THSCC Forums

Thanks all for the replies and information. I have already given up on the Mini.....and mostly all German cars. My 2006 Acura TL, which refuses to die, has over 216k miles on it. I had to replace some stuff: the bluetooth module ( its power supply dies and I fixed it once), the dvd module for the nav (found it for sale from a place in China. Drop in replacement of the DVD drive for $136), the AC compressor ($110 or so) which was a pretty easy fix (I've all the AC stuff to pull a vacuum and refill). Otherwise just tires and oil. Its been, and continues to be, a marvelous car.

Ron

In the meantime Mike, here a few months later than my last post, my 2011 M3 will be six years old next month, and it's still never had one single issue since it was new. Factory warranty expired 2 years ago unused, and the BMW CPO follow-on warranty will expire next month...unused (I guess/hope/don't hope/ugh).

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2

keeping an old car on the road if you can wrench is always cheaper, we have a 540i E39 with 220,000 miles it's dollar per mile is very very low thanks to LKQ

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2008 135i
2005 mini S
1999 540i aka valdez

I guess I don't get on here much anymore. I guess we've (Me, wife, kid,employee) have put about 300k or more on various first gen mini's . I don't find them particularly expensive for an enthusiasts car, if you go to the dance you have to pay the band kind of thing. A couple of things piss me off, the glove boxes brake pretty easy. Like most german cars, they handle great but seem to through suspension parts pretty quickly.

I still find my 2002 r53 a blast to drive but I am going through and refreshing bushings and such .

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2002 MCS, 2003 MCS Track Rat, 2003 Generic White Yukon, 2003 BMWk1200rs, 1973 CB350F, 02 996. 08 Cayenne Turbo
http://www.clinehallagency.com

If that dance is 'own a German' car, then sure. My GTO has taken a idler pulley and a thermostat in 85k miles.

my 135i with the famous N54 has not had a single repair other than the recall work years ago, I bought it new in 2008 and it's got 60k miles on it now. Knock on wood I am a firm believer in warming up oil before I go past 3000 rpm or 1/2 throttle, all the cars I bought new have been 100 % reliable, our 2004 f150 has 115k miles now and not a single repair, our jeep same, zero repairs.

Depreciation though, it bites I'm done with the new car thing for a while

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2008 135i
2005 mini S
1999 540i aka valdez

I love it when a Hans owner boasts about reliability at 60K miles. I would hope even the cheapest brand new car wouldn't have a problem in that mileage range.

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

I would wager that you can easily find owners of every single brand of car that have many problems long before 60k miles.

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2

I will say, i've had a '07 Cobalt, put about 112k miles on it, a '03 Cavalier, put about 120k miles on it, a '05 Colorado and had over 60k on it, none of them ever gave me a bit of trouble. Of course I had to do the usual shocks/struts, brake pads, oil and filters and such, but nothing ever actually broke on any of those.

So far the Fiesta ST which has almost 30k on it now and the Focus which has about 18k have never been to the dealer yet either, hope it stays that way.

As far as Mopar, my 08 Ram had to have a rear axle rebuild at 50k miles and had to have idler pulleys replaced on the motor, plus it had 16 spark plugs to change. To be fair though, the 2500 chassis ram Mega Cab used the same 3/4 ton axle that Chevy did, so it's kind of hard to blame Dodge for that one since it was a AAC unit.

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2017 Autocross Chief of Tech

2000 E Street Miata
2015 Focus SE EcoBoost 6 speed
2015 Fiesta ST (Wife's ride)
2012 Yamaha FZ1 sorta crotch rocket? All I know is 150HP and 487 lbs is fun!

My e46 hasn't had the CEL on in like 6k miles! I'm doing pretty good!
That said, I do like the car.

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2001 Honda S2000 - SOLD
2012 Boss 302
2003 BMW 330i

the older bmws are a good bit better at reliability, we have 220k miles on our 540i just stay on top of PMCS, I just did timing chain guides on it this past spring. I do swap out the stupid high expansion tank caps for some off older bmws that are lower PSI, otherwise they crack too often. I have a stack of receipts going back to about 125,000 miles and it's just wear/tear stuff like bushings, belts, tires

I had one breakdown last year, the heater control valve had a pinhole leak, limped home got one from a junkyard for 10 $

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2008 135i
2005 mini S
1999 540i aka valdez

No surprise, they were owned by the Germans for a bit.

It's across all brands, it's just that some brand-phobics either don't want to admit their favorite brand has issues or simply want to attack other brands. Ed Holloway's C6 Z06 blew an engine at VIR when it had ~3k miles on it and it wasn't an anomaly at the time as Chevy was replacing quite a few; they also told him that his warranty would be denied if there were any modifications to the engine/exhaust at all (even though Chevy knew they had an issue themselves). Of course Chevy was in the midst of a huge criminal coverup of the ignition switch faults at the time....

Look at the early life failures of the new GT350 Mustang engines as another example. Plenty have blown up, a number on track, perhaps the best case being the one at Roebling Road where the guy barely got out of the thing before it torched itself to ashes. Would I still buy a GT350 today? Sure.

Big deal, **** happens. All brands have issues, and as complexity continues to expand in a non-linear fashion, nobody should be surprised to see reliability suffer with it.

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2

Since I started the thread thought I'd chime in. Whenever I consider buying a new to me car ( I NEVER buy new) I wili always look at the reviews understanding that some are written by people that are surprised that oil needs to be changed or that the idiot lites are not to be ignored.

My 2006 TL has over 217k miles on it. I am extremely pleased with it.

My Ram 2500 truck that I tow with has close to 200k (its a diesel so relatively low mileage) and has served me well with just the lift pump and the AC compressor needing service.

If I had to throw ANY money at a car with less than 100k miles on it I'd feel ripped off and most likely, would never buy that brand again. There is, in my estimation, NO reason why today's cars, with all the engineering and simulation capabilities now available, for failures. Wear and tear, sure but bushings wearing out (I'm talking about street not track use), engines failing, etc is just not acceptable.

I owned an E36 M3 and found it to be a, at best, a medium car. With no track use one of the rear shocks pulled through the upper mount. I found the interior bland and not of very high quality. For track use I heard of many mods needed: stiff bushings for the trans to minimize chances of the money shift, x bracing needing to be added, etc etc. All thatfor what, at the time, should have been BMWs best most capable model.

Today every time I consider replacing the TL I keep coming up empty. What can I replace it with that will be equally comfortable and reliable? And gets great mileage for its size? I routinely see 29mpg using E85! Hard to beat.

R

Another TL. :-) They know how to make a car in Japan!

A Lexus HS, but we're a bit too big for them. The ESh (hybrid) is bigger, and gets better MPGs, but they're still too new to find cheaply. Mine, currently at 15.6k, has had only one "issue" ever -- a stuck cam positioner, most likely dirt in the oil (eg. casting sand; they didn't find anything.) I'd still be driving the HS if an idiot soccer-mom hadn't destroyed it.