Wife and I just got a new car

[RussSchultz]

Sage, the SLK350 is an interesting car to lookat but it does seem a bit overpriced for what it is. You'd be better of getting a Lexus or something else.

an american-built car!? you've got top be nuts! why would anyone choose an american over a German car if they can afford either?


....here's to hoping I don't loose my job today

A lexus is japanese built.

And Mercedes don't have a terribly good reputation when it comes to maintenance.

 

[Sage]

A lexus is japanese built.

And Mercedes don't have a terribly good reputation when it comes to maintenance.

they are? oh.

and Mercede's dont have good maintenance rep??? ehh??? I thought Mercedes and BMW's last forever... well, if you take care of them. Can you say 1,000,000 miles? Have I been mislead???

 

[PatrickL]

I would like a viper, built by a japanese company.

 

[nelg]

an american-built car!? you've got top be nuts! why would anyone choose an american over a German car if they can afford either?

Somebody forgot to tell my wife's Volkswagen that it was supposed to better than an American car.

 

[McElvis]

Older Merc's have great reliability and tend to run on forever. Once they merged with DaimlerChrysler though, reliability and build quality dropped like a stone...

 

[Sage]

Older Merc's have great reliability and tend to run on forever. Once they merged with DaimlerChrysler though, reliability and build quality dropped like a stone...

they merged with Chrysler???? ok that sucks!

what year was that? what year should I be looking for in a Mercedes then? or should i just go with a Bimmer instead?

 

[Sonic]

Go with BMW. At least you can get a manual if you choose to do so. You also need to understand that Mercedes doesn't have great reliability and neither does BMW, but at least BMW's have a manual damnit!

I think Chrysler and Daimler-Benz merged in 1998, I might be off a year or two but what does it matter? SOme of Chrysler's new cars are looking good such as the gas guzzling 300C. To each their own.

Lexus is the luxury division of Toyota so you know the reliabilty is in there hands down. I know most Toyotas are built in the US but I am not sure if the LExus cars are also built in the US. But it's the Toyota reliability you are getting.

Audi is also an option if you want an upscale car. They are owned by VW (or vice-versa) and make some very nice cars. The reliability is always iffy as is with almost every expensive German car but it might not be too bad.

Let me ask you a question. What exactly are you lookinf for in a new car? Style, looks, performance, comfort, luxury, reliability? All of it?

 

[Saem]

With BMW there is no point in getting a manual, with their SMG, the shifts are faster than a human and it doesn't have the performance loss that automatics do.

 

[RussSchultz]

A manual has nothing to do with performance.

 

[Sage]

Audi is also an option if you want an upscale car. They are owned by VW (or vice-versa) and make some very nice cars. The reliability is always iffy as is with almost every expensive German car but it might not be too bad.

Let me ask you a question. What exactly are you lookinf for in a new car? Style, looks, performance, comfort, luxury, reliability? All of it?

iffy reliability in expensive German cars? now, see, I have always been under the impression that German cars are at the absolute top as far as reliability. Toyota... is... well, it's a Japanese car. I have also been under the impression that Japanese cars are, well, okay.

What am I looking for? Well, I want a car that's really fun to drive and also will make people go "wow, that's nice!" I did take a look at the Audi TT's today. I could see myself in a TT Quattro Coup.

I'm aiming for a max of $30k/year to spend on a car. Long-term leases are NOT an option, anything over 40 months and you're getting shafted on the interest.

 

[RussSchultz]

Let me re-iterate: you do not want to spend $30k a year on a car. It is an absolute, postive, tragic mistake unless you make more money than you will ever know what to do with. If you spend 30k a year on a car, you should have enough money to NOT CARE what it costs to maintain.

Money spent on a car is money down the drain. It doesn't come back; you don't really earn equity; your money simply goes into a big pit. Its like that on all cars and expensive cars are just bigger pits than cheaper cars.

I don't spend $30k a year on my house!

If you REALLY feel the need to spend a wad of cash on a car, get a 1 year or 2 year lease. I guarantee the novelty will wear off well before the lease does.

 

[Sage]

Let me re-iterate: you do not want to spend $30k a year on a car. It is an absolute, postive, tragic mistake unless you make more money than you will ever know what to do with. If you spend 30k a year on a car, you should have enough money to NOT CARE what it costs to maintain.

Money spent on a car is money down the drain. It doesn't come back; you don't really earn equity; your money simply goes into a big pit. Its like that on all cars and expensive cars are just bigger pits than cheaper cars.

