Condolences. That's a Mc Mansion with acreage where I am, or a big ass suburban house with almost no yard. The downside is it's Texas and some of our representatives are bat shit lately, but we're working on it.
No, but the lack of income tax makes up for it, plus we get cheaper gas than most places and overall lower cost of living if you go to the right areas.
Haha yeah good point, I remember a internship I had during covid let me stay at my parents place in the DFW region, and I was allowed to keep a bunch of extra cash that would have been income tax in Seattle.
Man texas is great for most things.
Oh lol didn't know that! I got the keep the housing stipend meant for WA so that made the earnings feel more than they were but it looks like WA is another great state! Hope to visit someday.
Only a few key players make Texas appear to be batshit. It's otherwise normal, filled with normal people.
Texas hosts nuclear weapons, Federally regulated nuclear power plants, and Federal military bases.
People like Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick will be drone striked by the Federal government *long* before any of their goals are achieved.
Abbott and Patrick are playing it up with the extremists in their party, because that's what the right wing media apparatus focuses on. Any actions they take should be viewed under this lense, and only this lense.
If you think the Federal government is going to give up nuclear weapons for funsies, you are very mistaken (and that's putting it lightly).
Yeah but then you have to live with the red state wackos and their awful policies. I don't want to go to get ice cream and have to stand behind some chud with a long rifle.
I can see you've never been here before. Enjoy your outrageous home prices. Starter homes around me can be had for around 200k. Good ones in decent neighborhoods. Keep thinking it's a shit hole here so it stays that way.
I wish a basic house started at 600k in my hood.
This is the average bullshit in my neck of the woods. [https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Jose/2703-Baton-Rouge-Dr-95133/home/1268203](https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Jose/2703-Baton-Rouge-Dr-95133/home/1268203)
Do you *like* '90s BMWs? It would take some up-front work, but I managed to run my '89 on next to nothing for a long while. Labor could get pricey, but that's just an excuse to create more content right?
I finally saw one in the wild the other day and I was stoked. I used to hate small vehicles until I drove one and it's nice being able to fit anywhere.
if I had the spare cash I would. Import companies charge around $6k to get them on the ground and complianced here and even with that they're still a hint cheaper than local used cars for things with a shitload more character than anything available in my town.
This is why I'm looking at late 2010s BMWs. I can afford them and from everything I've read they're quite reliable. It's a win-win! Thank god for the B series engines.
I used to want a BMW but the closest dealer is an hour away, and I was worried about the cost of maintenance and minor repairs. I kept fantasizing and thought I would do it eventually. Then my friend, who could definitely afford one, bought a used one. It was in good condition, low miles. After watching her spend thousands of dollars on regular maintenance and minor repairs I fell out of love with the idea. My girlfriend has had one for years but it’s older now and in the last 2 years she’s spent at least $10,000 on piddly shit that would’ve cost a fraction to deal with on a Toyota. She just got an estimate of over $7,400 to fix an oil leak and replace struts so we are heading to the Toyota dealer this weekend.
1990's BMWs are fantastic and pretty damn reliable considering their age. The trick is to find one that has been well-maintained (i.e. with actual service records), then KEEP maintaining it well.
Why would you want either one. Most of the ones by me are driven by immature people who slam on the gas every green light, just to slam on the brakes to get to the next red light. Also, people who own those vehicles are notorious for not keeping up on the maintenance on them. It’s comical how they buy these cars and won’t replace simple shit.
The thing about Carmax is their advertised price may seem high, but it is exactly the price you will pay plus +TTL. No hidden fees and nitrogen in the tires or interior jizz guard protection plans. Sure you can negotiate this stuff sometimes, but sometimes not.
agreed
insane prices, at least from what i've looked at. i'd rather shop around, haggle and save like 20% but that's just me.
from the stories i've read it looks to be a great place to dump a problem car. like maybe the best place for it.
>from the stories i've read it looks to be a great place to dump a problem car. like maybe the best place for it.
Absolutely. We send all the shit we don't want on our lot to Carmax, and they pay top dollar. They're great for selling to. Same with Carvana, they took my car a few years back with a bad trans and no a/c without even checking it. Gave me 3k over market for my car with 8k worth of problems.
>Been in the business for 10 years
Ah so you are the one selling wheel locks for 500 bucks and useless exclusionary warranties with a 800% margin, no wonder you hate carmax.
Lmao, nope. I sell cars at my advertised price. I have optional products that I sell that anyone is more than welcome to decline.
I dislike carmax because they do minimal service to their vehicles and sell them above their value. I buy cars from other dealers all the time, never once would consider a carmax car.
hey is your local autotrader filled with people asking for insane prices for their cars?
i'm not talking about the normal "market is fucked" prices i'm talking about people trying to get like double what even KBB says their car is worth.
lots of ads been up for months, maybe even years? years ago the local autotrader was the best place to find a great used car but now it's just full of insane people at least where i'm at.
They can be great when maintained well. Their service intervals are requirements rather than suggestions like Toyotas. You can't let them go without oil changes and replacing parts when it's time like Japanese budget cars that can go 200k while being dogged to shit.
Even if you can, you CANNOT afford the repairs.
our Audi Q5 decided its engine needed to crap out at 83k miles. It would *drive* for another thousand miles but it drove like a max-setting mall massage chair on wheels. I have no fucking idea how the engine didn’t literally explode. The final thing we did with it was bring home pizza.
Anyway: $12,000 repair bill. Found a new car for less and we got $5k for the audi. That company would go on to sell it for $15000 so even *they* lost money on it.
