Car Accident

[halik]

Sure there are, well-kept and with a few things costing a bit more than the average car, or loose analogues by Acura/Lexus/Infiniti. Obviously the BMW (or Audi, or Mercedes) purist may not view these as equal vehicles, but for the most part it's cheaper to keep them on the road. That's not to say that the japanese are perfect by any stretch, the infamous auto tranny failures about a decade back on the Honda/Acura models stand out in that respect.

The typical BMW buyer around here buys or leases one new, drives it for 1-3 years, and gets rid of it for a new one. This then creates a good market for lightly used private party and CPO BMWs that are then driven for a few years, by which time they are often bought by people that can afford to buy the BMW, but not to own the BMW

I'm sure we've all known that guy, who buys a <insert high mileage lux/sport car> with heaps of miles on it with the savings he's carefully put away working for $10/hr at some box store, only to find out that replacing almost anything on that car is going to cost more than he's probably used to. Any major problem such as a motor or transmission failure pretty much prices the thing beyond the worth of the vehicle unless you can do your own work AND find a great deal on a reputable part. To be fair, once a certain amount of depreciation hits, basically every car will reach that point. That aspect seems to hit the 7 and 5 series the worst, as their depreciation after that first 5 years is massive.

I know quite a large number of BMW owners, I very seldom see them keep their cars for more than a year or two. It really works out quite well that way, as the BMW service is very comprehensive and included in the price, and people with that kind of money usually don't want to be seen in a last-gen car, or have money burning a hole in their pocket and want the new toy now.

Aside from the subframe issues, E46 are amazing hassle free. My brother put on 70K on his 325 and had exactly zero issues. I had no issues with my M3. All recent e46 sales on ebay motors are well past 100K miles....

Again I think you're repeating some 80s truisms that are simply nonsense (eg "you'll have to replace turbos at 100K"). I suspect you're one of those armchair car guys that reads all sports car forums, yet leases a focus/malibu/camry/some made for rental sedan.

 

[Arkaign]

Aside from the subframe issues, E46 are amazing hassle free. My brother put on 70K on his 325 and had exactly zero issues. I had no issues with my M3. All recent e46 sales on ebay motors are well past 100K miles....

Again I think you're repeating some 80s truisms that are simply nonsense (eg "you'll have to replace turbos at 100K"). I suspect you're one of those armchair car guys that reads all sports car forums, yet leases a focus/malibu/camry/some made for rental sedan.

I condede that the E46 (and e36) are pretty reliable overall, though when they get to higher mileage and start needing things like starters, alternators, suspension bits, etc, all of that will cost a little more than average. I would hope that a car with 70k or less miles has zero issues, lol Although I did have a Neon and two DSM turbos that had major failures with less mileage than that.

I wouldn't lease ever, I'd rather put my balls in a meat grinder. As for my cars, I am sadly past the years of fun cars until I go midlife crisis, I have a 5 year old and a baby due this fall

Past cars : '77 El Camino with a SC 383 (epic fun, single-digit fuel economy), 3rd Gen Prelude, 5th Gen Prelude, 3000GT VR-4, Eclipse GST, Triumph Speed Triple, Magna 750, E46 325i auto (work car), 2005 G35 Sedan auto (work car), Buick LeSabre (epic reliable!), E39 M5 6MT, F250 Longbed, Del Sol Si, and a few others I'm probably forgetting.

Current cars :

2006 Kia Rio LX 5MT, 80k miles. Ugh. Just not good at all really, but not the worst thing ever. This is the GF's car.

2008 Focus Coupe 5MT, 85k miles. Flawless. Solid, reliable, quiet, great fuel economy. It's cheap and it knows it, but for econobox purposes I couldn't ask for more. Apparently I'm lucky as the 4 speed auto in this gen is supposed to be very meh.

2012 Scion TC 6MT, 3k miles. This will replace my Focus, and we're getting rid of the Kia when the baby gets here, to be replaced with a midsize sedan. It's decent enough, not my first pick, but very easy to drive. Not too crazy about an econobox with 18" wheels or sub-30mpg fuel economy, but it is what it is. Great sound system, very roomy inside.

