Here's an interior photo. I took this photo quickly this past weekend. I love the black interior. 
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The Car Thread ... !
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Yeah, what BMW did was get ABS, spray it with a matte coating and hoped for the best. It's safe to say a warmer climate would speed the rate of plastics degradation.
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Looks very nice. I've always enjoyed the new car smell. It's not remotely leather or in this case, leatherette, but the smell of new materials still giving off their odors. Incredibly unhealthy of course. How do you find the AC compared to domestic brands? That's one of the few things American cars got right. The incredible cooling, especially so in Chevy's big trucks.Here's an interior photo. I took this photo quickly this past weekend. I love the black interior.
View attachment 634842
Here's an interior photo. I took this photo quickly this past weekend. I love the black interior.
View attachment 634842
I haven't been in an ES in a while, looks like a nice evolution to the interior!
[doublepost=1465393909][/doublepost]We're on deck for a T4R replacement, but with my current work/travel, and the summer here - and wanting to wait for all the MY17s - decided to go ahead and get the AC fixed. There's a common problem with 4th Gens, the evaporators start leaking, which is an *incredible* PITA as it's packed deep under the passenger side dash.
The entire dash has to come out, very labor intensive, I have no time, so I connected with a really cool local shop, got a quote that's 1/2 the dealer, they're ~3-4 miles away, super convenient, nice big shop, clean.
Figured we'd pay one way or the other, and certainly we can't have marginal AC this summer.
The best part about the shop: is they're big hot rodders, builders, tuners, do all sorts of classic and modern muscle, so we got into a fun discussion about my GT and they're going to do my springs/cradle locks (and spacers), and eventually some headers
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I was at the local Honda dealership yesterday. Dang dude, modern Hondas are really, really nice. The CRV is fantastic, especially in the touring model. The new Civic looks excellent and the Accord looks solid. I totally understand the Acura comparisons.
We're on deck for a T4R replacement, but with my current work/travel, and the summer here - and wanting to wait for all the MY17s - decided to go ahead and get the AC fixed. There's a common problem with 4th Gens, the evaporators start leaking, which is an *incredible* PITA as it's packed deep under the passenger side dash.
The entire dash has to come out, very labor intensive, I have no time, so I connected with a really cool local shop, got a quote that's 1/2 the dealer, they're ~3-4 miles away, super convenient, nice big shop, clean.
Figured we'd pay one way or the other, and certainly we can't have marginal AC this summer.
The best part about the shop: is they're big hot rodders, builders, tuners, do all sorts of classic and modern muscle, so we got into a fun discussion about my GT and they're going to do my springs/cradle locks (and spacers), and eventually some headers
The shop did a great job, more or less one day, stayed late to finish it, the interior looks perfectly put back together - and icy cold air
Chatted with the owner for a few minutes, not only are they hot rodders, they're huge Ford fanatics, so they can't wait to start on my car
I'll be honest, the CVT isn't my favorite, but it's far better than the one in my old A4 and a lot better than the one in the wife's Subaru. Would I prefer something else to the CVT? Maybe, but a DCT has its own share of problems (across all makes and models, it seems), a manual just isn't practical for a vehicle like that, and while I may prefer a 6 AT, the CR-V is just not the car I want to drive that way.
The fit and finish were really nice in the touring model, with comfortable seats, great safety features, and while I can't appreciate ALL the options in the entertainment console or whatever, it's not annoying enough for me to hate it. The interior is just leaps and bounds above any of the other models in its class. That being said, I wouldn't look at a CR-V unless I was interested in only that kind of vehicle. My Acura is $5000 less expensive and has a much more comfortable ride.
Thank you! I also love the new car smell but I try to remember to keep my window, cracked open just a little bit, so that my windshield won't crack due to the pressure build up. I think you're right about the domestic cars (my Father has a F-150 and the AC is usually just right) having a better AC than the foreign cars.
We're going to see more DCT's in the future. As more companies have gotten into the game, the price has dropped significantly, and the process will simplify as costs continue to trend downward. The issue with DCT transmissions is the manufacturer rarely makes their own, and instead opts for a third party to make theirs. Ford's Power Shift took more than six years to get right. Their DCT is built by Getrag, a leader of transmissions in Germany, often being hired for performance cars from other companies. The fault of a bad transmission is often the result of a company cutting corners during their requirements stage.
They're built tougher too, so there's less leaks 20 years down the line. Though I suppose this is more common on truck classes like your example or a Suburban.
Yeah. When was that chart done? I'm not saying BMW and Mercedes are the most reliable now but the current generation of cars are relatively reliable.
