I don't do stuff to other people's cars because I like working on cars. So if I'm under the hood I ask stupid **** like if the oil dipstick is where I put the windshield wiper fluid...

 

I work at a dealership as the service coordinator, and the cars we see come in, in order of highest volume to lowest volume are



1-Ford

2-BMW

3-Hyundai

4-Mitsubishi



so take what you want from the idea that by spending more on a vehicle it makes it less likely to break down.

on the topic of a 40k+ hyundai, I've driven the V8 Genesis, and while it is a very nice car (initially anyway), there is no way I would spend that much on a car I know is going to be sold for less than 10k used in a few years.



As far as the Tesla goes, please refer to the Baker Motor Vehicle Co.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker_Motor_Vehicle

The only way I forsee pure EV's becoming viable is if a fast, accessible, and nearly free way of charging them on the run becomes viable, either through solar storage/wind power storage or the like.

 

my buddy went from mazda to european cars, he complains A LOT. its amazing what needs replacing on the german cars

 

I've fitted a couple of rotaries to 1980's BMW 3 series and compared to Japanese cars of the same era they're rubbish and over-complicated. The Germans seem to have a habit of tarnishing their generally good reputation with a bit of backward engineering on a regular basis.

 

yeah i hear bad things about the upkeep on Volvos, VW Audi and the like.. although i wouldnt mind a TDI or 1.8T audi or VW.. or maybe a awd volvo wagon.. those look hawt!!

 

We were gonna trade amy's car in on a 320 CDI like 2007 or so, but then we decided maybe a 300CD (like mine , but two door) now I don't know what we are doing. we fight over the benz all week, it's determined by who is going to be doing the most driving LOL Funny we both have new cars adn we fight over the 25 year old one.

 

I love my jetta way more than my '96 civic...i wish i had a 190E in the end id probably have to sell the rx7 if i did that.

 

bmw's are weird. some stuff is the same as it was in 1936, some stuff is like a modern (japanese) car, and then some stuff is stupidly retarded.



examples. the shifter. mazda's shifter is 3 bolts, comes right out, serviceable in 15minutes. BMW's shifter, its exactly the same except that they suspended the pivot on this bridge between the transmission and the body. the front bushing is attached to the trans by a "bitch clip" you're the bitch. rear bushing requires the exhaust to be dropped out of the car. both bushings last a week, and result in a shifter thats worse than a mazda mechanism WITHOUT bushings.

 

Couldnt you just hit it really hard with a sledgehammer until the warrantee covers it?