merlion
Senior member
- May 2, 2003
- 252
- 0
- 0
Years ago I was more impressed by expensive things/name brands etc.
Some car magazine came out with a review on some fantastic car that was very expensive (over $100k) and of course the car was very nice. For that kind of money it should be.
The next month the same magazine reviewed a much more reasonably priced car that they said delivered 85% of what the much more expensive vehicle did. They deliberately compared the 2 and made it a point to mention just how amazing the less expensive vehicle was if you considered how much less budget they had to work with. Of course the expensive one was nice but the less expensive car was something like 25% of the price but delivered 85% of the performance.
That is value my friends. I don't remember the name of the magazine or the models of either vehicle but the lesson in value stuck. That one article completely changed my paradigm from that point forward.
Value is what you want, especially if you are the one paying the bills.
Long story short: Screw BMW and Mercedes!
Some car magazine came out with a review on some fantastic car that was very expensive (over $100k) and of course the car was very nice. For that kind of money it should be.
The next month the same magazine reviewed a much more reasonably priced car that they said delivered 85% of what the much more expensive vehicle did. They deliberately compared the 2 and made it a point to mention just how amazing the less expensive vehicle was if you considered how much less budget they had to work with. Of course the expensive one was nice but the less expensive car was something like 25% of the price but delivered 85% of the performance.
That is value my friends. I don't remember the name of the magazine or the models of either vehicle but the lesson in value stuck. That one article completely changed my paradigm from that point forward.
Value is what you want, especially if you are the one paying the bills.
Long story short: Screw BMW and Mercedes!
Why is it that Lexus can make a reliable high-end luxury car, but Mercedes/BMW/Audi can't?
A fully loaded LS has just as many gadgets as an S-Class or 7-series.
A fully loaded LS has just as many gadgets as an S-Class or 7-series.
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Well obviously for most of us plebes, the "normal" cars are going to be what we end up buying most of the time. But the expensive cars are more fun to talk about
skyking
Lifer
- Nov 21, 2001
- 22,779
- 5,941
- 146
I'm living the "high life" with two German wonders, a couple of TDI Beetles. Yep, I have things to fix. No doubt if I were paying for them I'd have run far away.
The things that got me there:
1) Can't resist that fuel economy coupled with diesel torque.
2) I sit very tall in the saddle, and the beetle was the most comfortable thing to sit in besides my Dodge truck or any big truck for that matter. I can jack the seat up very high so my legs are not slanted and more upright. That typical laid back seating in the smaller cars kills me after a couple of hours.
The things that got me there:
1) Can't resist that fuel economy coupled with diesel torque.
2) I sit very tall in the saddle, and the beetle was the most comfortable thing to sit in besides my Dodge truck or any big truck for that matter. I can jack the seat up very high so my legs are not slanted and more upright. That typical laid back seating in the smaller cars kills me after a couple of hours.
I have owned two Audi's. 1993 90CS and a 2001 A4 Quattro 2.8. Both cars were relatively low maintenance. The most common issue seemed to be wheel bearings for me. My A4 lost 4 of them before 100K. But they were covered under Audi assure. I get the impression 00-01 model years they had a bad wheel bearing supplier. But I on the other issues with the car. I searched around and found a guy up north that worked on the car. We used NAPA parts and something that Audi would charge 1200 bucks for I could get done for 350.
I owned the 90CS for 6 years, drove it to 175K and the worst expense I had to endure was a fuel pump conking out on it. The 2001 A4 I have owned for 11 years now. And I have maybe put 2500 bucks into it. A timing belt at 140K, then a water pump shit the bed on it last May at 227K. So I replaced that and the timing belt at the same time. But the car still drives and looks great.
I cant say the same for other German car makers however. BMW's from my understanding dont like NAPA parts. So you will pay through the nose. VWs from experience are terribly made(funny considering Audi shares many components). And Mercedes I have no idea about.
I ended up purchasing a Mazda CX-5 last spring when the A4 conked out. I was due to have a newer car. But once the Q5s get TDI within their used assured program. I plan on getting back into an Audi.
