Used German Luxury Car as low-mileage DD? (car insurance, 2010, sedan)
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With only 5K to 6K miles a year, you should be OK with any well maintained luxury sports car, especially with a BMW 335. Where I work, there are plenty of BMWs (3's & 5's) that get used way more than that yearly. Honestly, I think you would be fine with any German car, only because you put so little miles on the car (and I'll assume don't abuse the car).
You are ready to spend $30K+ on a used car and you are concern about tire and brake replacement? You have to pay to play.
As for low mileage new used cars/suv. Don't be concern about well-maintained. Most don't need maintain the first few years anyway.
Haha...reminds of what my mechanic told me when I brought my E30 M3 into the shop for a new clutch. When asked how much it would be, he looks at me with his eyebrow raised and says..."If you can afford an M3 then you shouldn't be worrying about how much it cost to replace the damn clutch!" LOL
With only 5K to 6K miles a year, you should be OK with any well maintained luxury sports car, especially with a BMW 335. Where I work, there are plenty of BMWs (3's & 5's) that get used way more than that yearly. Honestly, I think you would be fine with any German car, only because you put so little miles on the car (and I'll assume don't abuse the car).
Probably better with the 5's than something like a 335. 535 if you want an nice sedan. 550 if you want a little more HP. If you really want to spend the money, get the M.
Remember, the BMW are maintain by BMW for those first few years so there will be service records. Quite frankly, there isn't much to service during that period but outside that period, you will be putting money into it.
I had a used 540i that I purchased from someone who purchased it after his lease. It had 65K miles when I got it and drove it for 3 years as daily driver. It was about 100K when I sold it. The only thing I put on the car during my ownership was a set of tires and front wheel bearings.
Haha...reminds of what my mechanic told me when I brought my E30 M3 into the shop for a new clutch. When asked how much it would be, he looks at me with his eyebrow raised and says..."If you can afford an M3 then you shouldn't be worrying about how much it cost to replace the damn clutch!" LOL
Yup.. like someone who goes out to buy a sport car and heading to a tire place asking for the cheapest tires to put on the car.
I bought a 7 year old used E class with 40K miles and used it for a daily driver for years. Never had any problems and I drove it to about 120K, and then did it again with an S class. Let me drive a nice car for a fraction of the original costs.
2005 A4 with 130K miles on it and have NEVER had any issues other than normal things like brakes, tires oil and the like. Had one A/C issue that was $500, but whatever.
The reliability studies are pretty flawed. I wouldn't buy anything but an Audi or Porsche these days. You can get a CPO car with a 7 year/100,000 mile bumper to bumper warrantee if that makes it more relaxing for you. Cars have improved a lot over the past 5 years. My next car is going to be another A4, S4, or Cayman S,R, or Carrera 4S. Not sure which one yet. Oil changes at my local shop are the same as any Toyota change. Why wouldn't it be? Oil and a filter. I use Castrol full synthetic which is usually recommended on German cars. I always buy a manual transmission, so I will never own a Mercedes, since they are old people's cars and Americans don't get the manuals from that company. Driving a manual car saves a TON on wear and tear if you are a "driver". Sadly, 99% of Americans aren't drivers. Look at all the SUV's empty pickups on the road. That tells the story. It is all about cup holders and floating living rooms in the USA. Take care of your car and enjoy driving it.
I'd also like to add a Jaguar XF, just off lease, as a possible consideration. For $30K you can find a very nice 2011-2012 XF Supercharged with <50K miles and is really is a blast to drive. Don't believe all the historical BS about bad Lucas electrics and reliability stories from your friends grandad....
We have owned over 30 cars: European, Japanese and American cars and honestly did not see a huge difference in reliability but I took good care if them (timely routine maintenance).
Worst have been GM cars (Cadillac and Buick) and then Nissan.
However since drivability and fun driving is what it is now most important for me now, I would only consider European cars. Life is too short to drive appliances.
Poster child for leasing (IMO). Very low mileage driver concerned about upkeep expenses.
In my experience, which is ample, if you plan on keeping an expensive, complicated European car of any sort, you're "in for a penny, in for a pound". There is really no set formula for making it much more economical if someone else is doing the work for you.
When you drive high miles, things wear out eventually, but they might last three times as many miles as a short trip vehicle.
Short trip vehicles have other circumstances. Starting a car and driving it 200 miles is different than starting it every 3 miles, in which case the car might only see normal operating temperature once in a while. There are all sorts of things that influence how different parts wear. Some parts have miles/months maintenance, so you won't get around those either way. If you drive in a city where the roads aren't so good, you could go through tires (and wheels, for that matter). Those nice expensive 40 series tires don't have a lot of room to absorb nasty bumps, so depending on where you are driving (weather/pavement/etc.) you might want to buy something that won't scrape its air dam everywhere you go, or chew through expensive tires and wheels navigating bad pavement.
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