How often do you all buy new or used cars? I recently bought my very first brand new car and scored a great deal using Costco auto program. I had last purchased a vehicle almost 20 years ago and the old car replaced was starting to cost too much to always repair.
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That’s always been my cue too. I’m fortunate to have a company vehicle for work usage so my car only gets used for personal use now (around 800 miles per year for the last 3 years) but I did used to use it as my daily driver. I bet I’ve had it close to 10 years but it sails through its MOT each year, insurance is a shade over £200; in fact taxing it is the most expensive outlay at £385. It’s a 3.0l petrol manual so no issues with auto transmission/DPF/EGR/turbo’s etc. All in all it’s not bad for a 2008 sporting BMW that’s literally about to click over to 100k miles.
Watch it go pop now I’ve just said all that!
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I had two BMW cars and they always turned into money pits. As fun as they were to drive the cost long term is too much unless one is wealthy and has multiple reliable cars. I sold mine and bought a new Lexus!
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Sorry to hear your BMW woes… I’ve had a couple myself that have been good to me, a 1982 3 series and a 1996 5 series. I’d love an M car but I just can’t justify the outlay for the limited use it would get. When I bought my 130 the guy had a gorgeous black e36 M3 coupe on the forecourt but I just couldn’t stretch the extra couple of grand to get it. I still kick myself!
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yeah I owned a 1996 BMW 3 series and then a 2006 BMW M3 and did maintenance and everything wears out and costs a fortune to replace. The other thing is how German cars use cheap unreliable plastics in the engine and components that wear out faster. Hoping my new Japanese Lexus is better reliable experience.
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A guy I work with is into his BMW’s and has just got a low mileage ‘09 535D that’s had a load done to it (all hoses/clips upgraded, EGR deleted, straight thru exhausts etc etc). It’s really nice but I guess time will tell how reliable it proves to be. That said he’s one of those guys that’s only happy when he’s spannering at weekends!
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honestly you need to either a) be a talented mechanic with experience wrenching on German/foreign cars with the special tools/computers and a lift/shop or b) lease them
I had fun with my M3 car but now prefer relaxing cruising in comfort and reliability. Funny the insurance is less on the new Lexus car than the BMW cars. Also traffic sucks now in California metro areas so not being stressed in traffic is better.
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We need @shigginpit in here, he’s into his Japanese cars
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I stopped spending money on cars so that I could buy synths lol, I’ve had a few German cars too. They all break just the same! Money is also not the same as what it used to be, but that’s just life.
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I’d love a classic or two. Nothing too outlandish but having nowhere to store or work on them makes it a non starter. They just dissolve in the good old British weather
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for me I wanted comfort and reliability and have commute now with mandatory RTO for my job so peace of mind. I have plenty of synths and limited free time to use what I have.
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i’d rather repair broken synths than broken cars. at least the synths can be repaired in air conditioning.
that being said, im dying to try to do an EV conversion
(im much better with software and electrics than carburators)
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living in a big city in the EU with no kids or anything like so its not worth it for me, but sometimes i fantasize about living in the woods and do woods stuff with a pickup truck for some reason
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I ride my bike when i can but we have a 2015 Subaru Outback that we bought with 48K KMs on it 4 years ago. We’ll buy a new one in a few years if cash flow allows. We love our Soobie!
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Also can we finally get our vintage Datsuns back? I miss that thread.
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We’ll buy our next car when our current one dies. We got it (a 2014 Prius) when our previous car was totaled (a 2007 Accord, we were rear ended by a distracted driver). I love driving cars until they die…I hate that our last one died of unnatural causes, but I do love that Prius. Fancy for me in a car is that I can stream audio from my phone.
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I think we should open it up to other marques that we’d like to have but don’t for one reason or another. There are so many classics I’d have I’d need a multi-storey car park to keep them all. There would be a few Datsuns in there but plenty of others to keep them company
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Here is my S52 swapped 525i touring. Love hate relationship with cars and car culture, but this thing can make me feel pretty cool.
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I resumed driving in 2020 after a 15-year absence (lived abroad, then in London, where it makes no sense to drive.) Bought a used Mazda 3. Beautiful drive. The previous owner had done all of 4.5K miles! Dealership said the guy just pootles about in it around town then likes to come back and upgrade a year later. Couldn’t have been happier. (Note: this is a stock photo, obviously.)
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I always buy used cars (usually very used). Don’t think I’ve ever owned a car less than 15 years old, always got my money’s worth.
My wife just bought a brand new electric car last year and as nice as it is (it is a really fucking nice car), fuck me is it annoying. Fucking beeps and brakes all the fucking time, impossible to park it without having a nervous breakdown.
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