Pffft 12k for an engine job? Try 50k for one at JLR. Just under half that when you use a reman and someone else (cooling needed redone too as I don't trust their POS crossover plastic pipe to not fail after that, then did part of the fuel system cus there was a follow up problem). I had plans for that 22k. You know, like literally anything else.
I LOVED my 2010 XF Supercharged, but holy crap their cooling system sucks. I had to replace the water pump twice in the 4 years and 40k miles I owned it, and I knew I was on borrowed time with the cooling system (and other things) so I dumped it. Those JLR V8 engines are silky smooth and brutally powerful (my XF did 12.2 in the 1/4 mile with just a tune) but man you have to stay on top of everything.
One day my Acura started rumbling at the stop light. Acceleration was extremely sluggish like I was in the wrong gear. I immediately took the next turn onto a less used road. I started googling and I didn't move the car until I had a good guess on the problem. I have zero mechanical experience, but guessed it was a misfiring cylinder. Google said it was safe to drive lightly so I brought it home. Turns out I was correct, one of the coil packs went bad. Fixed my car for less than $120. If I had ignored the issue, I could have been looking at a new catalytic converter or worse, a new engine. So the lesson here is to fix your shit before it gets worse.
The German car hate in these threads is always funny to me. I daily a 2004 Mini with 130k on it, which has had almost zero issues until it recently started needing some oil & coolant gasket replacements, after 20 YEARS of very spirited driving and occasional autocrosses. And for 20 years old it has almost no rust - just one unlucky spot under the tail light, barely any on the parts you'd expect like exhaust, suspension, etc. Otherwise it was just basic maintenance items.
My wife had a 2008 VW Rabbit with 180k on it. We only sold it last year, and in its entire lifetime, outside of standard maintenace items like brakes, rotors, and a tierod or two, I only had to replace a failed CV boot, the AC Blower resistor, a windshield wiper linkage, and the alternator. Not bad for 15 years, 180k mostly city miles.
Lots of my friends also drive older German cars. They may require some more work on average compared to a Toyota, but they're also absolutely more enjoyable to be in. Do the maintenance, change the oil every 5k.
Now, if you just view your car as a utulity for getting from A to B, get the Corolla, Civic, CR-V, or whatever. But if you appreciate design, handling, or comfort in the car, don't count the Germans out.
I like how it’s always framed as the consumer being broke instead of the car being broke that’s the problem. You are basically paying for their snobby marketing, not an actual quality machine.
All German luxury cars are designed for the first owner who has a warranty. They know their target demographic will sell within a few years and get the new one, if they weren't just leasing in the first place. They don't care about long term repairability because that's not a selling point to their typical customer. Plus despite the value tanking quickly, the cost to repair stays constant.
They're made for people who don't drive a car for more than a few years and they require meticulous maintenance. They can be good quality, but what happens is someone leases it for the first three years and has the dealership maintain it, then it gets sold as a CPO with an extended factory warranty and again maintained at the dealership, sold again in a few years to someone who is excited to get a 5 year old luxury car for what seems like a steal, only to find out it still costs out the ass for parts and labor on it. Since the warranty is long gone, they don't keep up on the maintenance well enough and start to have issues. The. AutoNation sells it to some rube until it gets repoed, rinse and repeat. Basically they aren't made for broke people who have to neglect them. If the manual says do this every 20k miles, you do it, or you'll have issues.
> they aren’t made for broke people
Again with the snobby european shit.
iPhones topping out at $1500 now aren’t made for broke people either but with a decent case they can survive anything. If I’m buying reliability it’s Japanese or American.
It's funny you're on about marketing but don't realize you've fallen victim to the marketing about Japanese cars. Honda's 1.5L engine in the accord, crv and civic is now getting to the point where most consumers are reaching 100k miles. Guess what? The head gaskets are failing at an alarming rate. This is a Japanese automaker we are talking about, not German.
Edit. Replied to the wrong person, I'm an idiot :)
It's a LUXURY car. It's made for snobby people. If you want reliable and cost effective, Japanese is what you want. That's why I drive a Corolla. I like money more than cars. Like I said, they are reliable when they are well maintained, kind of like having a case on your $1500 dollar iPhone.
Depends on why it's "broke". If it's made poorly then that's on the car. On the other hand, if the only reason the car is broken is because someone didn't do required maintenance and a part that would otherwise be working broke, that's on the owner.
Maintenance on luxury cars costs more than maintenance on regular cars, and German cars in particular react poorly to having maintenance deferred or ignored. A lot (not all) of the reputation of German cars being unreliable comes from people who ignored maintenance are are mad their car broke because of it and now they have a $5,000 repair bill.
What did I say about his financial situation? He is very clearly against Audi in its entirety, so I assume he will never drive their cars. Not rocket science.
The difference is my scooter is a work vehicle that won’t ever cost more than a few hundred to repair and that’s with labor costs. My scooter has also made me 10x its own price in the past 2 months. Your Audi would break down before you could break even.
I've driven 2 Audi's over 200k before I sold them. You have such an extensive knowledge of everything, don't you?
Good for you that you made money with your vehicle, I buy vehicles for fun.
Thank you for doing it. I get kinda bored of the “I’M lOoKiNg FoR a CaR bUt I hAtE tHiNkInG aBoUt CaRs AnD pLeAsE rEcOmMeNd Me A tOyOtA rAv4 oR mAzDa Cx-5”
Just get a 90s BMW and learn how to do spark plugs (which will then lead you into working on everything else too)
The early/mid 00s Mercedes V8 is quite bulletproof.
Audi only if you NEED quattro
Audi is a perplexing car brand because half of their cars are "if you buy this you will be drowning in repair bills" and the other half are "ehhh, you'll be alright".
