but numbers don't lie and domestic sales have skyrocketed with Ford outselling all brands in Canada for 4 years running.

As for the OP, if you are still in university I would honestly recommend holding off on buying something super expensive and get yourself a reliable commuter car. Also if you are on the island take the day to travel tot he mainland. most dealerships with be a few thousand cheaper than anything on the island.

I would also like to know why you have such a crush for BMW or Audi? Is it a status symbol thing? There are a few options for cars that are less expensive and have greater performance with cheaper maintenance costs.

If you go with BMW be prepared for a $1500 documentation fee on top of any sale price. I can see justifying a few hundred dollars for doc fees but $1500 is BS.

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red&white Junior Prospect

red&white

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One of my business partners has an Audi S5. Nice car, fun to drive and looks great. Unfortunately the thing is a piece of garbage. He has had a lot of electrical problems that have been hard to diagnose and fix. Probably just a one off, but when something can go wrong with these things whether it's under warranty or not it is still a pain to deal with

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Pouria Canucks Second-Line

Pouria

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I can not afford, my parents can.

But I will need to handle the maintenance and everything that comes after.

Do you need a beemer when you are just a university student? Go for a Honda or a Toyota which is maintenance free and uses less gas. Why go for a luxury car when you probably can't afford to maintain it, especially if you don't have a job or working part time. If you want something fun to drive, get a Mitsubishi lancer GTS.

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Offensive Threat Canucks Third-Line

Offensive Threat

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If buying new why would you be worried about maintenance costs? Cars come with warranties and youll be fine for that long at the very least.

P.S. Asking which brand tends to break more is like asking which studio makes good movies or which label makes good albums. break it down to the model you want and look it up.

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thema Canucks Rookie

thema

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Lol at the Ford guy dissing German cars, after driving for about 40 years I will never again drive a North American car. 100 K and they are done like dinner as Tiger used to say.

BMW and Audi are great cars for the first 150 k or so but when they break you had better bring money (this goes for Mercedes as well). There is nothing wrong with V W either especially the diesels which are all but indestructable. Having owned cars made by Chrysler, Triumph, Renault, Peugeot (3 of 'em!), VW, Audi (an old Fox which is really a VW), Fiat (two of 'em, both fantastic), Alfa Romeo (3), Datsun and Toyota I can assure you that there is no set rule for car makes other than the important one of how well has it been looked after and how much does its mechanic like it. When I drove my Italian cars I always tried to find a sympathetic mechanic; anybody who simply stated that "Italian cars are junk" wasn't going to even try to do a good job. Found a South African mechanic who did wonders for peanuts and, lo and behold, my most reliable cars have almost all been Italian.

My current cars are a 1987 Alfa Romeo Milano silver which cost me almost nothing and was a daily driver for over two years (before turning into my "toy" car) with nothing more than a new alternator; it has 170,000 MILES on it and runs like a top despite being so weird (transaxle schema, all aluminum hemi V 6) that nobody near me will touch it to fix it if the motor or tranny goes (both work perfectly so...). My new daily driver is a 1996 VW Passat turbo diesel with 300,000 (!!!) k on it that still runs perfectly and still gets over 40 mpg; it has one or two very minor electrical issues (oil light flickering etc.) and smokes just a bit on startup but it cost all of $1500, a total steal, plus I'm pretty sure you can fit an acoustic bass in it if you put the seats down.

In my considerable experience I will say that: 1) German cars are reliable but expensive to fix 2) Japanese and Korean cars are reliable and expensive to both buy and fix 3) North American made cars are useless garbage once the warranty is done and, surprise, they aren't that cheap to fix either unless they are old enough where you can go to the wrecker where they become super cheap to fix. Cheap to buy though. Brazilian and Mexican made cars (Fiat 500, Chevy Cavalier, most new VW's) are actually pretty good, probably at least as good as the Koreans and getting better every day. Russian cars should all stay in Russia; when Lada licenced the Fiat 124 to build in the USSR the difference in weight between the two was 800 lbs!!! Italian cars have a terrible stigma from the past that suits me fine since I have only paid money for half of the 6 or so that I have owned; they are actually very simple and reliable. French cars are so sexy AND bizarre that you have to be an acid gobbling maniac to ever want to own one. I have owned four...

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Offensive Threat Canucks Third-Line

Offensive Threat

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3) North American made cars are useless garbage once the warranty is done and, surprise, they aren't that cheap to fix either unless they are old enough where you can go to the wrecker where they become super cheap to fix. Cheap to buy though.

Funny how we view a Toyota made in Kentucky or Woodstock Ontario, a Saab built in Ohio, a Honda built in Alliston Ontario, Mercedes built in Alabama as "imports" While a Pontiac built in Australia is a "domestic" vehicle.

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gfyracing Junior Prospect

gfyracing

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I'm a Ford fan and my brother is a Mopar fan so we have lots of debates on cars, he's a mechanic by the way... the type that actually fixes things instead of just changing parts til the check engine light goes out. Each auto company has it's pro's and con's. Imports tend to last longer before needing wear items but they may cost 4 to 5 times as much as a Domestic. Some cars can only be repaired at the Dealer or a specialized mechanic so that usually means extra money and possibly a nice tow truck bill.

I'm surprised nobody brought up mpg as well because with the price of gas it could get expensive just filling the tank.

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KFBR392 Canucks Regular

KFBR392

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I'm sick of people like the OP.

Spoiled brats.

Why blame the op?

If my parents could have afforded a new car for me when I was young, I would have been ecstatic. Everyone would. Don't be mad at him because you weren't given the same luxury.

As for audi vs bmw... I'd personally go audi. But as another poster suggested, check out Lexus and Infinity. Lexus is consistently ranked amongst the top in reliability. They also look great and perform fairly equally to other luxury cars in the category.

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ilduce39 Canucks Franchise Player

ilduce39

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Wasn't sure if I should make my own thread or not, but just thought I'd make it public that I'm currently flip-flopping on buying either an MI-24 Hind or a Boeing AH-64 Apache (used, unfortunately) to fly around my private island and launch rockets and stuff.

Really, cost isn't an issue since I'm purchasing a private military-grade gunship but I'm wondering if it's worth sacrificing the Apache's technical sophistication for the Hind's classic Soviet durability and firepower?

Just thought I'd float that idea out there. Especially to any ladies reading.

I might buy a helicopter.

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Offensive Threat Canucks Third-Line

Offensive Threat

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When I was in Uni I had a succession of crappy cars. Usually in the sub $500 range that I would end up selling to pay for some expense and buy another when the opportunity meshed with having a few hundred bucks again. It was off and on but I usually had a car. I was a bit jealous of the kids whos parents gave them a old used car let alone a new or almost new one. One guy, only one guy I knew got a new car and it was a new Corvette they gave him for gradding highschool and getting into Uvic. I was jealous of that car. A brand new white Corvette.

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OgS.MVP Abbotsford Prospect

OgS.MVP

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Thank you to everyone who gave a meaningful advise.

Not sure why all the hate. Its a present, I didn't ask for it, it was offered to me. I'm only asking because I know people who know much more about cars than I do read this forum. Based on replies, I was not wrong, and I'm thankful to everyone who gave a meaningful reply.

I have test drove Acura TSX and I was impressed. While it is not as beautiful as Audi, it certainly will end up costing less to maintain as some of you pointed out.

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