Daily Driver Neglect

[Lazarus]

Lol. I will never own a German made car unless it has an LS swapped into it. Silly German engineers prioritize complexity over reliability.

Yes totally agree!!! They are individually wrapped time bombs waiting to take out American wallets. Buddy's 07 335i had to be purchased back by BMW. Twin turbo system failed monthly. Didn't even reach 10,000 miles. $52,000.00 car. Then he decided to reach far far way down in the depths of debt and leased a 2012 535i basically a step down from the M5. No maintenance package. Invoice for $1800.00 brake service. Then 4 new ?? 235/55/20 with run flat and Z rated. Literally buy a daily driver, inspected G body . for what he paid. But he is a bit "underdeveloped" in the pants so he had Perilliy tires. Lol so damn expensive I can't spell it lol. Naw no Germans!

BTW nice old timer daily drivers.... Do not change anything. If she took wolfs head 10w 30 don't go Royal purple. No fancy flushes no stupid crap dumped down the intake. She got herself up beyond 150k doesn't need you help now lol. Coming from a family that unless the frame failed we kept them . lol currently have a 04 Honda CRV with 244,000 miles past down to my sis in Florida. Just had regular services. She had the rad flushed "just because" and it failed a few weeks later. Would it still be working if she didn't have the flush??? I beg it would lol

 

[Bonnewagon]

Is this a BMW bashing post now? Oh goody! One of my son-in-laws got his dream car, a 323i, and he drove it cross country to store it in NY while he served a tour in Iraq. While here he was just driving along and the driver's side curtain air bag deployed! An east coast BMW big shot had to come investigate, authorize the repair, and sign off that it wouldn't happen again. After he returned from Iraq he drove it back to Ft. Lewis Washington where it deployed again!!!! Same big shot had to go to the left coast to investigate and my son-in-law told them to shove the car up their *ss- he was though!

 

[joesregalproject]

If we're going to bash Beemers, I might as well join in lol. Don't get me wrong, I like them and they nice cars, and if I could afford one, I'd drive it, but they don't come without their own issues. At my previous job in a body shop we had a customer with an older (99ish?) 328i 5 speed. He loved it, I hated it. It has something like 125,000 miles on it, and it was usually in once a year for some paint touch ups, rust repair, or bumper repaints. Over 5 or 6 years we basically repainted the whole car. I will say that while working on it I noticed the build quality really isn't all that great, especially compared to some of the Japanese cars. Just more difficult to take it apart. Fasteners are hidden, pieces are delicate. Fit and finish were no better than anything else, and based on the fact that it was in the body shop once a year and was never actually wrecked, I'd say it wasn't very durable either. Supposedly he had some mechanical issues with it too, can't recall what though. All I can say is based off working on that car, I can't justify buying a BMW over a nice Lexus or Acura. When you buy a beemer you're paying for the name, not quality or reliability.

 

[pontiacgp]

My son had a BMW 335 XI that he finally dumped after $5,000 in repairs in 2 months, with 185,000 kilometers on the car the dealer told me it was a high mileage car when I was in to pick up a part. Now my son has a 2014 Infinity Q50S that is a pos. It's been back at the dealer 15 times for warranty work in 18 months..

 

[Bonnewagon]

And then there is Audi. My other son-in-law is pretty handy so he tackled a water pump replacement. Big mistake. The whole front of the car had to come off. His neighbor had the book and was helpful. Took him all summer because he kept seeing stuff that he couldn't not do since the thing was apart anyway. Once it was done, and he felt good, the crazy codes started popping up...........

 

[drogg1]

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[L92 OLDS]

And then there is Audi. ...........

I was considering an Audi for my wife's next car and went to the local dealer. I asked the service guy there what to expect from an Audi.. His response was that while they have good fit and finish on the inside, they are likely to cost you a fortune if you don't get the warranty. He also said that Michigan roads bust up the flimsy aluminum suspension parts and I should expect them to burn oil.....LOL. I am completely Audi averse now after hearing this. I also will not have anything to do with a dishonest company like VW / Audi caught cheating on emissions testing.

 

[Judge Mills]

And then there is Audi. My other son-in-law is pretty handy so he tackled a water pump replacement. Big mistake. The whole front of the car had to come off. His neighbor had the book and was helpful. Took him all summer because he kept seeing stuff that he couldn't not do since the thing was apart anyway. Once it was done, and he felt good, the crazy codes started popping up...........

I'm an extremely lucky Audi owner. My 08' A4 has gone 112,000 miles without a problem. (Well, I trip the CEL under certain conditions, for a "turbo low boost", but that's a long story). BUT, I dread the day, in 13,000 miles, when the timing belt is due. I cannot do it myself. You have to rip the entire front of the car off to do it. You only have about an inch between the radiator and the front of the engine. Just changing my accessory belt and tensioner was almost a shop job. I barely got the bolts out of the tensioner, without hitting the radiator. I tried to replace the diverter valve (what Audi uses instead of a blow-off valve) on the turbo to fix the "turbo low boost" engine light (which doesn't happen often), and the bolts were simply not accessible without disassembling most of the bottom of the car.

It's been a fun car. Very nimble, comfy, quick, but I'll never buy another one again. Add in the fact that it "consumes" oil, and uses VW 502 certified 5w40, (you can't use regular 5w40, the engine will sludge up), which no one within a few hours drive sells. I have to buy it through Amazon.

 

[joesregalproject]

I actually got a sample from this oil change and sent it to Blackstone Labs for a UOA. I'll be interested to see what they have to say about it. I've got no plans on getting rid of the car anytime soon, it's been a good car to us and I just can't justify selling it. Great mpgs, low maintenance, very durable, and unmatched reliability.

Here's my UOA report from Blackstone Labs if anyone is interested. Looks pretty good.