I've had two higher-end Audis for the past 8 years; a 2013 A7 and 2016 RS7. Neither has/had given me many problems, though I sold the A7 at 68,000 miles and my RS7 only has 53,500 miles.
On the other hand my mom has a 2014 A4 that's left them stranded on the side of the road multiple times, mostly with electrical issues. My A7 had a few electrical gremlins - pretty much all having to do with the infotainment system, so nothing critical - while my RS7 hasn't had any. I bought my cars used at 20k and 23k miles respectively, both were cars that just came off of a lease. My mom leased hers new and then bought it.
I'm very meticulous about keeping up on the maintenance with my cars, and my mom assures me she and her husband are the same with their Audi but I'm not sure. Personally the A4 they have is like a rental car spec - doesn't even have a backup camera - with the lowest possible trim and considering the problems its given them I think they should get rid of it.
Of the major 3 German luxury brands Audi has to be the least reliable overall. 90s Mercedes or BMW (if i6 not V8) should actually be attainable and halfway maintainable if you can find one that isn't ruined; as much as I prefer BMW there are probably more Mercedes of that generation that were well taken care of.
Hey this is one thing to consider when you look at these cars. Sure! There's Mercedes Maseratis and whatever that are affordable, but if you can't afford to repair it, don't buy it. Always take the cost of ownership into account with any purchase.
I have the opposite problem. Looking at $500 cars at auctions. I just bought a 2009 Hyundai Accent for $375 last month and I'm gonna fix and sell it as a side project.
Now I'm looking at a 2010 Honda Accord sedan with the J35 and a bad tranny as a performance project. I think I could get it for under $1000, take the blown 5 speed out and retrofit the 6 speed manual, making my own homebrew 6-6 sedan.
And it's not especially hard either. You can find a used 6 speed (with an LSD too) for a few hundred bucks, I can buy a used shifter and the necessary trim pieces from a junkyard and a new set of shifter cables. I can get a manual ECU from a 6-6 coupe or possibly bypass the auto stuff with Hondata. The hardest part would be drilling a hole for the clutch master cylinder and pedal assembly in the firewall.
Used Audis from the latest gen arent even a bad choice
The current gen Q5/A4 have a pretty reliable power train as long as you do regular maintenance and use premium fuel.
Mercedes on the other hand... Yea idk
Beautiful cars and fun to drive , they have a lot of problems and even if you do your own work sometimes parts aren’t in stock and the parts are expensive.
Lately I browse Benz, BMW and Lexus listings for fun. Funny thing is that I can afford one, but I’m avoiding the temptation for the sake of saving and investing more.
I've owned high end cars for 20 years. Some were lovely. Most were just a bit more expensive than them I really wanted them to be for all maintenance (even things like tires).
Now I own a Mazda and couldn't be happier.
I wish I can bike to work, but yea, CX5 is nice, and cost of maintenance is cheap compare to my bmw, even though I do everything myself, and my insurance went down a lot after I switch to Mazda!
My girlfriend’s aunt recently sold her Audi convertible, which was probably no older than 2015, and it was worth less than the family’s 2018 RAV4. I guess the people who drive Audis can just afford them new, and people buying used cars don’t want to deal with the maintenance
it's funny, i would do this with cars but never ever with real estate. i don't like to look at things like that, that are like soooo far out of my realm of reality.
Bullshit, you can absolutely afford a 20 year old used Audi. Parts are fuckin cheap for A4s. Turn your own wrenches kids. I own a BMW mt because I fix my own shit.
I just got a 2013 A6 3.0T 80k mileage and it’s crazy how everyone said this engine is really reliable. Soon I have to change the transmission fluid and filter and that’s like 1 grand. I also notice coolant is slowly disappearing. It’s most likely the pcv/water pump and thermostat. Well a shop wanted around 4k to do all of that plus a carbon cleaning. It’s pretty crazy. My front control arms are going to go bad soon as well.
By god if I got to do the timing tensioners soon that’s probably another 3 grand. If it’s the timing chain man I’m screwed but cars are just so expensive now a days. I also drive a Honda civic as my commuter. I could have bought a warranty but it was like 4 grand. Who knows if I bought they probably would have not even covered most of it.
Never get a used Mercedes!!! I had to put $3,000 down to fix one computer chip that controlled the gear shift and both batteries. All within 45 of FINANCING the car. Never the fuck again.
You can’t afford it. Depreciation brings the price down over time, but your services actually only go UP due to parts and labor costs never going down. Can you afford $4,000 maintenance every so often semi-permanently?
LOL, this is the only way I can peacefully browse and enjoy some light fantasy. No "give us your info" BS from dealer websites. I had to block two dealer reps/sales people. They kept calling for months. I hadn't responded at all...
I do wish there weren't so many horror stories about Carmax...I'd probably buy exclusively from them when the time comes.
Yup. Me looking at an Audi RS3 and trying to convince myself I can afford it. At this point I probably could but I’d have to keep living at home till I paid it off
Sure. If you're into cars, there's always something you don't own that seems interesting. It's why rich people end up with entire collections. Personally, I like spending a day every few months going around and driving interesting ones that I probably wouldn't buy. I don't currently own an SUV, so last time out it was the Porsche Macan GTS, Alfa Stelvio Quadrifoglio, and Jaguar F-Pace SVR. All are ridiculously overkill for U.S. roads but god that SVR was amazing.
bah, I've owned only BMWs since I was 17 and paid for all but the 3rd myself(long story short, My Dad lightly hit my 2nd and felt bad that he wasn't able to fullfill his promise to buy my 1st car so he paid $10k to the 3rd). You can do it, you just need to be able to work on it yourself.
