Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two guys in my office own BMWs and one or the other has his car in the shop at least every other month.

My Honda is not as luxurious but it has never been in the shop except for oil changes and other maintenance, and it is almost 14 years old. I like reliability.

I hear YA!

I don't understand why people choose to celebrate ignorance. 14 years ago, maybe a Honda would have been more reliable than BMW/Audi/MB. I grew up with Hondas and have generally owned a Honda of some sort through most of my life. I am currently Honda-less after selling my previous Honda at the end of September, but I plan to buy a replacement Honda sometime in late December or early January.

That said, Consumer Reports reliability data places Honda below both BMW and Audi:

https://www.consumerreports.org/car-reliability-owner-satisfaction/car-brands-reliability-how-they-stack-up/

JD Powers, which uses a different methodology and uses "dependability" rather than reliability, places MB and BMW above Honda:

http://www.jdpower.com/ratings/study/Vehicle-Dependability-Study-%28VDS%29-by-Make/1881ENG

Short summary is that it's one thing to be ignorant of facts, but quite another to be openly proud of that ignorance.

Anonymous wrote:Two guys in my office own BMWs and one or the other has his car in the shop at least every other month.

My Honda is not as luxurious but it has never been in the shop except for oil changes and other maintenance, and it is almost 14 years old. I like reliability.

I hear YA!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Wow. You guys sure love your comfort.

I'm just looking for 4 wheels to get me from A to B.

Wow, you sure love your [insert something you are passionate about]. I am just looking for [purely utilitarian description of that something].

You’re in the Money forum. You will get comments about how it’s not the smartest financial choice since it’s expensive and not terribly reliable. What did you expect?

Yes, this is the money forum, where decisions are calculated based on value, not absolute dollar amounts. Using one's own subjective value to ridicule someone else's purchase decision is asinine. If "smartest financial choice" is the bar, the we should all be driving retired crown vic police cruisers since that is usually what is the best financial decision.

If you don’t want to discuss things, why are you on a discussion board? Just go to a car forum and post pictures of your car for folks like you.

How ironic. That there is a discussion here is exactly because buying a luxury car isn't purely a "smartest financial choice" type of decision. If it were such a decision, it would be pretty cut and dry and no need to discuss further. Cab companies around the country have already run the numbers, calculated the cost of ownership and decided very clearly what vehicles are the "smartest financial choice": retired Crown vics, Priuses, and a smattering of Ford SUVs and Chrysler/Dodge minivans - everything else is not the "smartest financial choice". But precisely because we are discussing value beyond "smartest financial choice" that we are all sharing our own considerations as to what cars to buy.

Yikes

Anonymous wrote:Drive one and you'll see. But then buy one certified pre-owned coming off a 3 year lease that has less than 25k miles and save 40%. That will make you feel very good!

PP, where do you buy yours at?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Wow. You guys sure love your comfort.

I'm just looking for 4 wheels to get me from A to B.

Wow, you sure love your [insert something you are passionate about]. I am just looking for [purely utilitarian description of that something].

You’re in the Money forum. You will get comments about how it’s not the smartest financial choice since it’s expensive and not terribly reliable. What did you expect?

Yes, this is the money forum, where decisions are calculated based on value, not absolute dollar amounts. Using one's own subjective value to ridicule someone else's purchase decision is asinine. If "smartest financial choice" is the bar, the we should all be driving retired crown vic police cruisers since that is usually what is the best financial decision.

If you don’t want to discuss things, why are you on a discussion board? Just go to a car forum and post pictures of your car for folks like you.

How ironic. That there is a discussion here is exactly because buying a luxury car isn't purely a "smartest financial choice" type of decision. If it were such a decision, it would be pretty cut and dry and no need to discuss further. Cab companies around the country have already run the numbers, calculated the cost of ownership and decided very clearly what vehicles are the "smartest financial choice": retired Crown vics, Priuses, and a smattering of Ford SUVs and Chrysler/Dodge minivans - everything else is not the "smartest financial choice". But precisely because we are discussing value beyond "smartest financial choice" that we are all sharing our own considerations as to what cars to buy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Wow. You guys sure love your comfort.

I'm just looking for 4 wheels to get me from A to B.

Wow, you sure love your [insert something you are passionate about]. I am just looking for [purely utilitarian description of that something].

You’re in the Money forum. You will get comments about how it’s not the smartest financial choice since it’s expensive and not terribly reliable. What did you expect?

Yes, this is the money forum, where decisions are calculated based on value, not absolute dollar amounts. Using one's own subjective value to ridicule someone else's purchase decision is asinine. If "smartest financial choice" is the bar, the we should all be driving retired crown vic police cruisers since that is usually what is the best financial decision.

