On Saturday, July 26, 2014 8:38:42 AM UTC-4, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 7/26/2014 8:07 AM, wrote:

On Friday, July 25, 2014 11:23:52 PM UTC-4, Wayne. B wrote:

On Fri, 25 Jul 2014 20:33:32 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"



wrote:







Better off with a simple Ford or Chevy that can



be repaired by just about anyone.







===







Personally I prefer a Toyota or Honda that rarely needs to be repaired



by anyone.



I've owned one Honda, bought new in '89. In almost 50k miles I had more trouble with it than the Explorer that came after it had in nearly 80k miles. Plus, the dealer told me that in order to keep up the warranty, I needed to follow the strict "bring it in every 75oo miles" service schedule in the warranty book. Even while the issues it had, including a clutch replacement brought on by a rear main seal leak, were all covered under warranty I spent plenty on "maintenance".



No, the current Audi won't be inexpensive to maintain. But it's a much better car than anything in the Honda or Acura lineup.







There's no question that the various BMW's and the Porsche we had were

excellent, well engineered cars ... at least mechanically. During our

car craziness my wife and I had at one time or another:



2000 BMW 760 (12 cyl)

2002 BMW 330i

2004 BMW X5 (tractor trailer backed up over it in Florida)

2006 BMW M5 (dealer took back due to numerous software problems)

2007 BMW M5 (didn't have long ... similar software problems)

2003 Porsche 911 Twin Turbo ... (finest car I've ever owned or driven)

2007 BMW Z4 Sport (wife bought thinking she could race me in Porsche)

(didn't even come close)

2008 BMW 750



All nice, fun cars but definitely high maintenance, especially the M5s.

We finally got over the car craze. I went back to a pickup truck and

my wife to a Mercury something or other ... (Merc version of a Ford

Explorer)



Haven't had a single issue with either of them. Maintenance consists of

oil changes and new windshield wipers every year.

BMW's do have a reputation of being high maintenance cars, more so than some of the other "luxury" car brands. The lone Porsche I've had, a 2000 Boxster S, was almost trouble free. Only issue was torn rear axle inner CV boots (common on the S model), and while they are fairly inexpensive, the shop wanted 10 hours of labor to do the job. I ended up doing it myself in about 11 hours for a lot less. And I had some new, cool tools left over. Always looking for an excuse to buy new tools. :-)

Of everything I've ever owned, the Porsche had the best road feel, brakes, steering and handling. Hands down. Awesome car.