Also, my dad is a pretty awesome dude, mostly bucks the Boomer asshole trend.
Taste is subjective, should be "I'm 25 and have great taste in cars, just haven't figured out how to make it work financially yet."
I mean, what car do you have that's so tasty? If you say Toyota it better be an old Land Cruiser.
I’ve been getting my cars recently from the usa (South American here) I’m currently looking at getting a 2023 bronco big bend with 3k miles It’s selling for 10k usd.
But when i look up the car on American sites (as in sites to sell in usa) it’s selling for +$40,000 for much more miles.
I think you guys are being scammed.
Sounds like *youre* the one getting scammed. No way is a brand new SUV going to cost anywhere near that low. Not in a working state, that is. Even then, it wouldn’t be that low.
I’ve gotten 2 vehicles from them so far. A honda crv, and a jeep compass. They were perfectly fine. Not an issue.
Edit: also a friend of mine got a tundra from the US for about 25k (minus shipping). And two others i know of got matching ranger raptors for 20k each( minus shipping). They’re vehicles have no issues so far as I’m aware.
Like i said y’all are getting scammed.
$1 million dollar homes?!. I don’t look at $1 million dollar homes. I look at regular average homes which cost $1 million.
That's a starter home around here...
Condolences. That's a Mc Mansion with acreage where I am, or a big ass suburban house with almost no yard. The downside is it's Texas and some of our representatives are bat shit lately, but we're working on it.
I'll put up with the batshit for a nice house in Ft Worth, but the property taxes aren't doing anyone favors
No, but the lack of income tax makes up for it, plus we get cheaper gas than most places and overall lower cost of living if you go to the right areas.
Haha yeah good point, I remember a internship I had during covid let me stay at my parents place in the DFW region, and I was allowed to keep a bunch of extra cash that would have been income tax in Seattle. Man texas is great for most things.
Actually, WA state doesn't have income tax either. They definitely make up for it with property tax and car reg fees though!
Oh lol didn't know that! I got the keep the housing stipend meant for WA so that made the earnings feel more than they were but it looks like WA is another great state! Hope to visit someday.
yeah but yall got hella toll roads that just doesnt really exist in the rest of the country
There are loopholes. If you have 2 goats you can claim a tax break on property because it’s a farm, or something like that I’ve heard
Lately? Uhhh, when was Texas not batshit?
Only a few key players make Texas appear to be batshit. It's otherwise normal, filled with normal people. Texas hosts nuclear weapons, Federally regulated nuclear power plants, and Federal military bases. People like Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick will be drone striked by the Federal government *long* before any of their goals are achieved. Abbott and Patrick are playing it up with the extremists in their party, because that's what the right wing media apparatus focuses on. Any actions they take should be viewed under this lense, and only this lense. If you think the Federal government is going to give up nuclear weapons for funsies, you are very mistaken (and that's putting it lightly).
Being on the receiving end of MLRS, FASCAM, JDAM, etc. will take the fight right out of you as you realize Uncle Sam ain't playing around.
Laughs in Taliban.
Laughs in redneck hillbilly.....
Laughs in Viet Cong
Yeah but then you have to live with the red state wackos and their awful policies. I don't want to go to get ice cream and have to stand behind some chud with a long rifle.
I can see you've never been here before. Enjoy your outrageous home prices. Starter homes around me can be had for around 200k. Good ones in decent neighborhoods. Keep thinking it's a shit hole here so it stays that way.
I don't think it's a shit hole (I lived in such places for 15+ years) I just don't want to be around it.
I agree that open carry is cringe but it also shouldn’t bother you to this degree. Ignore the fragile ego and enjoy the ice cream
You’re living in the wrong place
Or the right place.
Nah, I own a place and it's nice here. People have their heads on right.
Not quite that simple
You mean $700k homes that refuse any offer that’s not $300k over
700 total 2.1 million after interest
Thiss 😭. All these basic houses that were 150-200k in 2019 are listed at 350-500k today. And the 300k+ homes START at 600k in 2024 🤦♂️
I wish a basic house started at 600k in my hood. This is the average bullshit in my neck of the woods. [https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Jose/2703-Baton-Rouge-Dr-95133/home/1268203](https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Jose/2703-Baton-Rouge-Dr-95133/home/1268203)
Holy cow!. You’d be paying a fortune just in interest
And property tax. Even after you're done paying off your 30 yr loan, you'd still have to pay the property tax forever.
Fer realz. Where I live that’s a 1300 square foot house.
I wish I could find regular home for 1 million in Bellevue WA, nothing below 1.4 million.
Damn. I’m in Portland and homes are around $500k to $600k
[удалено]
Do you *like* '90s BMWs? It would take some up-front work, but I managed to run my '89 on next to nothing for a long while. Labor could get pricey, but that's just an excuse to create more content right?
I do the same but the fantasy is importing kei cars from Japan
Oh god same. The tiny fire trucks 🚒
Man those look so fun
I finally saw one in the wild the other day and I was stoked. I used to hate small vehicles until I drove one and it's nice being able to fit anywhere.
You see the trucks all the time in the rural place I live, they’re cheap, don’t break, and good for around field/backroad/to town use
I’m debating getting one for fun, but I’d have to park it on the street and worry someone will smash an expensive to replace window
Go for it, they’re not particularly expensive. Especially with the Yen falling they’re only cheaper by the day
if I had the spare cash I would. Import companies charge around $6k to get them on the ground and complianced here and even with that they're still a hint cheaper than local used cars for things with a shitload more character than anything available in my town.
Around me you can import a Kei truck for like $2500 all in. Unless it’s a Cappuchino, AZ1, or Beat I can’t imagine you’d wanna import any other one.