Site posted it early this month.
Cant vouch for the methodology.
Also its important to note the chart is about maintenance not reliability.
Cant vouch for the methodology.
Also its important to note the chart is about maintenance not reliability.
That may be so, but a few of those manufacturers haven't been around in over six years. I'm fairly certain I've seen this chart before or it was ripped from an old slideshow article from years past. Maintenance is linked to reliability. You could easily skip all the required maintenance on an Accord and have catastrophic results. The maintenance costs on a Japanese car are often less than an American car or even a European. People are more inclined to have it performed. You don't have to pay dealer prices, but you do have to get the work done by someone who does know how to do it. The people of European cars who complain the most, from my observations, are the ones who'll readily scoff at a front and rear rotor and pad replacement of around $800-1200, depending on the car, includes parts and labor. This will cost more of performance versions of a car where they use a different system. First time owners of higher end cars often think they can haggle all repairs or maintenance to under $400. I've heard plenty of grown men whine about the $7,000 replacement cost for their carbon ceramic rotors at car meets, and that they think should cost a $2,000 at most.
There's also the issue of comparing economy Japanese cars or even a luxury variant to a European car. You can't compare an $18,000 base Civic coupe in stick to a 440i.
There's also the issue of comparing economy Japanese cars or even a luxury variant to a European car. You can't compare an $18,000 base Civic coupe in stick to a 440i.
In the article you posted, they clearly mention problems (transmission, window regulator) and no matter how well you maintain a car, if your car decides not to start, which happens, it's not because of maintenance so in this case, maintenance = reliability. No way your general maintenance like oil changes and scheduled maintenance/CBS equates to almost $1800 per year for BMW.
But with that said, I can partially agree with what they said because they outlined what was wrong. But what they said isn't anything we didn't already know. If you buy a German car, if something were to fail, you're going to pay higher than other manufacturers but no one should look at that chart and think if I have any of those cars, I'm expected to pay that much over 10 years.
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That seems about right. Unless you can keep the occurrences outside of the norm low (a la Lexus, Toyota, Honda) or the price to fix very low, you're going to hover to the top of the list. A number of luxury mechanics will charge you $100 to look at the cars on the top half of the list.
The chances of a regulator or alternator failing these days in a 10 year span are nil. And FWIW, when a Lexus breaks, and I mean breaks, expect to pay about the same as the Germans for repairs. I was lucky my suspension issues fell under warranty, otherwise I would have been down several thousand.
That's what we call a bad mechanic. I've never come across an indie mechanic that charges for that. They do charge a small $80 for a point to point inspection. Which is something completely different.
Yeah, but with Lexus, that happens so much less than with any other car brand. Even my alternator is misbehaving and I have to get it looked at. Ugh.
My sister has a 2014 RAV4 limited with less than 30,000 miles- already had a new fuel pump. Pretty odd to fail that early. Especially as she probably neurotically follows my father's own neuroticism of not going under 1/4 before refills.
This needs to be repeated. More often than not, people don't realize that Lexus service costs are about the same as the Germans. They think it's $50 oil changes like a Toyota. Not true... at all.
Has Lexus moved 1yr/10k maintenance intervals yet? I remember around 2011ish, they were still asking for 5k oil changes, so you were visiting the dealer twice as much as the equivalent German for regular maintenance anyways.
Toyota switched to synthetic oil around 2011-12ish and lengthened their OCI to 10k (finally)
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It's a lemon! Time to trade that junker in for a P38 or Lanos
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I don't know what it is down south but here in Canada, no one really complains about maintenance on Japanese cars (Lexus in this case). If work maintenance to be done, it needs to be done - either you bring it to the dealer or you go to an indy. Most of the complaints stem from the fact that Lexus' are near-bulletproof and that you don't have to worry about anything outside of proper maintenance vs. the Germans where there's likely to be a sensor fault or something stops working. Labour rates here are comparable: Lexus is around 140-150/hour vs. BMW which is 160/hour (on average).
But the frequency of incident in Lexus cars is lower than any other make.This needs to be repeated. More often than not, people don't realize that Lexus service costs are about the same as the Germans. They think it's $50 oil changes like a Toyota. Not true... at all.
Has Lexus moved 1yr/10k maintenance intervals yet? I remember around 2011ish, they were still asking for 5k oil changes, so you were visiting the dealer twice as much as the equivalent German for regular maintenance anyways.
Toyota switched to synthetic oil around 2011-12ish and lengt
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It's a lemon! Time to trade that junker in for a P38 or Lanos
And 2nd the Lanos. Or a Leganza.