I don't spend $30k a year on my house!

If you REALLY feel the need to spend a wad of cash on a car, get a 1 year or 2 year lease. I guarantee the novelty will wear off well before the lease does.

well yeah that's my absolute max. I'd rather be spending more like $8k a year.

and it's not the cost to maintain, it's that I want to be able to keep it for a long time. I'm still driving my '93 Honda Accord and it doesnt have any major problems, it's a great car and I could keep it forever if I wanted to (and I might just do that- I do have some pretty important memories in it ). Oh yeah and I absolutely, positively HATE having to deal with maintenence issues. It's not teh cost, its simply the problem of having something go wrong when you don't really have time to deal with it at that moment in time.

 

[Mize]

There is no car worth spending 90k on. (to me)

There is no car worth spending over 40k on.

There's no car worth spending over $42k on. (At least that's what I remember the Audi A6 2.7T running the last time I checked).

Actually, there's no car worth spending over the company's limit on. Love company cars as they come with free gas and insurance! Unfortunately I'm capped at $33k

 

[stevem]

I agree with sticking to the company car threshold... I'm in the tough position of needing to turn over a 4yr old car, but cannot warrant stretching the company budget on a replacement new model. I'm not crazy about the styling on the new model either...

Indeed WRX vs EVO8 isn't a fair comparo. The Subaru dealer didn't have an STi available. The EVO is a monster in any case though. One of the guys at work purchased a 350Z with the intent of modding it with a twin-turbo setup. Apparently saw this on the web of a local Nissan specialist mod shop. The joys of single life...

 

[_xxx_]

VW is a cheap-o-crap german car for the masses, FYI. The advantage is, the maintenance is damn cheap and they don't consume much fuel.

BMW and Merc indeed aren't the most reliable cars, but that's got another reasons. In these two, you get all the newest gimmicks and top-notch technology. We have about 60 (!) ECU's in some of the new models. That equals about 60 ol' 386's! Think about how many bugs are there to be found. That involves hell of a lot of development work, a huge amount of testing etc. - hence the prices.

But than, it's a totally different kind of driving. I know one thing for sure: as long as I can afford it, I'll never buy another brand than these two (I own a nice little BMW E46 right now)

The most reliable (according to statistics) are Toyota and Mazda. The technology you have in there was in a Merc or BMW like some 10 years ago. And you can feel the difference very clearly in every curve. That's why people are ready to buy these. If you ever drove an AMG or M-BMW you'll understand it

 

[Sazar]

A manual has nothing to do with performance.

correct but it has everything to do with intimacy...

 

[Moloch]

I would like a viper, built by a japanese company.

That would have like a 3 liter torqueless engine that revs to 10 grand to make the power

 

[Sage]

But than, it's a totally different kind of driving. I know one thing for sure: as long as I can afford it, I'll never buy another brand than these two (I own a nice little BMW E46 right now)

that's precisely how I feel. Of course, I'm going to test-drive them all before I aqctually make a decision. But, for me, driving is more fun than sex... and I get to do it a lot more often too So, I really want a car that has a top-notch driving experience. Cars are more than utilities for me.

ANd on the maintenence side of things- I expect to do regular maintenence and keep the car running forever. Just like an airplane. Every xxx hours you basically tear down the whole engine and rebuild it. Also, if it ever goes over a certain RPM you do the same. But, they will run forever if you do it right. That's what I want in a car.

 

[Sonic]

Cars are not a waste of money if they are a hobby. That is like saying upgrading your computer to new hardware every 6 months is a waste of money. If you're an enthusiast it is completely different. My rule is that I will not spend more than 1/3 of my income on a car or more than 3 times my income on a house/property(regarding the worth of the property).

With all that said it looks like you should get a BMW. Their cars offer comfort, style, and very nice interiors. IMO they're definitely a lot more fun to drive than a Merc and the driving experience is superb. You can get upgrades for it if the performance doesn't match your needs. Maybe an M3 would suit your needs.

What does everyone think of the new Gallardo's? I've been looking at them online and am dying to get a test drive. Seems like it would be a great cruiser car with every day driveablity.

 

[Sage]

Thanks for the suggestions, Sonic. I was previously not even looking at the M3 but now I think I'll have to give it a try. However, I have read that the SMG on the M3's is below par when it comes to auto-manual transmissions.