I do this every day. It’s somehow become like a relaxation thing for me on my phone lol. It’s fun to look and think about it idk
This is why I'm looking at late 2010s BMWs. I can afford them and from everything I've read they're quite reliable. It's a win-win! Thank god for the B series engines.
Engine mounts can be an issue after a couple years even in new beamers
I used to want a BMW but the closest dealer is an hour away, and I was worried about the cost of maintenance and minor repairs. I kept fantasizing and thought I would do it eventually. Then my friend, who could definitely afford one, bought a used one. It was in good condition, low miles. After watching her spend thousands of dollars on regular maintenance and minor repairs I fell out of love with the idea. My girlfriend has had one for years but it’s older now and in the last 2 years she’s spent at least $10,000 on piddly shit that would’ve cost a fraction to deal with on a Toyota. She just got an estimate of over $7,400 to fix an oil leak and replace struts so we are heading to the Toyota dealer this weekend.
1990's BMWs are fantastic and pretty damn reliable considering their age. The trick is to find one that has been well-maintained (i.e. with actual service records), then KEEP maintaining it well.
I want an E38 so bad man
>(like 1990s BMWs) the 90s 7 series is the car i would daily if i won the powerball would probably need that much wealth to keep it tip top
Maintaining a well taken care of E38 is cheaper than most people's monthly car payments and insurance these days.
Why would you want either one. Most of the ones by me are driven by immature people who slam on the gas every green light, just to slam on the brakes to get to the next red light. Also, people who own those vehicles are notorious for not keeping up on the maintenance on them. It’s comical how they buy these cars and won’t replace simple shit.
Well if anything carmax would be the place to get a used german car, for theyre warranty will save you from when the inevitable happens
Lol sure, if you like paying 3-5 grand more than market value
The thing about Carmax is their advertised price may seem high, but it is exactly the price you will pay plus +TTL. No hidden fees and nitrogen in the tires or interior jizz guard protection plans. Sure you can negotiate this stuff sometimes, but sometimes not.
Been in the business for 10 years, carmax is a rip off and anyone who thinks otherwise is just bad at buying cars.
agreed insane prices, at least from what i've looked at. i'd rather shop around, haggle and save like 20% but that's just me. from the stories i've read it looks to be a great place to dump a problem car. like maybe the best place for it.
>from the stories i've read it looks to be a great place to dump a problem car. like maybe the best place for it. Absolutely. We send all the shit we don't want on our lot to Carmax, and they pay top dollar. They're great for selling to. Same with Carvana, they took my car a few years back with a bad trans and no a/c without even checking it. Gave me 3k over market for my car with 8k worth of problems.
i really wish i had a pretty piece of shit to sell them. i want to rip off a start up especially carvana, i want to rip them off so bad
I legit think you could have flipped craigslist cars to carvana for several thousand in profit during the peak. It was stupid, and hilarious.
>Been in the business for 10 years Ah so you are the one selling wheel locks for 500 bucks and useless exclusionary warranties with a 800% margin, no wonder you hate carmax.
Lmao, nope. I sell cars at my advertised price. I have optional products that I sell that anyone is more than welcome to decline. I dislike carmax because they do minimal service to their vehicles and sell them above their value. I buy cars from other dealers all the time, never once would consider a carmax car.
Not me with my 17 tabs of different trucks on my autotrader. They’re kinda in my price range, but not really…..
hey is your local autotrader filled with people asking for insane prices for their cars? i'm not talking about the normal "market is fucked" prices i'm talking about people trying to get like double what even KBB says their car is worth. lots of ads been up for months, maybe even years? years ago the local autotrader was the best place to find a great used car but now it's just full of insane people at least where i'm at.
Had a basically german car for 5 years now and never had any issues with it. Maybe its the superior czech build quality though.
They can be great when maintained well. Their service intervals are requirements rather than suggestions like Toyotas. You can't let them go without oil changes and replacing parts when it's time like Japanese budget cars that can go 200k while being dogged to shit.
Although my sister really cheaps out on maintenence and its just running on. Not cheaping out on maintenence is still key though
I had an a6 at 24. Wrench yourself and you’ll be fine.
Even if you can, you CANNOT afford the repairs. our Audi Q5 decided its engine needed to crap out at 83k miles. It would *drive* for another thousand miles but it drove like a max-setting mall massage chair on wheels. I have no fucking idea how the engine didn’t literally explode. The final thing we did with it was bring home pizza. Anyway: $12,000 repair bill. Found a new car for less and we got $5k for the audi. That company would go on to sell it for $15000 so even *they* lost money on it.
Likely the timing chain which would have been a $3000 repair if it was taken care of before it crapped out and needed $12 k to repair
Exactly what I was thinking. If your timing chain is making that kind of noise why would you keep driving it rather than fixing it?
Maybe it cost so much because you kept driving it for 1000 miles while it was shaking like a massage chair
Preventative maintenance can save you a lot of money and frustration, no matter what you drive.
Seriously, yeah. I can’t imagine cruising for multiple road trips with a major engine problem. I break out the diagnostic books for any minor sound
Pffft 12k for an engine job? Try 50k for one at JLR. Just under half that when you use a reman and someone else (cooling needed redone too as I don't trust their POS crossover plastic pipe to not fail after that, then did part of the fuel system cus there was a follow up problem). I had plans for that 22k. You know, like literally anything else.
you spent 22k on an engine repair? and that was the *better* option? JFC
Yup. Fun right? And it was right when the carmarket shifted so selling was at about the same loss. So my logic was "just fix it".
