Picture of your car (2012)

[medi.freak]

not as fancy as some in here, but I'll step up my game when I'm old and working

 

[mikeschmeee]

I made a video of my car. The camera fell off lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Az8ICAcxI

 

[spencers]

We traded in my wife's 9 yr. old BMW 330ci. I was tired of $1-2K repair bills. Cost of ownership for BMW is through the roof now. I love the brand, but have given up on it. Audi won't be any better. Great looking cars, but I don't want the expense. Bimmers and Audis were a great idea when I leased cars and got something new every 3 years.

If you can't DIY, yeah cost of ownership is extremely high, especially if you frequent the $tealer.

 

[Theclamshell]

I made a video of my car. The camera fell off lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Az8ICAcxI

I LOL'd. I need to get one of those cameras.

 

[Cliff3]

If you can't DIY, yeah cost of ownership is extremely high, especially if you frequent the $tealer.

My experience must be different than most. My 10 year old 110,000 mile 330 has averaged around $700 a year for maintenance over the life of the car. I don't include tires in that figure as they're wear items. The car is current of all needed maintenance and runs perfectly. I use a couple of very competent independent mechanics to service the car and do very little other than oil changes myself.

However, this is a one owner car that has been loved since the dealer tore the plastic off the seats. Buying a used one is kind of a crap shoot.

 

[RaceTripper]

If you can't DIY, yeah cost of ownership is extremely high, especially if you frequent the $tealer.

DIY is great if you have the time. I don't.

 

[puma1552]

DIY is great if you have the time. I don't.

x2, or if you feel like laying on your back busting your knuckles in -20 degree weather.

I love BMWs, but my experience with two of them really soured my taste for them. Just not worth it.

 

[dlegend]

My experience must be different than most. My 10 year old 110,000 mile 330 has averaged around $700 a year for maintenance over the life of the car. I don't include tires in that figure as they're wear items. The car is current of all needed maintenance and runs perfectly. I use a couple of very competent independent mechanics to service the car and do very little other than oil changes myself.

However, this is a one owner car that has been loved since the dealer tore the plastic off the seats. Buying a used one is kind of a crap shoot.

Therein lies the rub. My 14 year old Jeep that I've owned for 8 years and 70k+ miles has only cost me $1,000 total.

 

[Cliff3]

Therein lies the rub. My 14 year old Jeep that I've owned for 8 years and 70k+ miles has only cost me $1,000 total.

That's an apple and oranges comparison. If paying an absolute minimum for maintenance is the goal, no one in their right mind would purchase any sort of performance car. And a Jeep is definitely not a performance car.

 

[yg17]

My experience must be different than most. My 10 year old 110,000 mile 330 has averaged around $700 a year for maintenance over the life of the car. I don't include tires in that figure as they're wear items. The car is current of all needed maintenance and runs perfectly. I use a couple of very competent independent mechanics to service the car and do very little other than oil changes myself.

However, this is a one owner car that has been loved since the dealer tore the plastic off the seats. Buying a used one is kind of a crap shoot.

$700 a year for maintenance seems like a lot, unless you're doing something nuts like synthetic oil changes at exactly 3 months/3,000 miles (which is completely unnecessary)

 

[Cliff3]

$700 a year for maintenance seems like a lot, unless you're doing something nuts like synthetic oil changes at exactly 3 months/3,000 miles (which is completely unnecessary)

It is made up of things like replacement shocks at 60k miles (Koni yellows and not OEM), a brake overhaul for both axles, cooling system overhaul, suspension bushing replacement, fuel pump, fuel filter, oxygen sensors, coolant and hydraulic fluid replacement at recommended intervals, oil changes at reasonable intervals, and miscellaneous items. It does not include modifications, tires, or refurbishment type items. I keep a spreadsheet with all my costs on the car so I know precisely what I've spent on it over its lifetime.

And remember that's an average - I spent about $100 on the car last year, excluding the Vorschlag adjustable camber plates and associated alignment, new track wheels and tires, new lug bolts, and the replacement of a damaged suspension crossmember. 2006, when I replaced the shocks, suspension bushings, and overhauled the brakes was an expensive year.

I am sure it IS a lot when compared to a Honda or a Chevy. A BMW (or Benz/Audi/Porsche/or whatever) is not a Honda or Chevy though.

 

[mikeschmeee]

I LOL'd. I need to get one of those cameras.

lol! Yea, its a pretty neat little camera.

 

[spencers]

$700 a year for maintenance seems like a lot, unless you're doing something nuts like synthetic oil changes at exactly 3 months/3,000 miles (which is completely unnecessary)

It's called preventative maintenance.

 

[puma1552]

It's called preventative maintenance.

Yeah, the average American neglects their car hardcore until the brake fluid is black etc.

 

[S.B.G]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4S: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

It's called preventative maintenance.

Yeah, the average American neglects their car hardcore until the brake fluid is black etc.

Care to post any data backing up that claim?

I take PM's of my vehicle very seriously. Just yesterday my left-front brake caliper was sticking. I parked it and replaced both front calipers this morning.

My truck has over 162K miles on it and I've never had a breakdown.

 

[puma1552]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4S: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)



Care to post any data backing up that claim?

I take PM's of my vehicle very seriously. Just yesterday my left-front brake caliper was sticking. I parked it and replaced both front calipers this morning.

My truck has over 162K miles on it and I've never had a breakdown.

