I would have the vehicle repaired and then get rid of it, never to buy another one like it again. I did junk a car once, but it was 25 years old and not worth getting fixed.
My core objection is to the emotional decision-making inherent in this. It's not rational or dispassionate, and therefore is not grounded in anything resembling objective reality. Cars don't "betray" anyone by a failure occurring. Usually it's something that someone did TO the car. And in the case of the David Long video (I just can't keep calling him Wizard, it's stupid), the customer's Audi was likely the victim of very poor or nonexistent maintenance. That's not a brand failure.
I won't change your mind. Maybe we can agree that of the top 12 reliable brands, most are outright boring (Mini excluded). So better unreliable than boring!
I believe he had been doing the maintenance, so if that's the case, you're assuming he did an inadequate job. I don't feel the same. And no, I will not maintain brand loyalty if a vehicle that is only 11 years old needs an engine. I guess I am too used to much better brands when it comes to low cost of ownership.
Ok, then we have a different definition of fun! All German cars suck, are completely unreliable after warranty expires and one should run away. BMW will soon follow the footsteps of SVB and FRB. Sell sell sell.
I guess my perspective is warped by seeing the outcomes of literally thousands of customer cars in wildly varying degrees of maintenance compliance over a period of years, as the service director of a dealership.
So other than a material defect or timing belt failure with an interference engine, you have seen a piece of a valve break off due to lack of oil changes?
Yes. To be specific, I saw a customer buy a new turbocharged manual transmission car (a 2003 WRX), immediately fail to do a single oil change in 35k miles, and filled the car habitually with 87 octane rather than 93 because they were convinced that "the car would just figure it out" despite their pattern of driving the absolute shit out of the car everywhere they went. They then went out one morning and fired it up (no warm up, just started the engine and go) and went to back down their steep driveway in Neutral. They tried to step on the brake pedal but missed, instead jamming the accelerator to the floor while in neutral, and then utterly panicked and held the accelerator and clutch pedals as hard to the floor as humanly possible while their car rolled down their driveway with no brake application whatsoever, careened all the way across a residential street at significant speed, and smashed into the concrete curb on the other side.
There are of course bad examples with every car. I've had 2 911's, a Boxster, and an i8 Roadster. All were flawless, no issues ever. I would certainly trust the reliably of any of them over a Lotus.
Very true. We may have bad luck.
I know many people who swear the only way to buy a Merc or Bimmer is to buy new so you're 100% covered should any problems arise. I feel the newer Porsche's are more reliable (depending on models). A lot of the 911's (probably late 997.2's and 991+) are considered bullet proof by long time Pcar owners. Obviously, things can and will go wrong will any car, but I don't lose sleep at night over my Pcar. Got an extended warranty should I ever have anything catastrophic happen. We diy the othet stuff.
This is so true. What’s also true for about 8k I could turn my TT into a 9 second car. The car is compromised, like all price point cars, but very few price point cars are this versatile.
And this is what the Car Wizard told the woman who owned the Audi Q5 SUV. I've known quite a few people (BMW owners) over the years who had to spend $6000 on failed transmissions, not too long after they exceeded 100,000 miles. Others were spending big bucks, just after the warranty expired. They do tend to perform well when they are running.
Many owners sell their German vehicles within a few years after the warranty expires. I'd be surprised if your German cars are kept for 10-20 years without any issues. In fact, I'd contact the Guiness book of world records to see if anyone else was so lucky!I have owned German cars pretty much since I could drive. I have never had any issues. Funny my perception has always been German engineering hard to beat and British cars were Junk. Funny part is I’m now buying a Emira and selling my German car. I Guess we will see which perception was correct.