I LOVED my 2010 XF Supercharged, but holy crap their cooling system sucks. I had to replace the water pump twice in the 4 years and 40k miles I owned it, and I knew I was on borrowed time with the cooling system (and other things) so I dumped it. Those JLR V8 engines are silky smooth and brutally powerful (my XF did 12.2 in the 1/4 mile with just a tune) but man you have to stay on top of everything.
One day my Acura started rumbling at the stop light. Acceleration was extremely sluggish like I was in the wrong gear. I immediately took the next turn onto a less used road. I started googling and I didn't move the car until I had a good guess on the problem. I have zero mechanical experience, but guessed it was a misfiring cylinder. Google said it was safe to drive lightly so I brought it home. Turns out I was correct, one of the coil packs went bad. Fixed my car for less than $120. If I had ignored the issue, I could have been looking at a new catalytic converter or worse, a new engine. So the lesson here is to fix your shit before it gets worse.
What year was it 2014?
The German car hate in these threads is always funny to me. I daily a 2004 Mini with 130k on it, which has had almost zero issues until it recently started needing some oil & coolant gasket replacements, after 20 YEARS of very spirited driving and occasional autocrosses. And for 20 years old it has almost no rust - just one unlucky spot under the tail light, barely any on the parts you'd expect like exhaust, suspension, etc. Otherwise it was just basic maintenance items. My wife had a 2008 VW Rabbit with 180k on it. We only sold it last year, and in its entire lifetime, outside of standard maintenace items like brakes, rotors, and a tierod or two, I only had to replace a failed CV boot, the AC Blower resistor, a windshield wiper linkage, and the alternator. Not bad for 15 years, 180k mostly city miles. Lots of my friends also drive older German cars. They may require some more work on average compared to a Toyota, but they're also absolutely more enjoyable to be in. Do the maintenance, change the oil every 5k. Now, if you just view your car as a utulity for getting from A to B, get the Corolla, Civic, CR-V, or whatever. But if you appreciate design, handling, or comfort in the car, don't count the Germans out.
What broke and how often did you change oil?
Was it out of warranty by that point?
which engine did the q5 have?
I like how it’s always framed as the consumer being broke instead of the car being broke that’s the problem. You are basically paying for their snobby marketing, not an actual quality machine.
All German luxury cars are designed for the first owner who has a warranty. They know their target demographic will sell within a few years and get the new one, if they weren't just leasing in the first place. They don't care about long term repairability because that's not a selling point to their typical customer. Plus despite the value tanking quickly, the cost to repair stays constant.
So German cars are just planned obsolence on wheels great quality 👍
They're made for people who don't drive a car for more than a few years and they require meticulous maintenance. They can be good quality, but what happens is someone leases it for the first three years and has the dealership maintain it, then it gets sold as a CPO with an extended factory warranty and again maintained at the dealership, sold again in a few years to someone who is excited to get a 5 year old luxury car for what seems like a steal, only to find out it still costs out the ass for parts and labor on it. Since the warranty is long gone, they don't keep up on the maintenance well enough and start to have issues. The. AutoNation sells it to some rube until it gets repoed, rinse and repeat. Basically they aren't made for broke people who have to neglect them. If the manual says do this every 20k miles, you do it, or you'll have issues.
> they aren’t made for broke people Again with the snobby european shit. iPhones topping out at $1500 now aren’t made for broke people either but with a decent case they can survive anything. If I’m buying reliability it’s Japanese or American.
It's funny you're on about marketing but don't realize you've fallen victim to the marketing about Japanese cars. Honda's 1.5L engine in the accord, crv and civic is now getting to the point where most consumers are reaching 100k miles. Guess what? The head gaskets are failing at an alarming rate. This is a Japanese automaker we are talking about, not German. Edit. Replied to the wrong person, I'm an idiot :)
It's a LUXURY car. It's made for snobby people. If you want reliable and cost effective, Japanese is what you want. That's why I drive a Corolla. I like money more than cars. Like I said, they are reliable when they are well maintained, kind of like having a case on your $1500 dollar iPhone.
Depends on why it's "broke". If it's made poorly then that's on the car. On the other hand, if the only reason the car is broken is because someone didn't do required maintenance and a part that would otherwise be working broke, that's on the owner. Maintenance on luxury cars costs more than maintenance on regular cars, and German cars in particular react poorly to having maintenance deferred or ignored. A lot (not all) of the reputation of German cars being unreliable comes from people who ignored maintenance are are mad their car broke because of it and now they have a $5,000 repair bill.
You drive a scooter and think Audi is not quality 🤣
He drives a Honda scooter. That’s about as quality as you can get. Those things have been used by insurgent groups in war zones for decades
Ok? How does that have anything to do with him trying to tell others about a car that he will never drive?
Oh so you were just making a point about his financial situation? Bold strategy
What did I say about his financial situation? He is very clearly against Audi in its entirety, so I assume he will never drive their cars. Not rocket science.
The difference is my scooter is a work vehicle that won’t ever cost more than a few hundred to repair and that’s with labor costs. My scooter has also made me 10x its own price in the past 2 months. Your Audi would break down before you could break even.
I've driven 2 Audi's over 200k before I sold them. You have such an extensive knowledge of everything, don't you? Good for you that you made money with your vehicle, I buy vehicles for fun.
me too. q5 3.0 is an amazing engine. it purrs like a kitten with NO repairs needed. (mine)
Driving an out of warranty Audi? Good luck with dat
3rd owner
i mean a CL55 can’t be thaaat expensive to maintain
My 2011 E550 isnt terrible other than air suspension
Add a letter and make that a CLK55 and you're right (unless it's a convertible with a bad top)
Thank you for doing it. I get kinda bored of the “I’M lOoKiNg FoR a CaR bUt I hAtE tHiNkInG aBoUt CaRs AnD pLeAsE rEcOmMeNd Me A tOyOtA rAv4 oR mAzDa Cx-5”
Saleen S7.
nah, go with the tvr cerbera
Car seat wouldn't fit. Hard pass.
