To BMW or not to BMW: that is my question

[brianb]

I'm 32. I've owned, 5 vehicles in my life.

1. Dodge Aries for $800 - lasted one day before the head cracked. Spent the next four months trying to get all the resulting damage taken care of, but never could. Junked it.

2. Toyota Tercel - $5000. Worked well for me for a few years, bascially the life of my loan. Finally AC went out, and a year later I sold it.

3. Motorcycle - $3000. Love it, but it needed repairs and I didn't want to fool with it, plus the bad weather was a pain.

4. Dodge Caravan - $13k. It only had 21k miles on it. We bought it last year. Its basically my wife's car. We love it. No problems.

5. 1990 Dodge Daytona - $1500. This is my current car. It needs so much work I won't even bother listing it. Virtually everything had been replaced on it, including the speedometer. It has somewhere near 150k miles on it. Runs good, but needs a lot of work, and I lose a quart of oil a week.

With all my cars, with the exception of our newer Van, I usually spend one Saturday every six weeks working on the car with my father-in-law (lover of all things Chrysler/Dodge).

I'm ready to buy another car, and am prepared to spend around $13k.

The question is, do I but a) BMW or b) anything else. A friend here at work recommends I go with the BMW, specifically something in the 3xx series. My concerns are:
1) Will the BMW I can afford for $13k, last the 60 months I'll need to pay it off (assuming I spent the $13k and not $8k on an older one)
2) Will the cost to repair anything that breaks be so steep that I have to sell it for a loss?

My parents-in-law are recommending a Dodge Intrepid, which apparently is on sale new for around $14k. So for example, I'm trying to weight a brand new Intrepid with a 1996 328iS with 29k miles on it. Both would cost me the same.

Any suggestions?

Brian

 

[codex57]

Yeesh, since you're on such a tight budget, I might just go with a new car. What about a Camry or Corolla? Dunno about FL but here in CA, they can be damn cheap. You wouldn't have to worry about stuff breaking for a looong while. My uncle almost bought an 04 Corolla for $14K. The dealer also offered a Camry for $15,898 so that's what he got.

With an older BMW, the major mechanicals tend to last a long time. It's the electricals that seem to fail randomly and fairly often from my point of view. If you're on a tight budget and not too mechanically inclined, it could put you in a rough spot. If you've got some time, you could just get one and ask any questions here. We have a good number of members who fix their own cars and I'm sure they'd be glad to help you.

 

[selavia]

Keeping in mind I am only 20; and I have only been driving for 4 years, take my opinions with a grain of salt.

I used to drive a 95 toyota Camry; which you could go out and buy a 95-96 (4cyl 5sfe motor) with under a 100000miles anywhere from 3000-5000 in excellent condition. Great for hauling people and stuff; smooth comfortable ride; decent exceleration; and pretty good looking. And I can almost guarentee (sp?) that the 5sfe will take whatever abuse you give it and not give you any trouble. The 95 camry I drove had 190k when my Dad decided to give it to me. I abused the sh*t out of it, put a turbo on it, and currently the car has close to 300k with no rebuild or major work. The most serious thing I ever needed to do was oil pump filter...and that was because the oil didn't get changed for 16,000 miles. The car runs great; I probably would still use it as my car, but I wanted a manual tranny, and Camry's have horrible reputations for their manuals. And one more thing; one bad thing about the auto tranny on Camry is that if you don't change the fluid and filter every 110K, it'll shift like the trannsmission is shot, but it isn't. And you could save your self some $$$ if you get a Camry.

As far as Beemers go; I really like my 95 318Is; handles like a dream, corners great, drifts are so easy and fun, but nothing beats the feeling of a Camry...it's mundane, routine, even commonplace, but if you want reliable cheap transportation...it's your car. The camry (if abused really really badly) will have a drinking problem, but nothing ridiculous. One court every 2500miles.

Good luck, and post your final decision.

 

[brianb]

I should add another point that I'm considering in my decision. I have always wanted to own a car that I liked so much, that when something broke I would just get it fixed. With my past cars, and for example with my daytona right now, when something breaks, I have to spend time trying to figure out how much longer the car will last before I should sell it.

