The cars and bikes thread!

[Spooky]

The Mondayest Tuesday ever.

Let it be known that I hate cars and everything about them.


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[happyscrappyheropup]

For the STI they are more reliable and much lower cost to maintain while still having an excellent platform, and cockpit for performance driving. My few drives in them though I do remember them being very jarring ride wise (Which this was Florida on good roads not PA less then good roads) and VERY LOUD.

The people I know with BMW's they sure seemed like those spent far more time in the shop then my Jaguars. I see dealer loaner cars in their driveways all the time and for long periods of time(like weeks). Most of these are leases so the vehicles are all less than four years old. In the nearly five years with my F-Type, it only ever needed basic maintenance which was all coved for the first five years as part of the warranty. The same for my wife's XKR and XJR. Since the shop was a mile from the house the maintenance was done in the time it took me to get a nice breakfast across the street from the dealer. I doubt all three's time in service over a five year period was more than six hours total for each car. Pretty good for a group of cars with 460Hp for the hopped up supercharged v6 F-Type, 550hp supercharged V8 for the XKR and 575hp for the XJR supercharged V8.

I think BMW and Jag are very low on the reliability scale. Everyone, including me, has anecdotes about their car being reliable, but the empirical data says otherwise.

For any car that's not high on reliability I have found that unless a car has a fatal issue, like the rod bearings on my M3 or the IMS on certain Porsche, buying a well maintained used or CPO car can be better than new. The new car teething pains are sorted out and you still have some warranty available for the big stuff. You often avoid the annoying early trips, that while covered under warranty, give you a bad overall ownership experience.

[happyscrappyheropup]

The Mondayest Tuesday ever.

Let it be known that I hate cars and everything about them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ouch. Hope it wasn't too bad to sort out.

[happyscrappyheropup]

Swapped out the front grille on Saturday.

Before and after:

Have to do the lower inserts next.

Looks great, huge improvement.

[geoffbot]

I like the new one, too. Although either is miles better than the humongous schnozzes on the new BMWs. What were they thinking???

Yeah grim. Also, no manuals in the uk any more. I'll stick with the current.

[Raza]

I think BMW and Jag are very low on the reliability scale. Everyone, including me, has anecdotes about their car being reliable, but the empirical data says otherwise.

For any car that's not high on reliability I have found that unless a car has a fatal issue, like the rod bearings on my M3 or the IMS on certain Porsche, buying a well maintained used or CPO car can be better than new. The new car teething pains are sorted out and you still have some warranty available for the big stuff. You often avoid the annoying early trips, that while covered under warranty, give you a bad overall ownership experience.

It’s funny about the anecdotes. My Z4 has been pretty reliable—only one major issue (headlamp problem), one minor issue (window switches), and one as-of-yet undetermined problem (slow roof, thinking hydraulic leak). Not bad consider it’s an 06 and has been my only car for 8 years.

And my Volkswagens were both very reliable! Only really my Mercedes had frequent issues. I didn’t have my Boxster S long enough for it to have been much to go wrong with it, but it was perfect in the time I had it.

[tribe125]

It’s funny about the anecdotes….

Only really my Mercedes had frequent issues.

And my 2013 Merc has only required a seat cover in the six years that I’ve owned it.

[geoffbot]

Urgh. Crashed it. My first one! Brand new tyres fitted 30 seconds earlier - the guy said 'be careful, they're slippery - a chap binned his the other day on that corner'. Then I binned it, on that corner, going super slow. I'm fine, just ego bruised. #wear your gear

[Raza]

Urgh. Crashed it. My first one! Brand new tyres fitted 30 seconds earlier - the guy said 'be careful, they're slippery - a chap binned his the other day on that corner'. Then I binned it, on that corner, going super slow. I'm fine, just ego bruised. #wear your gear

Yikes. Glad you’re okay.

[Raza]

And my 2013 Merc has only required a seat cover in the six years that I’ve owned it.

Mine had frequent issues, my mother’s had catastrophic issues, so did my father’s, and eventually mine as well, and then my mother’s next Mercedes had major electrical issues. Other than that, it was a great car. CLS550–it felt and drove like a BMW, rocketed from a standstill like a Corvette. But the infotainment system stopped working and after several trips to figure out why, the dealer offered a new install—at the cost of several thousand dollars—as the only possible solution, and only possible at that. My family’s ownership experience with Mercedes was enough to turn me off completely from the brand.

It’s funny how sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you get really unlucky. For me, the only unreliable cars I can remember owning or having in the family were Mercedes. True, there was a period of time where we had nothing but Mercedes, so that skews it, but still. Hopefully yours stays relatively flawless.