I owned the 90CS for 6 years, drove it to 175K and the worst expense I had to endure was a fuel pump conking out on it. The 2001 A4 I have owned for 11 years now. And I have maybe put 2500 bucks into it. A timing belt at 140K, then a water pump shit the bed on it last May at 227K. So I replaced that and the timing belt at the same time. But the car still drives and looks great.
I cant say the same for other German car makers however. BMW's from my understanding dont like NAPA parts. So you will pay through the nose. VWs from experience are terribly made(funny considering Audi shares many components). And Mercedes I have no idea about.
I ended up purchasing a Mazda CX-5 last spring when the A4 conked out. I was due to have a newer car. But once the Q5s get TDI within their used assured program. I plan on getting back into an Audi.
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Cause they were VERY heavy. They also couldn't get them threw snow/Aredenes when the weather hit.
Fixing them was a nightmare and expensive as well.
Not even, you can get them for $10
I usually use Jack, Jack stands, rim on the side and friend/kid on the stand by just in case.
Not using jackstands = completely stupid
BassBomb
Diamond Member
- Nov 25, 2005
- 8,390
- 1
- 81
I previously worked for a German company specializing in Diesel engines.
Plenty of stuff was well designed, but like said perfect in idealized scenarios. Where that goes wrong is when you want to do maintenance.
Keep up with the extensive maintenance required and you'll do well. Don't well things won't turn out great.
Plenty of stuff was well designed, but like said perfect in idealized scenarios. Where that goes wrong is when you want to do maintenance.
Keep up with the extensive maintenance required and you'll do well. Don't well things won't turn out great.
This this this! I drag race and the shop where we do our work is my Buddy's business. He was tearing down a 15 degree V6 for a rebuild and we were all astounded at the stupid design of the whole thing. It was the worst engine I've ever seen, almost like everything was an afterthought, jury rigged to fit.
BlitzPuppet
Platinum Member
- Feb 4, 2012
- 2,460
- 7
- 81
True, an even worse blunder by Germany was that the ME 262 was fully operational in early 1943 when we were bombing the crap out of Germany's factories ect., Hitler insisted it be used as a bomber when clearly it was designed as a fighter aircraft, finally after a full year he let the Luftwaffe use it as a fighter as long as every other one was fitted with bomb racks but by then it was too late for the plane to have any major impact with the outcome of the war..
Look up the infamous Jetta trunk latch design. One would think there has to be a better of doing this. I can't think of why VW went with such a complicated design for such a simple job.
He already had that one out when I made my comment, thing is he has tons of other videos where he only uses the jack alone to hold the car up, what he SHOULD do is refer everyone to this vid if you going to be working under your car but he doesn't.
The idea of the VR6 was to make a V6 that has similar dimensions to a I4. It succeeded in that. They also seem to be pretty robust from what I've heard (I belong to 2 VW forums). Also, IIRC, that engine design is the basis for the W8 used in the top of the line Passat and I think the W12 in the Phaeton. So, while you might not have liked it, it doesn't mean that it is necessarily a bad design.
FWIW: I pointed out in my earlier post that you guys seem to be talking about the cars produced AFTER the bean counters took over the companies. Does anyone have something bad to say about a 1970's - 1980's MB 240D, 300D, or 300TD? I love Volvo's, but I wouldn't want to own a FWD / AWD one. I'll stick to the wonderful RWD ones which ended sometime around 1994. Simply put, the Bean-Counters ruin everything for most 'Car Guys'.
SpatiallyAware
Lifer
- Sep 7, 2009
- 12,960
- 3
- 0
Watched this video last night... And as someone who has owned all of these brands except a VW:
Porsche - over engineered and over complicated, but for a dedicated purpose. Yes cooling is crazy complicated, but the engine is in the rear... So, it's understandable that it's complicated. Yes the suspension is complicated, but they're looking for the upper echelon of handling so it's again understandable.
BMW - over engineered yes, but in my opinion not terribly over complicated. Their systems are simple to work on and well-documented. Indy shops can work on them, so can home mechanics with relatively inexpensive tools and software. Their bread and butter 3 series have always been easy to work on and relatively simple.
