Dissatisfaction with car ownership; to the extreme

saw this myself today, pretty funny. i think someone once set thier car afire on the front lawn of one of the big three.

 

The BMW Gremlins that cannot be resolved by the Dealer creates this type of frustration. Lets face it when you spend 160K on a car you don't expect problems. If you have problems you expect solutions.

I have owned many cars in my day, my Bimmer was without question a horrible car. Constant problems. The service advisor and I were on first name basis. After 7 years I sold the car and recouped 43% of the resale value.

The only thing positive I can say is the car is fun to drive, responsive, grips the road like glue, and can brake on a dime. It can take turns at 60 MPH and never lose control.

The maintenance costs, expensive repairs, premium gas costs, below average MPG can be the negative. The best 2 day's in my BMW ownership was the first ride and the day I sold it.

Today you can lease a 328i with sport package for under $400 a month. 85% of new Bimmer purchases are leases. Just when the car is off warranty and free maintenance you turn the car in. That is the only method to deal with the car that is known for it's gremlins.

 

I considered doing that with the electric Porsche, or having it crushed. In the end I just had it parted out. The guy that did the work for me now has all the EV components and the rolling chassis up for sale, which I decided was a better option than trying to sell it as it was (in need of a battery pack) or donating it. Bottom line: It never would have been a reliable car or had a usable range better than about 60 miles. The Tesla that I got instead has a real-world range of 245 miles if I drive conservatively, or about 200 miles if I don't, and is backed by warranty.

If I did want a big luxurious sedan, I could not imagine buying a BMW when I could get a Tesla Model S instead.

 

In California Tesla is the sales leader in it's price point. It seems many people like Tesla.

 

Exciting and reliable are 2 different things.

 

Yes. And the Teslas are both.

 

For $160K you could buy three Model S. Or a Roadster and have enough left over for a week at a high-class brothel in Nevada.

Caveat: I don't actually know the cost of a week at a high-class Nevada brothel.

 

If you are buying a car to race, sure. But where are you going to go over 125 mph off the track? As for me, I'd be terrified to even go 100 mph, even on a straightaway track.

Of course, it's precisely the electric motor I love about my car: No gas, no noise, no stink. And the instant mind-blowing torque lets me merge and pass like nothing else on the road. The Roadster is a sports car, not a racing car. And AFAIK, it's the only sports car you don't need earplugs to drive. Some people enjoy busting the eardrums of everyone within three blocks of their car. I don't. Some people like the stink of a high-powered gas engine. I don't. And some people feel the "fun" of making all that noise and stink is worth burning five or six gallons of gasoline per mile. I like using domestic all-American electricity generated sustainably by hydro. And even with all that power and torque, I figure my Roadster uses about half as much energy as my Prius.

 

A gal cost $500 for about 30 minutes. None of it is high class. I only know cause I googled it

 

If you don't like noisy cars than those Italian sports cars with there throaty exhaust that is perfectly tuned will not be your choice.

 

If money was not no object I.e. I won 50 million lottery I can say that the Tesla would make it in my garage along side a Ferrari, Bentley and 911 Turbo.

Until that happens the Prius will make due

 

My Dad should have done this after he bought his Citroen.

My Dad should have listened to you before he he bought his Citroen.

 

I remember the Citroen. The styling was bold for it's time. I'm sure it was a mechanical fiasco.

 

and the only one selling a car like that ( class ) with warranty and factory made

 

No gas car is my choice. They stink, they pollute, and they require fuel from foreign countries, screwing up our balance of trade and funding terrorism. And then they get old and the muffler falls off, or some doofus who enjoys waking up the entire neighborhood takes his muffler off just to be obnoxious, and they blow your eardrums out.

 

Ah, if only....

Those old DSs were lovely. Not especially reliable, but fantastic looking and way ahead of their time (they came out in the 50s, and had hydraulic suspension, power steering, and lights that turned as you were turning).

No, my Mum bought a Citroen AX and my Dad bought a Citroen BX, in 1989. Both were new.

Here's an AX.



And here's a BX. Both are the same colours as my parents' cars.



With mum's car, the build quality was so excellent that the handbrake once came off in my hands.

It was also horrifically underpowered (a 1.0, in the days when a 1.0 really didn't do a lot). To get to university, I needed to go along a very hilly motorway. I'd be doing about 95mph by the bottom of a hill, and less than 30 by the time I got to the top of the next one.

But Dad's car..... Well, it was reasonably fast, and it handled brilliantly, when it was working. In the two years he had it, the power steering died; the windows stopped working (while open); the whole roof lining fell off around my head; all the electrics packed in (four times); the sunroof leaked; the windows leaked; the engine-management kept reprogramming itself to a misfire; the hydraulic suspension jammed down; the trunk jammed closed.... there were other things, but I forget now. We once left it in the worst part of Manchester, under a bridge, overnight, with the keys in. No-one stole it.

These days, I look at these clever new diesel hybrids that Citroen is building, and I think they're a brilliant concept, but I wouldn't touch one.

I know they're still crap. I got in a two-year-old Citroen C5 a couple of years ago, closed the door, and the whole door lining - window buttons, door handle, door locks, door bins, everything - just fell off.