Some of what I've heard about BMWs seem to indicate that they are durable and could last me a long time. It seems like it might be a car that could last me quite a while, and, that I might even be able to hand down to my son in 10 yrs when he starts learning to drive.

But, I'm not as up on BMWs as you all are. I'm not real excited about buying a camry. If I don't get a BMW, I'd probably look at a Dodge Intrepid, a Jeep Cherokee or a Jeep Wrangler.

Brian

 

[DRWWE]

The bimmer should last you a while. You will have fun with it. Some people will be jealous.....

You will need to take care of it and keep in mind that maintenance costs of BMW's are what they are. I had a Camry and it was a great and reliable car but then you couldn't drive down the street without seeing ten or twenty of them on a given day. I have't driven the Dodge so I can't comment on it but I do have a bias against most American cars (although I love American trucks).

The biggest thing I can think of about your decision is that the new car will have a warranty, which should cover a lot of your costs for a while. Not as good as a new bimmer's warranty but much better that a used BMW (ie., nothing).

Good luck with your decision.

 

[selavia]

I had a Camry and it was a great and reliable car but then you couldn't drive down the street without seeing ten or twenty of them on a given day.

HAHA

I counted them on my street. Four about 100 homes; 23 Camrys ranging from
88-04!!

 

[Howe]

[No message]

 

[Howe]

sorry to bust your bubble, but with tight budget it's better not to take the bite.

BMW and CHEAP don't go together. for $13 grand i would get a 2000 model honda accord/camry and still have money in the bank.

 

[brianb]

It sounds like you are all saying that BWMs are not the most reliable car that could be purchased. Would you estimate that I might need say $3k - $5k a year to keep a BMW with 29k miles on it running?

Brian

 

[selavia]

Depends

It sounds like you are all saying that BWMs are not the most reliable car that could be purchased. Would you estimate that I might need say $3k - $5k a year to keep a BMW with 29k miles on it running?

Brian

Depends on how much you drive, how you drive, how you take car of your car, etc..


For example, if you don't screw with it too much; don't take it up to 6000rpms everytime you drive it, do less city driving, get oil changes regularly, good gas, you probably won't have to spend so much a year. I have noticed that it varies by the driver.

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

It sounds like you are all saying that BWMs are not the most reliable car that could be purchased. Would you estimate that I might need say $3k - $5k a year to keep a BMW with 29k miles on it running?

Brian

Hold up a 328is with 29k miles? For 13k??????????? How many owners did it have? did you run a car fax and test drive it? I don't think with that little mileage it should give u many problems, especially if it was serviced regularily.

On the side note if you don't wanna pay for oil changes, repairs, wiper blades etc.. then i'd lease a 3 series.... It's brand new and for about 5k down and $325-50 a month you can get a well equiped 325i only after 3 or so years its no longer yours... unless you can come up with 20k????? residual value price for it

 

[divesliverstain]

On the side note if you don't wanna pay for oil changes, repairs, wiper blades etc.. then i'd lease a 3 series.... It's brand new and for about 5k down and $325-50 a month you can get a well equiped 325i only after 3 or so years its no longer yours... unless you can come up with 20k????? residual value price for it

I was just at the BMW dealer about an hour ago checking on leasing a 325i. For a base 325i with an automatic you only have to put down $2500 for a payment of $289 for 24 months. I just want a base one with a 5 speed, sunroof and the sports package. I wanted to buy a used one but I think I'd rather just order exactly what I want on a new one. Keep in mind that a 325ci does not have nearly as atrractive lease rates.

 

[divesliverstain]

By the way do dealers in your areas keep manual transmission Bimmers around? Today Billion BMW had a whole row of 3 series sedans and a couple coupes-not a single one had a manual tranny. In fact every car there had an auto with the exception of the SMG in the M3 they had.

 

[Dave8812]

BMW's definately aren't cheap. Unless your as lucky as me. My 1980 633 had about 310,000 miles on it, only two different cylinder heads and some new gasket sets over the years when my dad had it. It finally went last week, now i need to do a total overhaul. But 25 years old and over 300k aint bad!!!!!