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I would not buy a performance oriented vehicle used. If someone buys it and trades it in only a couple years later, it's likely to have been driven like a bat out of hell.
If you want a used German car, get something like a BMW 550ix or Mercedes E-550. You get the bigger/faster engine, but the owner probably babied it.
I would not buy a performance oriented vehicle used. If someone buys it and trades it in only a couple years later, it's likely to have been driven like a bat out of hell.
If you want a used German car, get something like a BMW 550ix or Mercedes E-550. You get the bigger/faster engine, but the owner probably babied it.
There are also some who will say the opposite. Let's say there are 2 similar cars - one driven hard and the other never going above 3000rpm. If they were equally well-maintained, then the one driven hard will actually last longer. I have no opinion on this because I just don't know enough about the internals of a car, but I just wanted to point that out.
A next-door neighbor of mine, a very successful attorney and judge, used to buy the big, expensive Mercedes that were a couple years old with very low mileage. This was 20 years ago (or more), and I don't recall the model number, but he'd buy them 2-3 years old, drive them for 2-3 years, then sell them. He claimed that they always held their value during that span of years so cost him nothing. I don't know if they still do or not. We've each gone our separate ways since then....
A next-door neighbor of mine, a very successful attorney and judge, used to buy the big, expensive Mercedes that were a couple years old with very low mileage. This was 20 years ago (or more), and I don't recall the model number, but he'd buy them 2-3 years old, drive them for 2-3 years, then sell them. He claimed that they always held their value during that span of years so cost him nothing. I don't know if they still do or not. We've each gone our separate ways since then....
Not the really expensive Mercedes or BMW models. Those older S500 and 8's BMW were expensive new but as they aged, no one would touch them.
Well, I guess we're going to find out cuz we just bought a 2006 525xi with 107k on it. It's infectious to drive, solid, doesn't rattle, and looks like new.
There were a couple of specific reasons I settled on this car. 6 speed manual,and maintenance records. Every graph in the service section are well into the green and there was an impressive list of recent repairs. Basically the guy had the car all nicely done up and then traded it in on a newer BMW. It can't have been too terrible an ownership experience if the DPO traded for another car of the same make, eh?
Well, I guess we're going to find out cuz we just bought a 2006 525xi with 107k on it. It's infectious to drive, solid, doesn't rattle, and looks like new.
There were a couple of specific reasons I settled on this car. 6 speed manual,and maintenance records. Every graph in the service section are well into the green and there was an impressive list of recent repairs. Basically the guy had the car all nicely done up and then traded it in on a newer BMW. It can't have been too terrible an ownership experience if the DPO traded for another car of the same make, eh?
impressive list of recent repairs?
if regular maintenance was done vehicle shouldnt have impressive list of repairs at 107K miles thats a good example that german cars are very problematic and unreliable
i did 100K miles with 2004 civic and i have changed brake pads 3 times. engine oil every 5K miles and changed transmission fluid 2 times.
thats all it needed...
Eh. I would never consider a 2009 911 that wasn't in top condition with all maintenance records available.
And tires on an X5M run 1500+ a set, hardly a trivial amount. I could stomach it if I only need to replace them once every few years, but once a year would be too much.
Yeah, and too I wouldn't trust a non-Mezger engine 996 or 997 911 that had NOT had IMS lubrication problems solved via aftermarket. Too many of them cut loose, for any or no reason, leading to $14K repair bills. At least.
...which is why I bought a 996 TT, one-owner w/records. Common issues addressed years ago. Those, or GT3/GT2, are IMO the only way to go in the used market at least for those series. 993 and older 964 are another matter.
Who wouldn't keep full records on a car like that? That would be stupid.
I've been DD'ing it this winter, a task at which it excels. Wet roads and light snow, those things are a hoot (AWD, rear engine, great in crummy traction conditions). Per mile cost is definitely more than, say, my Toyota Tacoma but it's about 10x safer than a pickup truck in dodgy conditions due to monster brakes and the way it handles & holds the road.
17mpg sort of sucks, but some nuts go hundreds of thousands of miles before turbo work and addressing other problems become necessary.
My BMW 540i sport of yore was way-cool as a DD too, but broke down far too often. E39s are the best of a bad lot, it's all gone downhill since. No more of that for me. Modern Mercedes, don't even get me started. Audi, nuh uh out of warranty: my buddy's on his third and never...never...keeps them beyond about 4-5 years and 60K miles. They WILL start to self-destruct in expensive and unpleasant ways.
Porsche is, IMO, best of a bad lot. See Consumer Reports and similar for more on that, including "owner satisfaction" ratings which for 911s are usually sky-high. What's that worth to OP?
To be clear, to OP's point, DD'ing any of that lot is going to cost somewhat to significantly more than, say, the typical Honda, Lexus, Toyota etc. econo-box. I've been doing that math with both in my driveway for eight years thus far, and counting. Not even close in terms of running costs. But what you "want" to do may be worth it, hell with the cost.
i would never buy any used german car without warranty
you will end up spending thousands of dollars every month on repairs.
Most repairs on ANY car are not covered under warranty if it is normal wear-and-tear.
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thats a good example that german cars are very problematic and unreliable 