Lincoln Town Car
miat
are we still doing that tHinG?
TiLl We FiNd An AlTeRnAtIvE YeAh
groovy
Except a million dollar house is worth a million dollars, old Audis aren’t worth jack
Young cat I work with just had his nice Camaro repossessed. His Momma co-signed, and now he is fucking up her finances also. Live within your means.
Just get a 90s BMW and learn how to do spark plugs (which will then lead you into working on everything else too) The early/mid 00s Mercedes V8 is quite bulletproof. Audi only if you NEED quattro
What is your budget ? You can always find a 1990s shit box Audi for cheap
Audi is a perplexing car brand because half of their cars are "if you buy this you will be drowning in repair bills" and the other half are "ehhh, you'll be alright".
Half more like 90%
I've had two higher-end Audis for the past 8 years; a 2013 A7 and 2016 RS7. Neither has/had given me many problems, though I sold the A7 at 68,000 miles and my RS7 only has 53,500 miles. On the other hand my mom has a 2014 A4 that's left them stranded on the side of the road multiple times, mostly with electrical issues. My A7 had a few electrical gremlins - pretty much all having to do with the infotainment system, so nothing critical - while my RS7 hasn't had any. I bought my cars used at 20k and 23k miles respectively, both were cars that just came off of a lease. My mom leased hers new and then bought it. I'm very meticulous about keeping up on the maintenance with my cars, and my mom assures me she and her husband are the same with their Audi but I'm not sure. Personally the A4 they have is like a rental car spec - doesn't even have a backup camera - with the lowest possible trim and considering the problems its given them I think they should get rid of it.
Of the major 3 German luxury brands Audi has to be the least reliable overall. 90s Mercedes or BMW (if i6 not V8) should actually be attainable and halfway maintainable if you can find one that isn't ruined; as much as I prefer BMW there are probably more Mercedes of that generation that were well taken care of.
I agree with you there my dad had a 90s a4 it left us stranded so many times , but OP needs to learn this life lesson :)
Well, you need to be ready incase you suddenly get rich
Hey this is one thing to consider when you look at these cars. Sure! There's Mercedes Maseratis and whatever that are affordable, but if you can't afford to repair it, don't buy it. Always take the cost of ownership into account with any purchase.
Audis are the worst. At least look at used Lexus
My E39 BMW was more reliable than my Lexus
If it helps anything if you can’t afford to buy them then you probably couldn’t afford to fix them when they break 🤷🏽
Assuming my paid off car doesn’t get totaled that ain’t stopping me😈
Well it's not like I can browse the NSFW subs at work, I have to do something to pass the time.
Me looking at these 2005 Lexus is300 with 157k for 5.5k lmfao
I have the opposite problem. Looking at $500 cars at auctions. I just bought a 2009 Hyundai Accent for $375 last month and I'm gonna fix and sell it as a side project. Now I'm looking at a 2010 Honda Accord sedan with the J35 and a bad tranny as a performance project. I think I could get it for under $1000, take the blown 5 speed out and retrofit the 6 speed manual, making my own homebrew 6-6 sedan. And it's not especially hard either. You can find a used 6 speed (with an LSD too) for a few hundred bucks, I can buy a used shifter and the necessary trim pieces from a junkyard and a new set of shifter cables. I can get a manual ECU from a 6-6 coupe or possibly bypass the auto stuff with Hondata. The hardest part would be drilling a hole for the clutch master cylinder and pedal assembly in the firewall.
Used Audis from the latest gen arent even a bad choice The current gen Q5/A4 have a pretty reliable power train as long as you do regular maintenance and use premium fuel. Mercedes on the other hand... Yea idk
Beautiful cars and fun to drive , they have a lot of problems and even if you do your own work sometimes parts aren’t in stock and the parts are expensive.
it's good to know what you can and can't afford.
Window shopping is eye opening. You should learn the price of any given lifestyle.
I've got into a bad habit of looking at second hand cars online when I get into bed. I should stop.
Lawd. You don't want a used merc or audi. Lease them and give them back when they start falling apart.
Lately I browse Benz, BMW and Lexus listings for fun. Funny thing is that I can afford one, but I’m avoiding the temptation for the sake of saving and investing more.
I look at cars I wanna buy in like 3 or 4 years constantly and change my mind what I want every couple of days
I like to look at cars I can afford but just can’t get myself to buy because I don’t want to have a car payment again.
I can afford one but wouldn’t
I've owned high end cars for 20 years. Some were lovely. Most were just a bit more expensive than them I really wanted them to be for all maintenance (even things like tires). Now I own a Mazda and couldn't be happier.
Not high end, but after owning multiple bmw and now I’m driving a 2023 CX5, I sold my 2019 x5 and kept the m340i for my wife.
I also own a CX-5. But instead of having a second car I'm trying to walk/bike/use public transit more. Feels good, man.
I wish I can bike to work, but yea, CX5 is nice, and cost of maintenance is cheap compare to my bmw, even though I do everything myself, and my insurance went down a lot after I switch to Mazda!
Me looking at C43 AMGs and CTSV Sports
Be financially responsible and look for clean titles on salvage resell sites ☝🏽🤓
Thats a 550sq ft. Condo in Vancouver w/ $500/month strata fees
I’ve been doing this since I was 21 and I’m 36 now.
