New Car Buying Advice?

[NiteMaestro]

The only real advice I can give is to keep in mind maintenance costs. BMWs, Infiniti's, Audi's... They have high maintenance cause because they are high quality imports.

Japanese cars not so much, because of the sheer volume of them and the interchangeability of said parts.

American cars, generally the same as Japanese or less. Local parts, no shipping, and often times available.

Basically, don't get European unless you have alot of GWOP to kill on it.

[flere-imsaho]

It's a bit more complex than that. For instance, BMW offers free maintenance for the first 5 years.

Then, you can take a look at how often you can expect to repair an American make vs. one of the higher-reliability Europeans. It may cost $200 to repair Part X on a Ford, and $1,000 to repair the same Part X on a Mercedes, but if you're 90% likely to need to repair Part X on the Ford in the first 3 years, and 10% likely to repair Part X on the Mercedes in the first 3 years, it might make more sense to buy the Merc.

Again, it pays to do the research.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

I should note that I generally recommend edmunds.com not necessarily for that article about how to deal with dealerships, but because IMO it's one of the best websites for objective reviews on pretty much every car out there.



Erm, while the G8 GTP was a good car (even though it was Australian, not American), I wouldn't say it comes close to touching a car that is on its 5th generation and has owned the luxury mid-size class for about 20 years.

In lineage, I will agree whole-heartedly but take all that away, and drop your butt into an 08 G8 and treat it like a rental car, and then get out and sit in a 335 and do the same.

I was shocked (and this coming from a guy who's wife has owned 4 bimmers)

[NiteMaestro]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

It's a bit more complex than that. For instance, BMW offers free maintenance for the first 5 years.

Then, you can take a look at how often you can expect to repair an American make vs. one of the higher-reliability Europeans. It may cost $200 to repair Part X on a Ford, and $1,000 to repair the same Part X on a Mercedes, but if you're 90% likely to need to repair Part X on the Ford in the first 3 years, and 10% likely to repair Part X on the Mercedes in the first 3 years, it might make more sense to buy the Merc.

Again, it pays to do the research.

I hear ya.
I guess that comes down to how long you plan on keeping the car, leasing it, etc...
Just something to keep in mind though, that's all.

[Philliesfan980]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

The G35 is supposedly an excellent car. But if you've loved Hondas, be sure to check out some Acuras. Not only do they share Honda's fit and finish, they generally sport good gas mileage and truly excellent safety ratings.

Good point. I have a 2004 Acura TSX, and it's a really good car. I'd agree that if you want the reliability of a Honda, but with a little more flair, I'd recommend an Acura. They're obviously more than a Honda, but they aren't an arm and a leg to fix.