And that's it. I'm certainly not a baller by any stretch lol.

 

[halik]

I condede that the E46 (and e36) are pretty reliable overall, though when they get to higher mileage and start needing things like starters, alternators, suspension bits, etc, all of that will cost a little more than average. I would hope that a car with 70k or less miles has zero issues, lol Although I did have a Neon and two DSM turbos that had major failures with less mileage than that.

I wouldn't lease ever, I'd rather put my balls in a meat grinder. As for my cars, I am sadly past the years of fun cars until I go midlife crisis, I have a 5 year old and a baby due this fall

Past cars : '77 El Camino with a SC 383 (epic fun, single-digit fuel economy), 3rd Gen Prelude, 5th Gen Prelude, 3000GT VR-4, Eclipse GST, Triumph Speed Triple, Magna 750, E46 325i auto (work car), 2005 G35 Sedan auto (work car), Buick LeSabre (epic reliable!), E39 M5 6MT, F250 Longbed, Del Sol Si, and a few others I'm probably forgetting.

Current cars :

2006 Kia Rio LX 5MT, 80k miles. Ugh. Just not good at all really, but not the worst thing ever. This is the GF's car.

2008 Focus Coupe 5MT, 85k miles. Flawless. Solid, reliable, quiet, great fuel economy. It's cheap and it knows it, but for econobox purposes I couldn't ask for more. Apparently I'm lucky as the 4 speed auto in this gen is supposed to be very meh.

2012 Scion TC 6MT, 3k miles. This will replace my Focus, and we're getting rid of the Kia when the baby gets here, to be replaced with a midsize sedan. It's decent enough, not my first pick, but very easy to drive. Not too crazy about an econobox with 18" wheels or sub-30mpg fuel economy, but it is what it is. Great sound system, very roomy inside.

And that's it. I'm certainly not a baller by any stretch lol.

Hah wow, definitely a miss on my part. It does seem to be the case that the whole "bmw is unreliable, buy a lexus" thing mostly comes from the OMGZNISSANGTR camry leasing camp.

But yeah parts are marginally more expensive, but e46 cars make great daily drivers. And that 70K was from 40K thru 110K on my brother's coupe.

 

[Arkaign]

Understood, and I do find it annoying when people bash BMWs with zero knowledge of them. I really love most of them, and they're great to drive, very engaging.

What stood out for me in this thread was the idea to drive a 330i for 300k straight miles. If it makes it that far without some kind of major maintenance item, I'd be surprised, and chasing things down like electrical bugs or computer issues could be pricey. It just doesn't make a ton of sense to me, though I certainly wish anyone the best with their vehicle.

 

[halik]

Also any thoughts on the 3KGT VR4? Always loved those things, up there with the 300zx I've had in the past

 

[repoman0]

300k was a bit of an exaggeration, though if I could get it there for a reasonable amount of money doing my own work I'd do it! E46 and E36 3 series are my favorite reasonably priced cars, but I don't like the new fifth or sixth gen. So, I'd like to keep mine running for as long as reasonably possible.

Also will definitely shop around for new insurance prices. I'll keep this updated with pics, the shop is sending me some of the car torn down tomorrow. In the end, at least it will look and hopefully function better than when I got it.

 

[Arkaign]

It was pretty fun when it worked. I had loads of problems with mine, ending pretty spectacularly with the differential completely borked at around 60k miles, before which I'd had warranty service on the transmission, motor, and various sensor/computer issues which kept triggering the CEL. It had a lot of guts, was very heavy and solid feeling. Great stock sound system for the day. Rather plain interior, but very functional and I found it comfortable despite my height.

Some of the issues are due to me being young and full of hormones at the time, so I was constantly flogging it. I spent a fortune on tires, brakes, and more than a couple half-shafts (3.5k neutral drop at a red light would let me rip on most unsuspecting rivals, but hard as hell on almost everything with moving parts in there).

