Real Talk: Are german whips maintenance really that expensive? BMW VW AUDI HEADS

my fam only owns German cars. it burns holes in all our pockets.
our Audi has a cracked windshield and I gotta go check out how much thats gonna be tomorrow
we spent a little over a g on the BMW just to replace the battery and a month ago spent over $2g's on the tires.

other then that, I LOVE GERMAN CARS. if you can afford to maintain it, then go for it. but if you have to second guess it, chances are you should go with JDM.

That is all.
 
Someone correct me if im wrong but I believe your insurance will cover your crack windshield if you have a certain amount of coverage. Just a little tibit.
 
a couple general rules:

1. Out of warrenty, find a good independent repair shop; DO NOT MESS WITH THE DEALER FOR REPAIRS.
2. The higher the initial sticker price, the higher repair bills you will be looking at. A 745, S-class, or similar technological flagship will run up higherservice costs than a 3 series, A4, etc. Ballers buy them because they can afford it.
3. Maintainance is more important than miles--hold out for something with comprehensive service history.

I had a used MB CLK320 for a few years and only dropped $400-500 yearly for service. I now have an older Land Rover that I had to drop $2500 in service on lastyear. It's some luck and some past service history. It's worth it to me.
Also, I would be weary of the turbo Audis with higher mileage (on original turbos)--replacement would be a huge expense.
 
Originally Posted by Mangudai954

Someone correct me if im wrong but I believe your insurance will cover your crack windshield if you have a certain amount of coverage. Just a little tibit.


I don't think it matters how much damage, any at all the insurance will replace it (at least in our state of Florida)

however, your premiums might go up too.
 
xcrskim, they must've seen you coming from a mile away- no way in hell it costs 1K just to replace a battery. 2K for tires? You know you don't HAVE toget everything through the dealer, right? When I had my car, I spent less than $150 for a battery, and less than $800 for a set of 18" Dunlop SP9000s (atthe time, they were on the high end of Dunlops line)

I owned a '95 318 cabrio from '98 to '07, and it wasn't a bad ownership experience. Bought it with 21K on the odometer, and it had about 84Kwhen it got totalled. A good part of the problems with the car may have had more to do with me being hard on my car than the actual quality (or lack of )of thecar.

Over that time:
-02 sensor failed (covered under warranty)
-passenger airbag failed (car was never in front end collision before)
-window switch failed (the one touch stopped working, so I replaced it) a little over $100
-oil leak due to a gasket cost $250 to fix (dealer actually quoted me $1500)
-5th gear syncro on transmission went, paid $600 for another ****** with 36k on it, plus clutch and labor
-front shock towers blown, cracked. Mainly due to lowered suspension, low profile tires, and crazy potholes.

My girlfriend has a '97 M3 she's owned since '98. Bought w/ 30K, has about 89K on it now.

She's replaced:
-alternator
-transmission cooler (think this is specific to M models)
-AC compressor
plus she currently has a intermittent problem with the windshield wipers stopping at random during rainstorms. Dealer charged $350 to replace a relay, problemstill exists and the dealer wants $700 for a new wiper motor.

IMO, German cars are probably the best cars you can buy as far as driving experience. However, if and when something goes bad, you WILL pay out the %%@!. Bestthing to do is find a good independent repair shop (my shop was charging $80/hr when dealer was hitting for 110, and find businesses that sell OEM or highquality aftermarket parts for lower than dealer prices.
 
Yes. $2k for a set of 19" CSL tires, rims and tires combined.
$1k for the batteries plus regular maintenance, and it was all done at my local spot; i don't go to the dealer... there's a reason we own these nicecars, we ain't stupid.
 
Originally Posted by xcrskim

Yes. $2k for a set of 19" CSL tires, rims and tires combined.
$1k for the batteries plus regular maintenance, and it was all done at my local spot; i don't go to the dealer... there's a reason we own these nice cars, we ain't stupid.

word?
 
xcrskim- that changes everything. Actually, 2K for CSL wheel/tire combo sounds like a pretty good deal.

Just for reference, back in '98 I paid $500 to have scheduled maintainance done by the local dealer before I found an independent shop. My sister took her'94 Honda Accord coupe to the Honda dealer she bought the car from, and they charged her $400.

Maintaining a Japanese car (or any other car for that matter) isn't as inexpensive as people believe, especially if you follow dealer service schedules.
 
One of my homeboys on a diff.message board said this a while back when I questioned 745's.....can anyone vouch for it?

Many peeps don't know about huge recalls and faults in electrical systems on these cars because BMW went thru many silent tactics to keep it all under wraps. There were many quality issues that were handled by BMW to keep peeps quiet about them. Like they were refunded entirely (regardless of miles put on car), and/or were given a brand new car (top of the line model, again regardless of miles driven). The people who agreed to all this were also asked to sign confidentiality contracts. They did this to protect the line from being lemons and were able to resell them at market price while not being responsible for any further warranty repairs. I know first hand because my friends at Platinum Motorsports were some of the first with these cars being customized and had all there customers saying the same story.
 
my slk230 has caused me to consider approaching the used car market for a daily driver. oil leeks, air conditioner failure, hand break being +@+%!@ up.everything is finally in tip top shape now at least.
 
so i guess people weren't lying about german cars having problems...i know my dad used to own a 88 7 series back in the 90's and that thing gave us alot of problems as well. now his acura tl of almost 10 years gave him no trouble and that's why he said he's never going to buy anything but japanesecars.

i drove my friend's 325i before and it was pretty nice. i also drove a 3.2 TT quattro and that was nice as well. but were they so much better than drivinga japanese car that it's worth spending thousands on maintenace more than *** cars? not to me, but i guess to some people it is...

i would only lease a bmw in the future...i wanted to buy a early 2000 3 series but this post is exactly why i never seriously considered it. i would alsorather drive a g35 than a a4 and i don't even like g35's. i don't think the 'driving experience" on entry level german cars are worth theextra money and headache over a *** car. i'm sure it's a diff. story with m3's and higher end cars, but i'm sure they would cost even more tomaintain.
 
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