Are german cars too expensive to maintain after some time?
Aug 12, 2019
34 Comments
I read an article on cost of ownership which stated BMWs are the most expensive vehicles to repair and maintain overtime, followed by other german favorites, audi and mercedes.
I am thinking of getting a new bmw 3 series as my first car and do not want repair hassles. Is it really a wise thing to own?
What is your experince owning a german car
comments
BMW is not a quality car. If you want quality, buy Honda.
BMW is a prestige car. If you want people to say wow, Beemer! Buy a BMW.
New BMWs won't give you any major maintenance issues. The challenges start after 80k miles. BMW parts are not designed to last 200k miles like Honda's and Toyotas.
The depreciation on new BMW is very high. Would you like to consider lease return with some 20k miles on it? You can easily drive it for another 60k miles without much hassle.
Things like air-conditioning, Tie rods, gaskets will start falling apart after 80-100k. My friend has seen so many of them breaking around that mileage.
Let me know if you have follow up question.
They are nice cars though and great fun to drive. I’d buy one over a Mercedes. But, yeah, parts are expensive and overall reliability over 10 years won’t compare to a Honda (so just buy a new one every 5 years).
TC?
If you're not, and the thought of having to deal with the occasional part replacement immediately so other parts or systems are not affected, it's probably best to buy somthing considered "reliable". To me, this means low maintenance and ability to neglect problems.
Or, you could buy a Tesla with a multi decade warranty on the drive train.