I'd say it's pretty common knowledge that most Americans do a pretty poor job of maintaining their vehicles--most people wait until it all out breaks before they do anything. Ever sit in a waiting room at a repair shop or dealer and hear people telling the service tech to hold off on all the stuff their car needs? I don't know that I've ever heard a repair tech come in and tell someone their car needs XXX and heard the customer say, "OK, do it"--unless I'm the one speaking.

I've also never, ever seen or known anyone that had a car for some period of time and took it in voluntarily to have the whole car checked over periodically just to see if it needed something, even if nothing was apparently in need to the driver. I've done it, but I've never known anyone else who has. Most people don't even bother getting cars inspected when they buy them--they wait until something breaks, or they wait until their steering wheel is shaking pretty badly and still try to get by on it as long as humanly possible instead of taking it in and getting it fixed properly immediately, before it wears out three other parts in the suspension, at which point they will ask the service tech what the absolute minimum repair they can get away with is, rather than fixing all the decrepit parts from prior neglect that wouldn't have broken if they had fixed their car at the first sign of trouble instead of pushing it as long as possible.

Europeans are well known for taking excellent care of their cars. Japan by law requires a comprehensive mechanical inspection of ever single vehicle every two years (used to be every year for cars over ten years old) in order to be on the road legally, and even those little reliable Japanese cars are usually in need of a thing or two at the inspection that would otherwise go unnoticed until the car was on the side fo the road. Americans by and large do nothing--just look at all the beaters on the road, most people here take poor care of their cars.

 

[RaceTripper]

I'd say it's pretty common knowledge that most Americans do a pretty poor job of maintaining their vehicles--most people wait until it all out breaks before they do anything. Ever sit in a waiting room at a repair shop or dealer and hear people telling the service tech to hold off on all the stuff their car needs? I don't know that I've ever heard a repair tech come in and tell someone their car needs XXX and heard the customer say, "OK, do it"--unless I'm the one speaking.

I've also never, ever seen or known anyone that had a car for some period of time and took it in voluntarily to have the whole car checked over periodically just to see if it needed something, even if nothing was apparently in need to the driver. I've done it, but I've never known anyone else who has. Most people don't even bother getting cars inspected when they buy them--they wait until something breaks, or they wait until their steering wheel is shaking pretty badly and still try to get by on it as long as humanly possible instead of taking it in and getting it fixed properly immediately, before it wears out three other parts in the suspension, at which point they will ask the service tech what the absolute minimum repair they can get away with is, rather than fixing all the decrepit parts from prior neglect that wouldn't have broken if they had fixed their car at the first sign of trouble instead of pushing it as long as possible.

Europeans are well known for taking excellent care of their cars. Japan by law requires a comprehensive mechanical inspection of ever single vehicle every two years (used to be every year for cars over ten years old) in order to be on the road legally, and even those little reliable Japanese cars are usually in need of a thing or two at the inspection that would otherwise go unnoticed until the car was on the side fo the road. Americans by and large do nothing--just look at all the beaters on the road, most people here take poor care of their cars.

I think you can take this whole post and apply it to our governments' care of the road and highway system too.

 

[puma1552]

I think you can take this whole post and apply it to our governments' care of the road and highway system too.

Yep, the roads are absolutely rotten in the north. Salt is mainly to blame for that, but no matter how much they fix the potholes, it's always half-hearted because the budget just isn't there to do it right. Seems like every spring I need to replace at least one suspension component.

 

[RaceTripper]

Yep, the roads are absolutely rotten in the north. Salt is mainly to blame for that, but no matter how much they fix the potholes, it's always half-hearted because the budget just isn't there to do it right. Seems like every spring I need to replace at least one suspension component.

I spent $300 this past year repairing two wheels with bent lips from poor road maintenance.

 

[0dev]

I made a video of my car. The camera fell off lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Az8ICAcxI

Your car makes a nice noise

The camera falling off made me feel dizzy though

 

[S.B.G]

I don't know that I've ever heard a repair tech come in and tell someone their car needs XXX and heard the customer say, "OK, do it"--unless I'm the one speaking.

I trust my mechanic. Yesterday when he told me the left-front caliper was sticking, he said it needed to be replaced and also said I should have both front calipers replaced. My exact words were "OK, do it."

I've also never, ever seen or known anyone that had a car for some period of time and took it in voluntarily to have the whole car checked over periodically just to see if it needed something, even if nothing was apparently in need to the driver.

Now you can say that you know of one person. I do that at least once or twice a year. Since I am meticulous on PM's, more often than not my mechanic doesn't find anything serious.

Americans by and large do nothing--just look at all the beaters on the road, most people here take poor care of their cars.

Perhaps then, I am the exception to your rule.

 

[rezenclowd3]

I spent $300 this past year repairing two wheels with bent lips from poor road maintenance.

Makes me want to take off my BBS RS's...... And now I hate potholes even more with my stiff suspension I think I am going to put stock spring rates back on for the time being. Hell, I did just fine with stock suspension in my last car for the AutoX events.

Maybe should sell the BBS RS's instead before they have to be rebuilt again

 

[mikeschmeee]

Your car makes a nice noise

The camera falling off made me feel dizzy though

Hey, thanks for the comment! And thank you for viewing my video
Yes, the nice noise is really soothing. No need for a stereo
Sorry the video made you feel dizzy lol

 

[Cristian]

2007 Honda Civic Si

 

[puma1552]

Perhaps then, I am the exception to your rule.

Perhaps, never said you weren't. I am too.