I think the Supra or 300ZX are better bets for 90s import sports car fans, as I have no doubt that most of the 3000GTs still running have been through quite a lot, and the VR4 is an immensely complex vehicle. It's too bad they're so heavy, or I could easily recommmend the SL or base model (earlier base models had more power before being nerfed a bit IIRC), but not only are they still pretty heavy, they're FWD Oh, and mine HATED it if I put 87 or even 91 octane in there. It also felt noticeably more laggy in hot weather.

I feel a little nostalgic and a little silly looking back, at the time I was pretty cocky about the car, and now of course I realize that there is a bit more than raw numbers to consider.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Those are very fair points Doppel. It can be hard to get a nice following distance around here though (the Tollways in the DFW area, and 635, 75, and 35 when traffic is moving at a good clip). The problem arises when I establish a good following distance, someone whips around into the space I've left right in front of me, and I have to space out again, someone else whips into the free space, etc. I very rarely find that following gap space is respected, at least on the freeways around here. Maybe I'm just surrounded by assholes! Keep firing assholes!

Anyway, I agree totally, but it's really damned hard to do around here. Still, the simple act of trying does help. I know I've come close a few times, including just last week on George Bush when a multicar collission happened on a bridge just ahead of me, I was spaced out enough to completely avoid being tangled up. If I had been clustered up like they were I couldn't have escaped it.

So what if having to give up a following space and create a new on, costs you an extra 2-3 minutes drive.

Less stress as an result and as you indicated; reduces the chance of you running into; which also reduces someone running into you.

 

[exar333]

Definitely do some shopping around for better insurance prices. In the past 6 months I've been quoted: (all 12 month prices)
$3000+ for a years full coverage with $500 deduct from State Farm.
$2000 from Progressive
$1300 from Geico with a $250 deduct
$1700 from Nationwide
$2500 from All State

For whatever reason in my area prices vary wildly. This was with a 2011 Mazda 3 hatchback in the town of Addison just north of Dallas. I'm 22. Need to shop now that I've got a G35, but Geico lowered my rate with this car by about $100. Don't imagine State Farm or All State being any cheaper though. Progressive seems to be high in this area as well.

Do some shopping though because when I lived in Oklahoma Progressive was actually cheaper than Geico. The prices were almost flopped exactly to what they are now.

I second this. An extra 2k for collision sounds VERY high, even for a 23-year old person. Not sure where you live though, maybe in a rough part of town with street parking?

Also, decent full-coverage would likely have gotten you rental-car coverage for a couple weeks while your vehicle was being repaired. Take 2 weeks (10 working days) x 4 hours commute time = lots of $$$$ (your time).

Shop around.

 

[jlee]

+1 to everyone else re: insurance coverage. I pay $1332/yr for three vehicles...comp/collision with $500/1k deductibles respectively on the MR2 and CTS-V, and just comp ($500) on the Tacoma. 50/100/50. That's with Progressive, FWIW.

 

[halik]

I second this. An extra 2k for collision sounds VERY high, even for a 23-year old person. Not sure where you live though, maybe in a rough part of town with street parking?

Also, decent full-coverage would likely have gotten you rental-car coverage for a couple weeks while your vehicle was being repaired. Take 2 weeks (10 working days) x 4 hours commute time = lots of $$$$ (your time).

Shop around.

Those rates sound ridiculous, especially for a state that doesn't do the no-fault scam. I've never paid more than ~1100/year since I started driving (full coverage in a no-fault state). Currently full coverage runs me ~$40/mo on a 911 4S (28 years old, $500/$250 deductible)

 

[Arkaign]

So what if having to give up a following space and create a new on, costs you an extra 2-3 minutes drive.

Less stress as an result and as you indicated; reduces the chance of you running into; which also reduces someone running into you.

Oh yeah, no argument there, I just keep spacing things out, even if it's a bit of a pain sometimes.