Put a fork in me

[SMOKEY53]

Ouch. But true. 13 recalls in 13 months - at least you've got a warranty though.

Good looking truck. My mate had an SRT, he reckons the needle on the fuel gauge swings almost as fast as the tacho :-p


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[edogg]

If you want reliability, go Japanese.

Also, if you are going to get a new one every 3-4 years, why not just lease?

[Doru]

Every vehicle that passes the warranty point, guess what? That car manufacturer knows why the warranty is good for that amount of time. So if you decide to keep that that particular car, be ready for maintenance.
And even if you do a routine maintenance, if the parts replaced are done with cheaper parts (read CPR made or similar), then expect them to fail rather sooner. I own 3 BMW's, they all attend TLC, and have no issues.
Concerning the alternator, what I have done, is rebuild them - it's not hard, the parts are the fraction of a cost of a new unit, but again, you have to know what bearings to buy - the CPR are weak and will break quickly. usually the brushes/regulator combo goes at the 100k mile mark, which is really easy to change - you don't even need to pull out the alternator on the i6 models (the v8 needs pulled out).
For the cooling system, if one flushes the coolant every 2 years, the rubbers & plastics don't get tainted as quickly.....
There isn't such a thing as a bullet proof car that doesn't need maintenance and will go and go and go, just drive and drive and drive. And the later the date of manufacturing, I think the more problems these cars have. Just think of all the electronic hip gizmos that are out now - in Car & Driver they were talking about that intelligent feature in the new Infinity and they were scared once the vehicle took over: they couldn't brake, they couldn't steer - scary at best. They said the brake pedal gone stiff, same with the steering wheel. I'd rather get a 1600..........

[bcredliner]

Comparing and X5 to a Camry or a Honda is as they say "apples to oranges" If a Camry or a Honda fills your needs there was no reason to ever own an X5.

Obviously, the history of a used vehicle will have a lot to do with the experiences of other owners as is also true of other vehicles that are "comparable".

In a competitive market such as is the manufacture of cars and trucks, manufacturers would destroy themselves if they applied the concept of planned obsolescence. As an example, much of this thread is about what is better or worse based on perceived reliability of the entire universe of a particular vehicle.

Buying new or used vehicles still under warranty cuts the cost of any repairs but those vehicles cost more, there is depreciation or the accumulating cost of payments that must be compared to repairs of a lower cost used vehicle out of warranty. The cost of ownership is the valid comparison. As an example, without considering depreciation or net present value of the money spent on purchase or payments---if you purchase a used vehicle for $20,000 instead of a vehicle under warranty for two years at the cost of $40,000 you can spend up to $20,000 over two years before you are in the hole.

IMO, if any used, out of warranty vehicle costs me $20,000 over two years my mistake is I either didn't do my homework before purchasing that vehicle or I was gambling against what I would have had to pay to minimize my risk. It could well be I didn't have the funds to pay more. I was playing the odds. Its like betting on a horse that is five to one odds verses one that is two to one. I paid less and am hopeful it will be a good decision.

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by PropellerHead

Pay for it new or pay for it in maintenance. You're *GONNA* pay for it!

Originally Posted by bcredliner

The cost of ownership is the valid comparison. As an example, without considering depreciation or net present value of the money spent on purchase or payments---if you purchase a used vehicle for $20,000 instead of a vehicle under warranty for two years at the cost of $40,000 you can spend up to $20,000 over two years before you are in the hole.

IMO, if any used, out of warranty vehicle costs me $20,000 over two years my mistake is I either didn't do my homework before purchasing that vehicle or I was gambling against what I would have had to pay to minimize my risk. It could well be I didn't have the funds to pay more. I was playing the odds. Its like betting on a horse that is five to one odds verses one that is two to one. I paid less and am hopeful it will be a good decision.

+1

Your thoughts got me curious. I am pretty good at financial record keeping- made especially easy with mint.com. So I ran a query on the trusted Indy payments registered since I got the 4.8is. Some of these *might* be the supercharged 540, but the lion's share is preventative and some necessary maintenance. The total across 4 YEARS and ~52k miles (wow, has it been that long?): (drum roll)

Right about $12,500. Or about $255/month.

This does not include tires, mods or detailing supplies. I couldn't be happier with my second E53.

[Ricky Bobby]

^Thats a great investment in a vehicle considering a new Camry is going to be 30k financed or probably around $475 a month

[admranger]

I'll replace my X5 when I find a sport ute that drives as nice for what it costs to keep my X5 on the road in DIY repairs (or I get tired of fixing it, or I win the lottery...).

[SMOKEY53]

I think OP got sick of the inconvenience of an unreliable car, which for some people, can't be quantified in maintenance dollars alone.

For example, if you rely on your car to get you to business meetings or to drive clients around in and it lets you down, makes you miss the meeting or leaves you and your clients stranded on the side of a road, well that's a risk for potentially high opportunity cost - not only do you have to pay to fix the car, you may also lose the business you would have won had you not been let down by an unreliable car.

I can appreciate wanting to get into something newer if that were the case.

[admranger]

Originally Posted by SMOKEY53

I think OP got sick of the inconvenience of an unreliable car, which for some people, can't be quantified in maintenance dollars alone.

For example, if you rely on your car to get you to business meetings or to drive clients around in and it lets you down, makes you miss the meeting or leaves you and your clients stranded on the side of a road, well that's a risk for potentially high opportunity cost - not only do you have to pay to fix the car, you may also lose the business you would have won had you not been let down by an unreliable car.

I can appreciate wanting to get into something newer if that were the case.

Understood. They can be made much more reliable by an aggressive maintenance schedule though... All of the issues are known and preventative maintenance can help preclude getting stranded. I can, and have, been stranded by my M3 due to a valve stem that got cut down. It happens.

[motordavid]

Well wrote, Smokey53...
I was very fortunate to drive around in company cars for 28 of the ~30 years in my career.

Besides a considerable cost savings over those nearly 3 decades vs having to buy, insure, maintain and repair a personal car, a new one showed up every 3 yrs or so, like a lease.

If I had to work today, I would not be making calls or hauling azz to the airports at 6:00 AM in my older X.
GL, mD