If you don’t want to discuss things, why are you on a discussion board? Just go to a car forum and post pictures of your car for folks like you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Wow. You guys sure love your comfort.

I'm just looking for 4 wheels to get me from A to B.

Wow, you sure love your [insert something you are passionate about]. I am just looking for [purely utilitarian description of that something].

You’re in the Money forum. You will get comments about how it’s not the smartest financial choice since it’s expensive and not terribly reliable. What did you expect?

Yes, this is the money forum, where decisions are calculated based on value, not absolute dollar amounts. Using one's own subjective value to ridicule someone else's purchase decision is asinine. If "smartest financial choice" is the bar, the we should all be driving retired crown vic police cruisers since that is usually what is the best financial decision.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Wow. You guys sure love your comfort.

I'm just looking for 4 wheels to get me from A to B.

Wow, you sure love your [insert something you are passionate about]. I am just looking for [purely utilitarian description of that something].

You’re in the Money forum. You will get comments about how it’s not the smartest financial choice since it’s expensive and not terribly reliable. What did you expect?

Anonymous wrote:
Wow. You guys sure love your comfort.

I'm just looking for 4 wheels to get me from A to B.

Wow, you sure love your [insert something you are passionate about]. I am just looking for [purely utilitarian description of that something].

Anonymous wrote:
Wow. You guys sure love your comfort.

I'm just looking for 4 wheels to get me from A to B.

Me too. Maybe I would care about having a luxurious experience if I was in my car more. But my commute is short.

Wow. You guys sure love your comfort.

I'm just looking for 4 wheels to get me from A to B.

Two guys in my office own BMWs and one or the other has his car in the shop at least every other month.

My Honda is not as luxurious but it has never been in the shop except for oil changes and other maintenance, and it is almost 14 years old. I like reliability.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about other "luxury" brands that are less expensive--such as Lexus, Acura, Infiniti, etc.?

They aren't luxury. Just like a 3 series isn't luxury.

These certainly are luxury brands, just as the 3 series is. Lets not apply subjective and arbitrary standards for what a luxury car is. The brands listed here, including the BMW 3 series, offer performance, features, materials, and a matching price tag that is above and beyond what non-luxury cars of a similar size commands.

That said Lexus is the closest to the German brands but unfortunately lacks design flair - or rather what flare they do have tend to be under developed and gimmicky. Now, the German brands can also be guilty of the same thing, and I am thinking of the ghastly CLA trims with orange/red highlights here - but where MB has made poor choices on a sub trim of a model, Lexus design has failed in general. Infinity can't decide what it wants to do yet, and the materials quality is just not there, they had a really strong push back during their "Motion" design language days but I am not really sure what they are doing currently. Acura is, disappointing - and I say this as a Honda fan in general, and I grew up around Hondas. Honda has lost their way a while back and Acura is along for the ride. There is nothing in an Acura (except for the NSX) that makes me want to buy one. I almost owned an Acura TSX when it first came out in the early 2000s - everything since then has been a series of disappointments in increasing magnitude.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Toyota and Honda drivers = peasants

BMW, Mercedes and Audi drivers = superior beings

I don't know, Audi is in between. It's a step down from Mercedes. BMW has cheapened their brand so much with the 3 series for everyone and now the 1 series. If that's all you can afford, just get a Honda.

I have the GLS 450, and it's such a nice car. Not plasticy, great pickup, smooth and quiet. It's luxurious.

+1, you sir are a gentleman and a scholar who is truly in touch with the current day German car offerings in these united states.

Audi has not been competitive recently IMO, we've passed them over each of the times we've gone searching for a sedan in the past 10 years. The exterior and interior designs of their cars are stale and unimaginative. I am sure the quality is decent, but it takes a certain flair to be successful in this market segment.

Everyone dumped on Chris Bangle, but BMW was far superior under his design guidance. The current 5 and 7 series are completely boring, and the 3 series look like it is standing on stilts. The interiors are very drab. And how about that X1 - such a plain looking car that it should wear a KIA badge.

Mercedes is killing it these days. Their entire range (save for the CLA/GLA, IMO) is well thought out, with excellent driving dynamics, and interior/exterior design that stand heads and shoulders above Audi and BMW. I've always had a yearning for the big GL (and now the GLS). Were it not for the room we need to haul 6 people constantly plus a healthy load of cargo, it would be our family hauler rather than an Odyssey.

It's probably true that BMWs have "better handling." But 9 times out 10 the main reason people want to have "better handling" is to cut other drivers off, change lanes at high speeds without signalling, try to run cyclists off the road etc.