MB do last a long time. I have friends who have driven them for more than 10 years without issues. They do not seem to rust. In Germany lots of old MBs with medallions on them for 500,000 miles and more. My Porsche was on the lift at the dealership awhile back having winter wheels and tires mounted. It looks like a brand new car underneath after being driven all winter last year. The Germans build nice cars. I noticed that the fasteners for things like exhaust systems were still fresh looking with no hint of rust.

 

MB do last a long time. I have friends who have driven them for more than 10 years without issues. They do not seem to rust. In Germany lots of old MBs with medallions on them for 500,000 miles and more. My Porsche was on the lift at the dealership awhile back having winter wheels and tires mounted. It looks like a brand new car underneath after being driven all winter last year. The Germans build nice cars. I noticed that the fasteners for things like exhaust systems were still fresh looking with no hint of rust. View attachment 62820

I beg to differ, at least in my part of the country. I've had to replace brake lines on 6 and 7 year old Mercedes cars and SUVs

 

Funny, my 2005 Honda with 275K MILES! has only ever needed brakes, tires, shocks, and a recent battery. And I bought it for a song........

 

My son bought his 2006 BMW 325Xi in 2015 with about 90,000 miles on it for just over $10,000. The car was spotless. He traded it in 2 years later on a 2017 Subaru WRX and they gave him $4500 on trade. It had about 130,000 on it by then and he did hit a deer in that time. The insurance paid for the repairs but it still showed up on the carfax with a $3500 accident claim.

On to the next part, he bought the WRX brand new. He looked at used ones but they were almost as much as a brand new one. My daughter also bought a brand new 2016 Wrangler but had looked at used ones. They were only a couple thousand less than a brand new one.

 

My son bought his 2006 BMW 325Xi in 2015 with about 90,000 miles on it for just over $10,000. The car was spotless. He traded it in 2 years later on a 2017 Subaru WRX and they gave him $4500 on trade. It had about 130,000 on it by then and he did hit a deer in that time. The insurance paid for the repairs but it still showed up on the carfax with a $3500 accident claim.

On to the next part, he bought the WRX brand new. He looked at used ones but they were almost as much as a brand new one. My daughter also bought a brand new 2016 Wrangler but had looked at used ones. They were only a couple thousand less than a brand new one.

Used Wranglers go for crazy money around here. Even beat to crap ones.

 

I have had great luck with Toyota (and Honda). 14 year old sequoia lasted for 200k miles (needed new starter on vacation hauling boat, so instead of waiting a day to get it fixed, we bought a used 06 Tundra to get back on the road and the daughter still drives that today. My current car I have had for 50k miles (currently has 70k) and I have only done tires. No oil changes, no gas, no maintenance, nothing but 1 set of tires. I dont love the car, but I enjoy that part of it. And the acceleration is fantastic. It only goes about 70 miles on a charge (Nissan Leaf ‘13), but great for a daily driver. Next car will be a used Tesla, or hopefully a US manufacturer like GM will make a good looking 200 mile range electric and I’ll go with that.

 

Even the Germans like American cars... saw this while I was in Konstanz Germany last June. Freaked me out because I live only 4 miles from Elgin, IL.

 

Yikes ...I used to have a 2007 CLS550. It was a great car ...never an issue and man did it GO! I do miss that car, but glad I got rid of it before anything like this happened.

 

Yikes ...I used to have a 2007 CLS550. It was a great car ...never an issue and man did it GO! I do miss that car, but glad I got rid of it before anything like this happened.

View attachment 62854

That is a sharp looking car, love the wheels.

MM

 

Google "straw buying" and you will see articles about this. Apparently there is money to be made in buying new cars and having them shipped elsewhere.

https://www.caranddriver.com/featur...th-of-luxury-cars-and-got-blacklisted-by-jaguar-land-rover-mercedes-and-porsche

 

That is an interesting read. Had no idea this was such a big deal.

 

I was sitting in a cafe along a waterway having lunch quite a few years ago in Miami. The waterway was narrow, almost like a canal. I asked one of the locals what was in the containers stacked on the relatively small ships going by. The response was, "Most likely stolen cars headed overseas." So this industry seems to have been refined from the yesteryear.

 

View attachment 62877 I was sitting in a cafe along a waterway having lunch quite a few years ago in Miami. The waterway was narrow, almost like a canal. I asked one of the locals what was in the containers stacked on the relatively small ships going by. The response was, "Most likely stolen cars headed overseas." So this industry seems to have been refined from the yesteryear.

Gone In 60 Seconds...

