Quote:
Originally Posted by Deschodt
That's what everyone says/ I tend to listen when it's that unanimous, but I am curious as to why? I had a GTI and that 2.0T engine is a gem, pretty reliable too. Quattro and stick also avoids me the CVT issues...
I have had bimmers of that era (OK, one) and several friends do, and they are always replacing water pumps, radiator hoses or alternators, hence my worry about 2000-2006 models. But your point is well taken ! For giggles I looked on CARMAX for 3 series not too far under 60K miles and $20,000, I got 30 hits, ALL automatics ;-) F$%$ me !!! ;-)
Patience, I need patience ;-)
On the R32, that's not a bad thought (and I don't meant to shoot it down), but you can chip a base GTi to eat an R32 alive, it's kinda pricey... if I were gonna go that route I'd want the new Golf R, but it's not coming here yet (and when it does it'll be $35k). It's not a bad idea though, I was thinking 4 doors for kids, but....
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All I can tell you is that my experience with E36 and E46 3 series cars has been outstanding the E36 I bought with 140k on the clock and my wife's E46 330i had 70k on the clock. Both have been great cars with no MAJOR issues. The newer 330i has had zero issues thus far.
On the older E36 (312k miles), I replaced struts once, muffler once, water pump once, voltage regulator once (brushes wore out), throw out bearing at 288k (I put in a new clutch disk and pressure plate since I had it apart, but the original clutch still had lots of life left), radiator once, heater fan motor once (maybe 10,000 miles ago).
My A6 Audi twin turbo bought with 100k on the clock was a nightmare to work on even for what should be simple repairs/maintenance compared to the BMW's. The front suspensions arms/joints are a beotch to replace and they eventually go bad on all the high mileage (out of warranty) Audis and VW's with similar suspension arms. I had valve cover leaks (not easy to get to on the twin turbo Audis), coolant hose leaks (the whole front of the car had to come off to fix it), bad fuel pump, torn CV boot (suspension had to be torn apart to get at the boot), window regulator problems, center digital display went out, trans cooler went bad (need to have the vag com hooked up to car with all four tires in the air running in gear to properly re-fill the auto trans fluid).
My daughter's 2000 Beetle bought with w/ 100k on the clock a couple years ago has been nothing but trouble.... Water pump, coil pack, door lock regulator, upper strut mounts, clock memory, drive shaft oil leaks, plastic water flange leak, power steering pump leak.
My sister and BIL have an A4 and a Q7. BIL is a doctor and does not know how to work on the cars. Both vehicles are now off warranty and are costing him a small fortune in repairs/maintenance. Every couple of months I hear a sob story from him about a $1500+ repair bill from the Audi dealer. I warned him before buying the Q7 as I had just dumped my POS A6, but he fell in love with the Q7 and bought it. Now he wishes he had listened to me.