Advice For A New Car! Thanks!

andythemc · May 12, 2003

ok i need some advice im going off to college and im going to buy a car from around the year 92-97 cuz thats all i can really afford. and i want a luxury car but i want a car that doesnt cost that much to maintain. i heard that beamers cost a LOT to maintain, but i dont know about lexuses? what would be better for me a lexus or a bmw? or any other cars? and dont tell me to get a lexus just cuz you guys have one.

thanks

-andy

Claire G · May 12, 2003

You'll find that you get far more goodies loaded as standard on a Lexus anyway. If you are worried about costs, you can always take your Lex to a Toyota dealership - costs per hour are cheaper. If you get a Lexus with a full service history, you should find that you get more miles out of a Lex, they go on forever...!

neil is200 · May 12, 2003

i've just traded my old bmw 316 in for a lex is200 and all i can say is i'll never drive a bm again. just before i traded it cost me £800 on new front brakes and i had another bill of £1200 for a service, don't know about the cost of lexus parts and servicing yet but just for the quality if the car i'd say the lexus wins every time. ;)

javadude · May 12, 2003

you can always take your Lex to a Toyota dealership

'fraid someone posted the other day that they tried this and were told that the toyota mechanics aren't trained for the lexus cars and they wouldn't do it.

MsW · May 12, 2003

or any other cars? and dont tell me to get a lexus just cuz you guys have one.
thanks

-andy

Well, what do you expect people on a LEXUS forum to say? "Oh, we'd all love BMW's, but we had to settle for a Lexus"?

We all (I assume) made informed decisions - and that would have invariably included considering some form of German, Swedish or UK car.

Many of us have "been there, done that" and in some cases "never again" with BMW or other quality marques

GCHQAgent · May 12, 2003

BMW... I wouldn't go there again anytime soon. If its a standard 3 series then definitely no way, they're so common and comparitively, too expensive to maintain. Plus, I cannot stand the cocky attitude I get in BMW showrooms.

Veece · May 12, 2003

I loved my previous 2 BMW's especially my M3

My major gripes with owning a BMW were the following;

The cost of servicing is very expensive.

However BMW have adressed this with a four plus scheme for older cars (four years and older). This does help reduce the servicing costs. I luckily however had an Independent BMW Specialist near to my place of work, servicing here was much cheaper as were parts.

I dont believe getting my car serviced by the specialist harmed the resale value at all. Although I'm sure it would have, had the car not been 6 six years old at time of resale (still mint though :D ).

I am pretty sure as well that newer BMW's service intervals are now nearer 12K than the 10K that they used to be.

My other main gripe would be the standard spec - this does seem very poor when compared with my Lex. My first BMW (318iS) had no leather and only a sunroof, no aircon. My M3 however was fully loaded, as you would expect for a range topping motor. I do think however that BMW should up the spec for cars lower down the range.

I always found the BMW dealerships I went to, to be very friendly and helpfull.

My reason for selling my 318iS (having spent about 3K on Mods :( ) was to buy the M3 I always loved the car.

My reasons for selling the M to buy the Lex were the following; group 20 insurance, servicing every 8K miles (I do about 2K miles a month ) No discounted servicing as M not included in 4plus scheme, and I needed the dealer stamp to keep my warranty, so no independent specialist.

I would never slag BMW off to anyone, as I enjoyed owning both of my previous cars.

All I hope is that my previous BMW dealership experiences, are at least matched when I take my Lex in for a service in a couple of months (including new wheels :) ).

From reading what people have posted, I believe they will.

Apologies for the novel.

All in all Andy I would say for the age you are looking at, you would probably find a nice BMW, and also have more to choose from.

But then I love my Lex - unfortunately for you I don't think the IS200 goes back

before '99. :(

Have I confused you enough yet :D

Happy hunting anyway Andy.

Paul

andythemc · May 12, 2003

wow thanks a lot for the replies guys, i just want a few more and i'll be done with this thread

o yea and if i wanted a lexus or a beamer what would i tell my mom to convince her to let me get a lex or a beamer? what can i tell her? safety issues? and maintenance isnt as much as she expects? or whatnot?

thanks