MM

 

My first BMW X5 got stolen from my driveway 2 weeks after I bought it (I paid cash for it). At the time the police told me that it was probably going in a container on the way to either the middle east, Africa, or China. Black market for stolen relatively new luxury SUV's is very lucrative and there was a theft ring operating in our area at the time. I found out later that the police interviewed my neighbors to ask questions about us. Presumably to see if there was some connection to us and an insurance scam or something.

 

Wife had a '09 bmw 335i. Great, fun amazing little rocket. In the first year I knew the service advisor very well. By the time I started mentioning lemon laws things were being fixed under warranty that she had damaged. After our first year, it went very well and the car performed as expected for 3 more years. In the fifth year we were approaching 50K miles and all hell broke loose. It was one thing after another at that point. I went to trade it in on a newer one and discovered that BMW had played havoc with my credit due to a financing snafu. Once discovered I figured since it was really just a simple number issue on their part they would fix it. Nope. Here I am trying to buy another car on their financing and they won't fix their own mistake. Needless to say, I won't buy another bmw EVER again.

It was fairly amusing as the credit issue didn't really hurt us but I was annoyed that they wouldn't fix their mistake. The car went to crap at 45K miles so I'm not disappointed but my wife really liked that car. She didn't have to take it to the dealer since I'm more flexible in my schedule.

We're back to good old Toyota and Honda for her. (Lexus and Acura since she "needs" all the trimmings)

I like trucks so I stay American. When Toyota builds a 3/4 or 1 ton with a diesel, I'll be in line.

 

Wife had a '09 bmw 335i. Great, fun amazing little rocket.

I just picked one of those up also. 07 retractable hardtop. Few mods on it. Software, intake, other odds and ends. Does about 425hp now. They can get really expensive really quickly with some of their pattern failures. Some as simple as a $200 oil filter housing gasket, all the way up to a $5k turbo replacement, and finally the total killer: #5 rod bearing failure.

 

I do not know why but there seems to be a horror story for every brand, and someone that will never buy it again. If ANY brand were as bad as their worst stories on the internet none of us would ever get anywhere. Never have figured out the crap shoot buying mechanical things can be, although the buyers seem overall to have the house odds, otherwise everyone you know would have a lemon.

Remember the more exotic new stuff they load them up with the greater the likely hood of trouble.

MM

 

Hey, the Germans can really engineer the heck out of anything. I really liked when it was my turn to drive that little rocket but it just didn't hold up. Their own maintenance schedule sets it up for failure, IMO. There was one problem they could never fix in 6 years of ownership. They basically told us it was not there. Stereo would come on, tell you what was playing and there would be no sound. Stereo also would not respond to any buttons. I took video once but...it didn't happen.

That said, I'm only here because of the original post. To each their own. I like Japanese and American better.

 

My second X5 would randomly think the door was open while driving. Interior lights would go on. Door open chime would go off. Fancy seats would open the bolsters. On and off for the whole drive. It took the dealer 4 or 5 tries to find and fix it. One day one the way to work it was doing it so I turned around and went straight to the dealer ran inside and told a tech I needed him right away and I would explain later. He came out and I said drive us around the block. It was only after that that they actually believed me. When we got back then finally said that they would keep the car until they found and fixed the issue. For two weeks I drove a loaner. God knows what they replaced over that time. But it was fixed. Then the next week the passenger door mirror started randomly pointing to the sky. Did it for almost a year after. Couldn’t get it to do that again at the dealer until a month after the warranty expired. Love my Acura.

 

Oh yeah. And the LED taillights that fail every few years and are not bulbs. The whole taillight unit has to be replaced for $350 a pop. And the dash panel that curled up and fell off. Or the $2,000 suspension air bags. Or the $400 rad coolant overflow tank. Or the valve cam timing thingy that was done 3 times under warranty and then 2 after. Or the oil leaks on most engine gaskets and ..........

 

So I have not heard Range Rovers mentioned? Right up there with the AMC Pacer on my list of cars to never own! I saw a youtube about a guy who bought one and about put Carmax out of business with their warranty claims, something like $15k in the first year.

 

So I have not heard Range Rovers mentioned?

Still using Lucas Electrical for their components? Attend an SCCA race weekend and you will hear one of the below guaranteed.

Joe Lucas - the prince of darkness
The Lucas motto: "Get home before dark."
Lucas is the patent holder for the short circuit.
Lucas - Inventor of the first intermittent wiper.
Lucas - Inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.
The three position Lucas switch - Dim, Flicker and Off.
The Original Anti-Theft Device - Lucas Electrics.
Why do the British buy Lucas refrigerators?
- They like warm beer.

 

Available from the Lucas service parts department.

 

Now that is downright funny...

MM