Reply to Anyone have an Infiniti?

Forum Index » Money and Finances

Reply to "Anyone have an Infiniti?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]If you are worried about maintenance, BMW comes with free maintenance for the first 4 years. If you can find a 1 year old BMW, that'd be your best bet.

Infinity is bottom of the barrel in terms of the luxury brands. Their styling is becoming more and more bland. Together with Nissan, their strategy is to sell new cars to people with less than ideal credit. This is why so many of them are turned back in still fairly new.

I have no experience with Audi, but have owned at least one or more BMW/MBs in the last 10 years. Based on my own experience and experience of other BMW/MB owners, the maintenance difference is minimal compared to the Honda and Toyotas that I've had. BMW maintenance is all included with the car for first 4 years, along with warranty means pretty much zero out of pocket other than tires and brake pads (if you ride your brakes). MB maintenance is not included, and I pay about $99 each year for an oil change. If I did it myself, the cost is about $50 for a new filter plus Mobile 1 from Walmart. Oil change on my Honda Odyssey is also yearly, at about $30 if I did it myself with Purolator 1 filter and Moblie 1. [/quote]

OP here, I took a quick look at the BMW website.  Seems like the most comparable car in terms of performance in the 3 series model with 300 HP with an MSRP of $37K.  I took a look at the used models out there approximately 1 year old and they're listed for around $29-$31K with between 20K-30K miles.

To be honest, I don't really care about the tech features (lane assist, collision warning, panoramic backup camera).  I'm happy with a car that's fun to drive.  [/quote]

PP here, I know it may be enticing, especially with the low price and apparent high power, feeling behind the wheel and etc. But there's a reason why Car and Drivers ranks the Infinity Q50 10th out of 12 for the entry level luxury sports sedan category, ranking higher than Buick Regal and the Lincoln MKZ, but lower than the Acura TLX, Vokswagen CC, and Volvo S60. You may really really want want a performance oriented luxury sedan, but the Infinity is not a good choice. I would hold out for a slightly more used 3 series with a sports package if driving dynamics nirvana is what you are looking for. [/quote]

OP here.  I don't claim to be an expert on this stuff but I have read that there are a lot of buggy issues with the tech in the Q50 that aren't present in the Q37/Q40.  It's the first model year of the Q50 so maybe that's it but it's a different car in many respects (wire-guided steering, for example) from the G37/Q40.

My concern with the BMW is maintenance expenses over say a ten year period.  I mean if you talk to most people on the street and you say BMW repairs people will nod and know it's big dollars.  The other consideration is value for the money.  Perhaps the BMW is nicer but the car doesn't need to be perfect, just a little fun.  I'll do a little more research on the secondary market for the BMWs and see what's out there and perhaps give one a test drive.
[/quote]

Most people on the street accumulated their knowledge about car maintenance from hearsay around the water cooler. First, lets not mix up maintenance with reliability. Maintenance is well defined and you already know what's needed by each car and at what intervals. If you are afraid of the shop costs charged by BMW dealers once the car is out of warranty, there are plenty of trustworthy BMW and MB repair shops that a fellow owner can recommend. If you are buying used, you may also be interested in a certified pre-owned car that has warranty out to 100k miles.

As for dependability: I would suggest taking a look at this:

http://www.jdpower.com/press-releases/2015-vehicle-dependability-study

It seems that Infinity ranks just slightly better than BMW, and below Mercedes Benz. So if long term reliability scares you, I would say you should be equally concerned about getting an Infinity.

As for value for the money, any time you buy anything other than a retired police Crown Vic for more than $1500, you are not maximizing your value for the money. It's then up go you what is the most important to you. There's a reason why Infinity and Acura struggles in this segment - they are poseur brands that try to benchmark against the leaders, and fall far short. So they cling onto that vague concept of value, a good deal, but in the process fails to deliver the essence of what was promised.

Go test drive these cars, go spend some time sitting in them, smell the leather or leatherette, push the buttons, stroke the dash, put the transmissions in sport mode and see what happens.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics