Annual fun DD recommendation thread
#101
Boost Czar
iTrader: (62)
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Chantilly, VA
Posts: 79,688
Total Cats: 4,113
I got mine off lease, and it was pretty well maintained. It was hard to even tell it was used but for a rock chip and some tire wear.
I picked mine up with 30k on the clock and im just at 53k now. I brought it in under warranty to fix a broken horn (well used ;P), and a second time just before the warranty was up to have them replace the seat recline handle, as the "chrome" coating on the handle cracked and cut me one day. Other than that, no issues so far. Oil changes are a breeze. I've had the dash apart to fix a rattle and it was well engineered, the way the radio secures is much better than I'm used to.
I'd like to go up to a four-door, but you can't get the c350 4matic in a 4-dr, which is annoying. I keep eyeing the is350 AWS F-Sport -- it'll most likely be what I end up with. I'd rock an e550, but it's not a sexy imho, and it's a lot more car than i need, but the v8 powerplant is nice. I think the new c-class is ugly, so not even a consideration.
My commute is about to go from 25miles to 3 miles, so i can get something a little ridiculous, but i still want 4-dr. It's becoming a bit of a pain -- might as well be a roadster if only 2-dr...
I picked mine up with 30k on the clock and im just at 53k now. I brought it in under warranty to fix a broken horn (well used ;P), and a second time just before the warranty was up to have them replace the seat recline handle, as the "chrome" coating on the handle cracked and cut me one day. Other than that, no issues so far. Oil changes are a breeze. I've had the dash apart to fix a rattle and it was well engineered, the way the radio secures is much better than I'm used to.
I'd like to go up to a four-door, but you can't get the c350 4matic in a 4-dr, which is annoying. I keep eyeing the is350 AWS F-Sport -- it'll most likely be what I end up with. I'd rock an e550, but it's not a sexy imho, and it's a lot more car than i need, but the v8 powerplant is nice. I think the new c-class is ugly, so not even a consideration.
My commute is about to go from 25miles to 3 miles, so i can get something a little ridiculous, but i still want 4-dr. It's becoming a bit of a pain -- might as well be a roadster if only 2-dr...
#102
I heard people say that at mb/vw/bmw they literally spec out the materials/parts to last the warranty span on the car, and that's it.
As in, x part wasn't even designed to last more than 5 years/50k miles, or whatever their warranty spans are.
Look at old Mercedes', they run forever basically. They know how to design/build reliable cars.
As in, x part wasn't even designed to last more than 5 years/50k miles, or whatever their warranty spans are.
Look at old Mercedes', they run forever basically. They know how to design/build reliable cars.
#103
I saw a youtube vid about this a couple years ago. Back in the day, mercedes built cars to a standard, and whatever it cost, it cost. Now all cars are built to a price, and thus standards are adjusted to hit the price they are aiming for. I want to build a 300D turbo at some point just because of how overkill well built they were. They are a 4 door tank without the tracks.
#104
Moderator
iTrader: (12)
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Tampa, Florida
Posts: 20,884
Total Cats: 3,075
Mercedes made a choice to go mass market in the late 1980's. I recall reading about it. They decided to chase sales volume instead of upmarket quality. I can't recall who was running things then.
#107
And better gas mileage. And resale value.
And more practical than most of them.
And...
It's a well developed hybrid powertrain with the interior slapped together as an afterthought for the pennies left on the budget. We loved our 2010 because we didn't expect it to be anything it's not.
One of the most popular selling cars recently made for a reason.
#108
If you want Honda reliability, buy a Honda, they mostly fail to fit the "fun DD" category, though.
I've owned Audis as my daily driver for the last 17 years, and been very pleased with them. While they haven't been as reliable as a Honda, the internet horror stories about them are totally overblown IMHO. Mine have been new or very-low-mile used, though, and I definitely buy the extended warranty after the factory one runs out. And yeah, no tunes. There's a $1200 chip for my S6 that would turn it up to 600+ hp, but realistically the 450 stock figure is just fine and the factory warranty is far too precious to risk that way.
--Ian
I've owned Audis as my daily driver for the last 17 years, and been very pleased with them. While they haven't been as reliable as a Honda, the internet horror stories about them are totally overblown IMHO. Mine have been new or very-low-mile used, though, and I definitely buy the extended warranty after the factory one runs out. And yeah, no tunes. There's a $1200 chip for my S6 that would turn it up to 600+ hp, but realistically the 450 stock figure is just fine and the factory warranty is far too precious to risk that way.
--Ian
#110
Boost Czar
iTrader: (62)
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Chantilly, VA
Posts: 79,688
Total Cats: 4,113
If you want Honda reliability, buy a Honda, they mostly fail to fit the "fun DD" category, though.
I've owned Audis as my daily driver for the last 17 years, and been very pleased with them. While they haven't been as reliable as a Honda, the internet horror stories about them are totally overblown IMHO. Mine have been new or very-low-mile used, though, and I definitely buy the extended warranty after the factory one runs out. And yeah, no tunes. There's a $1200 chip for my S6 that would turn it up to 600+ hp, but realistically the 450 stock figure is just fine and the factory warranty is far too precious to risk that way.
--Ian
I've owned Audis as my daily driver for the last 17 years, and been very pleased with them. While they haven't been as reliable as a Honda, the internet horror stories about them are totally overblown IMHO. Mine have been new or very-low-mile used, though, and I definitely buy the extended warranty after the factory one runs out. And yeah, no tunes. There's a $1200 chip for my S6 that would turn it up to 600+ hp, but realistically the 450 stock figure is just fine and the factory warranty is far too precious to risk that way.
--Ian
I'd love and S4, S5, or S6
#112
Keep in mind I haven't had my MK7 GTI for a year now, but they were also using a flash counter. At that time, nobody seemed to have a way around it and I've not kept up with it.
If the dealer even suspected you had a flash at some point, they would send the PCM to the VAG "tech center" and they would analyze it further. I never felt the need to jeapardize my powertrain warranty for another 20whp, so I was more than happy with the JB1 piggyback. To each their own though.
This was a big bitch for a lot of MK7 owners because the first run of the cars had highly failure prone IHI turbos on them. I don't even blame the tunes, tons of stock cars shatout turbochargers as well (including my car). I did not put the JB1 until after the turbo was replaced. Some of them failed spectacularly enough to lunch the engines.
When I bought my first Cobalt SS/Turbo in 2009 (I had three), I had a whole spare PCM I could swap back/forth... but that car, to my surprise, was totally reliable even on E85+30psi of boost :P go figure.
If the dealer even suspected you had a flash at some point, they would send the PCM to the VAG "tech center" and they would analyze it further. I never felt the need to jeapardize my powertrain warranty for another 20whp, so I was more than happy with the JB1 piggyback. To each their own though.
This was a big bitch for a lot of MK7 owners because the first run of the cars had highly failure prone IHI turbos on them. I don't even blame the tunes, tons of stock cars shatout turbochargers as well (including my car). I did not put the JB1 until after the turbo was replaced. Some of them failed spectacularly enough to lunch the engines.
When I bought my first Cobalt SS/Turbo in 2009 (I had three), I had a whole spare PCM I could swap back/forth... but that car, to my surprise, was totally reliable even on E85+30psi of boost :P go figure.
#113
Keep in mind I haven't had my MK7 GTI for a year now, but they were also using a flash counter. At that time, nobody seemed to have a way around it and I've not kept up with it.
If the dealer even suspected you had a flash at some point, they would send the PCM to the VAG "tech center" and they would analyze it further. I never felt the need to jeapardize my powertrain warranty for another 20whp, so I was more than happy with the JB1 piggyback. To each their own though.
This was a big bitch for a lot of MK7 owners because the first run of the cars had highly failure prone IHI turbos on them. I don't even blame the tunes, tons of stock cars shatout turbochargers as well (including my car). I did not put the JB1 until after the turbo was replaced. Some of them failed spectacularly enough to lunch the engines.
When I bought my first Cobalt SS/Turbo in 2009 (I had three), I had a whole spare PCM I could swap back/forth... but that car, to my surprise, was totally reliable even on E85+30psi of boost :P go figure.
If the dealer even suspected you had a flash at some point, they would send the PCM to the VAG "tech center" and they would analyze it further. I never felt the need to jeapardize my powertrain warranty for another 20whp, so I was more than happy with the JB1 piggyback. To each their own though.
This was a big bitch for a lot of MK7 owners because the first run of the cars had highly failure prone IHI turbos on them. I don't even blame the tunes, tons of stock cars shatout turbochargers as well (including my car). I did not put the JB1 until after the turbo was replaced. Some of them failed spectacularly enough to lunch the engines.
When I bought my first Cobalt SS/Turbo in 2009 (I had three), I had a whole spare PCM I could swap back/forth... but that car, to my surprise, was totally reliable even on E85+30psi of boost :P go figure.
#114
It wouldn't be so bad, but the MK7 GTI, and I guess by extension the A3, is underpowered when stacked up with the competition in my opinion. There is no reason the 2.0 Ecotec Turbo in the older Cobalt/SS should have more HP/TQ than a GTI which is labeled and marketed as a hot hatch. Then they leave you no aftermarket or even factory option to increase power.
I'm sure someone will chime in to tell me balance/blah/handling/blah but the GTI in stock form does NOT put a smile on my face when you go WOT. Adding the JB1 made the car have acceptable power, for my tastes. They even pipe in fake engine noises, which I promptly disabled, through the "soundaktor" in the cowl. I would love to have been in the boardroom when that decision was made, and yes I know VW has been using those for a while now. Like I said in my first post, I bought my MK7 on a whim and promptly regretted the decision.
Previous to that MK7, my wife and I owned a MK4 new from 2005-2016. People love to hate the MK4's, but we loved it and it was totally reliable for us and looked like new when we traded it in for her Beetle. We have been pretty loyal to the VW/Audi brand, I drove a B6 and a B7 A4 on lease.
I'm sure someone will chime in to tell me balance/blah/handling/blah but the GTI in stock form does NOT put a smile on my face when you go WOT. Adding the JB1 made the car have acceptable power, for my tastes. They even pipe in fake engine noises, which I promptly disabled, through the "soundaktor" in the cowl. I would love to have been in the boardroom when that decision was made, and yes I know VW has been using those for a while now. Like I said in my first post, I bought my MK7 on a whim and promptly regretted the decision.
Previous to that MK7, my wife and I owned a MK4 new from 2005-2016. People love to hate the MK4's, but we loved it and it was totally reliable for us and looked like new when we traded it in for her Beetle. We have been pretty loyal to the VW/Audi brand, I drove a B6 and a B7 A4 on lease.
Last edited by Gimpster; 02-16-2017 at 10:15 AM.
#116
I may end up just leasing something, I work from home a couple of days per week and my roundtrip commute is less than 20 per miles day, so I wouldn't have a problem keeping under the 10k mile limit on the cheapest leases.
#117
Leasing has been great for me, it's not for everyone. It helps I have other cars to keep the mileage pressure off of my leases which I'm guessing you do as well. I tend to lease econoboxes that are on special these days though. Before this Nissan Leaf, I had a 2013 Chevy Volt on lease and before that a string of Audi's.
I love working on cars, but not my DD. I just consider it an operational cost of living at this point. How many people, assuming they arent paying cash, ever bring their cars note to conclusion anyway? Not many, especially in the age of people financing **** for 72-84 months.
edit: also don't believe the horror stories about returning a lease. I've had no issue on the 5-6 cars I've leased, zero drama. Do make sure you research and understand how to negotiate money factor and residuals though.
I love working on cars, but not my DD. I just consider it an operational cost of living at this point. How many people, assuming they arent paying cash, ever bring their cars note to conclusion anyway? Not many, especially in the age of people financing **** for 72-84 months.
edit: also don't believe the horror stories about returning a lease. I've had no issue on the 5-6 cars I've leased, zero drama. Do make sure you research and understand how to negotiate money factor and residuals though.