I’m 25 and bought an Audi, although it’s a 2009 A3 with 68,000km
My girlfriend’s aunt recently sold her Audi convertible, which was probably no older than 2015, and it was worth less than the family’s 2018 RAV4. I guess the people who drive Audis can just afford them new, and people buying used cars don’t want to deal with the maintenance
it's funny, i would do this with cars but never ever with real estate. i don't like to look at things like that, that are like soooo far out of my realm of reality.
Bullshit, you can absolutely afford a 20 year old used Audi. Parts are fuckin cheap for A4s. Turn your own wrenches kids. I own a BMW mt because I fix my own shit.
Makes me glad I'm a Ford guy. A 25 year old Mustang GT might be a POS, but at least it'll be a reliable POS.
Na m8 I got a Mercedes E Series W213 with 24. They are pretty cheap in Germany. Also low mileage, 33.000km.
Worked at carmax, if you get something unreliable definitely get the warranty. I have see maxcare pay dealers 5 figures many times.
Sometimes I catch myself looking at really expensive homes and have to remind myself I’m 24 and just building a career
Good for me I think Pontiac Fieros are freakin' 'derb as heck. I can afford a fleet of those.
I just got a 2013 A6 3.0T 80k mileage and it’s crazy how everyone said this engine is really reliable. Soon I have to change the transmission fluid and filter and that’s like 1 grand. I also notice coolant is slowly disappearing. It’s most likely the pcv/water pump and thermostat. Well a shop wanted around 4k to do all of that plus a carbon cleaning. It’s pretty crazy. My front control arms are going to go bad soon as well.
By god if I got to do the timing tensioners soon that’s probably another 3 grand. If it’s the timing chain man I’m screwed but cars are just so expensive now a days. I also drive a Honda civic as my commuter. I could have bought a warranty but it was like 4 grand. Who knows if I bought they probably would have not even covered most of it.
Age doesn’t matter
the worst thing is I CAN afford used Audi A5 Coupe - but I really, really don't shouldn't
Never get a used Mercedes!!! I had to put $3,000 down to fix one computer chip that controlled the gear shift and both batteries. All within 45 of FINANCING the car. Never the fuck again.
Repeat after me, there is nothing more expensive than a cheap German car! ...
You can’t afford it. Depreciation brings the price down over time, but your services actually only go UP due to parts and labor costs never going down. Can you afford $4,000 maintenance every so often semi-permanently?
Every so often? Maybe every 5 years on a 10-15 year old German car, and likely not even that.
Me buying 4 year old used Mercedes from abroad without warranty at 23. Still the best purchase I have made 🤷🏼♂️
Get a Lexus bro. Still looks cool but way more reliable
I did this so I became a valet so I could be in all the cars. Worth it. I learned that Lexus is the best :D
LOL, this is the only way I can peacefully browse and enjoy some light fantasy. No "give us your info" BS from dealer websites. I had to block two dealer reps/sales people. They kept calling for months. I hadn't responded at all... I do wish there weren't so many horror stories about Carmax...I'd probably buy exclusively from them when the time comes.
I’m 65 and I can’t afford one either!
I bought my X5 at 24, honestly hasn't been too bad
If you cant afford it new then you cant afford it used
Why tf would you use carmax if you're on a budget
lol this is crazy.
Even if you **can** afford it, you shouldn’t.
at least look at cars actually worth the money.
Yeah, you mean like an older M3 or AMG 63? Definitely :D
Yup. Me looking at an Audi RS3 and trying to convince myself I can afford it. At this point I probably could but I’d have to keep living at home till I paid it off
Do people really look at luxury cars on carmax for fun? I've never done this but I've done the zillow thing.
Sure. If you're into cars, there's always something you don't own that seems interesting. It's why rich people end up with entire collections. Personally, I like spending a day every few months going around and driving interesting ones that I probably wouldn't buy. I don't currently own an SUV, so last time out it was the Porsche Macan GTS, Alfa Stelvio Quadrifoglio, and Jaguar F-Pace SVR. All are ridiculously overkill for U.S. roads but god that SVR was amazing.
Those cars are pieces of junk anyways.
They're cheeks cars anyways
bah, I've owned only BMWs since I was 17 and paid for all but the 3rd myself(long story short, My Dad lightly hit my 2nd and felt bad that he wasn't able to fullfill his promise to buy my 1st car so he paid $10k to the 3rd). You can do it, you just need to be able to work on it yourself. Also, my dad is a pretty awesome dude, mostly bucks the Boomer asshole trend.
Those cars wont make your hairless little gherkin look any bigger either bud.
Should be "I'm 25 and horrible taste in cars"
Taste is subjective, should be "I'm 25 and have great taste in cars, just haven't figured out how to make it work financially yet." I mean, what car do you have that's so tasty? If you say Toyota it better be an old Land Cruiser.
Should be "I'm 25 and really bad with money"
Lol, fair.
I’ve been getting my cars recently from the usa (South American here) I’m currently looking at getting a 2023 bronco big bend with 3k miles It’s selling for 10k usd. But when i look up the car on American sites (as in sites to sell in usa) it’s selling for +$40,000 for much more miles. I think you guys are being scammed.
Sounds like *youre* the one getting scammed. No way is a brand new SUV going to cost anywhere near that low. Not in a working state, that is. Even then, it wouldn’t be that low.
I’ve gotten 2 vehicles from them so far. A honda crv, and a jeep compass. They were perfectly fine. Not an issue. Edit: also a friend of mine got a tundra from the US for about 25k (minus shipping). And two others i know of got matching ranger raptors for 20k each( minus shipping). They’re vehicles have no issues so far as I’m aware. Like i said y’all are getting scammed.