10 used car clunkers to avoid/By Forbes.com

[TiAgX5]

Originally Posted by theblue

I had a beat 91 CRX Si that I got for a $1000 as my winter beater when I have my Lancer Evolution. It had 140k on it and ran great for the couple years I had it. I replaced the shocks because they were so cheap and easy to do.

Loved that car, wish I never sold it. what a go cart.

I currently have 3 BMWs and while non have stranded me on the side of the road, they all are always need something no matter how much I do. It's just comes with owning expensive cars as they get old.

Did they fix the 2nd gear synchro issue by the '91 model year? After proper break in the 1-2 shift would grind if done swiftly on mine, hated that. I've driven dozens of 3 pedal BMW and never beat the synchro while going into 2nd gear.

I ordered my 1.5 5 spd in red with black interior before Honda had even produced the first one for the US, paid sticker for the car and options without a test drive or even seeing it in person. Dealers put $2000 markups on the 1.5 manuals once they realized the massive demand here, the dealer proceeded to deliver cars to those who paid the markup while I had a signed purchase aggreement that predated the markup buyers contracts and I called them on it. I was told my car was ready for delivery and went to the dealer only to be handed the key to a blue on powder blue 1.3 auto CRX, told them that is not my car and was told the salesperson that did my contract made a mistake and I needed to give them another $2000 if I wanted my contract car. A call to Manmouth Honda from my lawyer finally got me the car I signed the contract for, after almost 2 months of later buyers receiving their cars. I will NEVER set foot in another Honda Showroom after the BS they put me through!

[theblue]

that sounds like a proper nightmare, but I'd blame the dealer and not honda on that one.

no gearbox pop out issues on mine.

[fraserp]

Ok back to X5's--- i am a little surprise that BMW has not cleared up the problems of the earlier X'es. I will have to admit that an expensive luxury car will be expensive to maintain but to be classed as one of the worst in quality, and reliability in the same sentense is a bit daunting. I still love my X and it has been (fairly) good to me so far. I would still buy another one (E53 my preference) over a expedition, navigator, tahoe, cherokee, armada, Qx56, ect., which are not mentioned in the top 10 but some are 10 times worst than the X'es. --- just my 2cents

[theblue]

a lot of the issue just come from normal wear. Things like all the bushings going can't really be fixed.

[TiAgX5]

Originally Posted by theblue

that sounds like a proper nightmare, but I'd blame the dealer and not honda on that one.

no gearbox pop out issues on mine.

I blame Honda because Manmouth Honda was a 5 star rated dealer for Honda sales and service from Honda North America, they obviously had no oversight of dealers to give that place a 5 star rating. I also hold them responsible for manufacturing/build details that leave DIYers and service techs bloody and scratched up due to all the sharp edges.

[fraserp]

well i agree with normal wear on certain things but consider this -- door handle carrier, window regulator, expansion tank, oil seperator, pano-roof, when you compare the BMW to other expensive and lesser automobiles, this is a disgrace. I still love my X. My sister has a 2001 Lexus RX300 -NO problems except for normal wear. she will not sell it. she loves my X and I still love my X.

[TwinTurboGTR]

i love my X5, during all my years of ownership, only had to replace one door carrier. 3 window regs, and expansion tank. Everything else is maintenance stuff, so really the stuff that failed that really shouldn't has been minimal.

[cfmistry]

Originally Posted by fraserp

well i agree with normal wear on certain things but consider this -- door handle carrier, window regulator, expansion tank, oil seperator, pano-roof, when you compare the BMW to other expensive and lesser automobiles, this is a disgrace. I still love my X. My sister has a 2001 Lexus RX300 -NO problems except for normal wear. she will not sell it. she loves my X and I still love my X.

Couldn't agree more, and I love my X to death. Nothing else I've driven compares, except a Cayenne. But by most people's standards the X5 a POS in terms of reliability. The items you mentioned above are considered common and routine for most of us on this forum (not to mention valve cover gaskets, valley pan gaskets, TRANSMISSIONS, etc).

Many of you have mentioned anecdotal evidence of Hondas, Toyotas etc. that have crapped out on you. But truth be told, the quality reports speak for themselves. And even when those cars did have problems I assure you the cost was nowhere near that of an X5 transmission replacement or valley pan gasket that occurs routinely by 150k miles. You absolutely cannot compare X5 reliability to Highlander or 4Runner reliability, the same way you would not compare their powertrains. But even if you compare the X5 to, say, an ML500 or Range Rover Sport, the long-term reliability falls short. As evidenced by this article.

[TwinsPoppa]

Okay, we know where this thread is going.

However, I feel the need to point out certain things.

1) Someone mentioned the BMW X5 being 1st on the list. Yes but that does NOT mean they are the WORST of all on the list. They just happen to be mentioned first. Those vehicles are not listed in any order. I think people read the OPs statement and assumed the rest.

2) They are only talking about 2008-2009 vehicles including the X5s - not E53s.

Facts are facts. Even though there were many variables taken into account, not just reliability, the 2008-2009 X5s made their list of ten in that article. It did NOT state they were the TOP TEN WORST of all vehicles.

Let's just not paint ALL X5s with the same brush.

The article states "While we’ve included used cars to avoid in most market segments, we came down especially hard this year on under-performing luxury vehicles. Not only have used luxury-car prices skyrocketed by about 22 percent from 2009-2011 according to the NADA Used Car Guide, but the cost of replacement parts and labor tend to be considerably higher than with similar models from mainstream brands (after all, there’s a reason that BMW and Mercedes-Benz dealers can treat their customers to posh service-department waiting rooms and the latest models as loaner cars).