Audi - over engineered, complicated yes, but like Porsche for a purpose. They focus on AWD. They are usually at the forefront of new tech. But, I can at least wrap my mind around why they do things the way they do.
VW - typical german on a budget. Similar audi (understandably), but without AWD and 1 generation behind audi tech. So.. Complicated, but workable and documented repairs.
Mercedes - To me, they're the german outlier and give the rest of the german brands a band name. WAY over complicated, for no apparent reason at all. Over engineering I get, but over complicated I don't. They are, for the most part, just big fast RWD cars with a lot of luxury, which SHOULD be a simple formula. Honestly, I think they do this to help taint their used market. They seem to only want people driving new and warrantied mercedes, which is terrible in my opinion.
I miss the mercedes of late 70s and 80s. Huge focus on luxury, way over engineered, but NOT over complicated. That's a great formula for a luxury brand. For some reason, they decided in the late 90's early 2000's to make things so crazy complicated for no apparent reason and ruined this great "ultra luxury and simplicity" thing they had going.
As an aside... Scotty..... I like him, but I think he's biased in this rant, and most of his complaints are not justified. Just because he personally can't work on these doesn't mean they're unfixable. And I totally disagree with his little rant about a 'fault with the trunk light'. That sort of monitoring is cool, a good thing, and meant for the driver. It's not like it's throwing a light, so who cares if it's a fault inside the OBD? I would rather ALL things be monitored than just emissions systems like he seems to prefer.
Porsche - over engineered and over complicated, but for a dedicated purpose. Yes cooling is crazy complicated, but the engine is in the rear... So, it's understandable that it's complicated. Yes the suspension is complicated, but they're looking for the upper echelon of handling so it's again understandable.
BMW - over engineered yes, but in my opinion not terribly over complicated. Their systems are simple to work on and well-documented. Indy shops can work on them, so can home mechanics with relatively inexpensive tools and software. Their bread and butter 3 series have always been easy to work on and relatively simple.
Audi - over engineered, complicated yes, but like Porsche for a purpose. They focus on AWD. They are usually at the forefront of new tech. But, I can at least wrap my mind around why they do things the way they do.
VW - typical german on a budget. Similar audi (understandably), but without AWD and 1 generation behind audi tech. So.. Complicated, but workable and documented repairs.
Mercedes - To me, they're the german outlier and give the rest of the german brands a band name. WAY over complicated, for no apparent reason at all. Over engineering I get, but over complicated I don't. They are, for the most part, just big fast RWD cars with a lot of luxury, which SHOULD be a simple formula. Honestly, I think they do this to help taint their used market. They seem to only want people driving new and warrantied mercedes, which is terrible in my opinion.
I miss the mercedes of late 70s and 80s. Huge focus on luxury, way over engineered, but NOT over complicated. That's a great formula for a luxury brand. For some reason, they decided in the late 90's early 2000's to make things so crazy complicated for no apparent reason and ruined this great "ultra luxury and simplicity" thing they had going.
As an aside... Scotty..... I like him, but I think he's biased in this rant, and most of his complaints are not justified. Just because he personally can't work on these doesn't mean they're unfixable. And I totally disagree with his little rant about a 'fault with the trunk light'. That sort of monitoring is cool, a good thing, and meant for the driver. It's not like it's throwing a light, so who cares if it's a fault inside the OBD? I would rather ALL things be monitored than just emissions systems like he seems to prefer.
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monkeydelmagico
Diamond Member
- Nov 16, 2011
- 3,961
- 145
- 106
I've owned and wrenched on a few BMW's over the past couple decades and don't find them terribly difficult. Most of the shade tree mechanic stuff like brakes, belts, struts, joints, exhaust, plugs, etc. is straight forward. The electricals can be a PITA so I try to avoid the "premium" pack cars and focus on the sport package cars. I am a fan of the E36/E46 I6's and think these cars have a reliable core. Same with the Z3 2.8/3.0 is a really nice alternative to a miata. I would certainly recomend them for someone looking for a fun car with some emblem appeal that won't break the bank.
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