I just recently test drove a 328i and A4 2.0. I have to admit they seem alot more fun to drive than my TL. I have almost 90K miles on my 06 TL. I love it and it has been very reliable. I have had to do nothing but routine maintenance. No repairs Is it really true that the german cars are much less reliable and much more expensive to fix. Like I heard that even if you maintain them meticulously they will still give you problems. I would like to find out the real truth.

 

My last experience with BMWs was almost 10 yrs ago. I previously owned a 325i ('01). It was a really wonderful car to drive. The powertrain was very reliable. I had one problem where part of the rear differential was over-torqued at the factory, resulting in a cracked seal. Otherwise, no problems with the powertrain. The rest of the car is another story. Oxygen sensors were problematic. Other trim and accessory parts of the car also failed at a higher rate than I expected. And I found maintanence and parts to be more expensive, too.

I sold the 325i and got a Lexus RX. I got 5 years and 90k miles with that vehicle and did nothing more than basic maintenance, except for one oxygen sensor.

Those experiences pushed me to buy the TL this time around. Check out the Infiniti G37 if you're looking for a new car in the mid $30k range. I hear great things!

 

Well, I have heard that within the last 2-3 years that a good majority of the German reliability has improved, especially on their more common better selling models!

I think you should be okay at this point getting a German vehicle. I do admit, the current Acura styling and direction is turning me off, and unless something changes, I most likely will be looking to the Germans or Lexus when I'm ready to shop around in another 2 years from now!

By the way, BMW has that 4-year maintenance program where for the first 4 years, except for your lease or finance payment you don't pay a dime on your BMW for any maintenance costs and I mean anything, like wipers, brakes, rotors, sensors, oil/filter, etc etc or anything else that breaks under warranty as well! I've spoken to a couple of Bimmer owners who absolutely have nothing but great things to say about the maintence thing so you probably can't go wrong with it and don't have to worry about anything the first 4 years!

Personally, though while their reliability has improved, I think people are better to lease the German vehicles and use it like a trial period to see how things go, I wouldn't get any really really expensive pieces of technology or electronics, like a nav system, etc that are costly to repair or replace since they are not exactly known for their electronics in the long term!

But hey that is just me, its your money, use it how you want to!

 

I wouldn't own any german car out of warranty. I had a BMW that I traded on the TL-S, and it was still under warranty. The car was at the dealer often, since it was still under warranty it didn't cost me anything, but it became a major hassle having to take the damn thing back to the dealer every month or two.

 

I would say yes German cars are reliable. Maybe not as much as Asian cars...but they would be pretty near. My family is all about German cars...mainly BMW's and Benz's. For example...my uncles S class (made in 98) is at 240k right now and all he ever had to do was regularly maintain it with the exception of an exhaust related problem one time. Also, my entire family has owned probably over 20 BMW's over the years, and we just keep coming back. None of them had any major problems and none of them had expensive fixes. I say go with the BMW 328i.

 

Do your research on the bimmer forums and you will find that there is a consensus, even amongst BMW owners, that while the 'driving experience' may be superlative to that of a TL, it comes at the expense of frequent maintenance.

I was about || close to pulling the trigger on a 540i 6MT...until I did my research. Both my wallet and I are glad we did.

 

How about throwing some mods on your TL? You'll enjoy it even more that way, not so boring.

 

when I worked at a shop that did bmw-rx7 and nissan z cars, (work on things that are fun to test drive!)
from the owners perspective BMW meant 3 things: break my wallet --- break my window
and blaupunkt missing-waaaah~

while wildly over engineered- german cars in warranty with full coverage including transmission--are fun to drive
hey go live that life a while then sell it before warranty expires
audi and others with similar tiptronic trans as TL have problem with them failing--5 grand to replace so warranty is important

 

my gf had 05 325i with sport pkg when i had my slightly modified 05 tl.. her car was fking blast to drive. and it didn't give her any problem at all. she just changed her engine oil every 7k or 8k miles.. and that was it. nothing else.

so it's hit or miss imo

if you like it, just get it!

 

I don't know what generation of A4 2.0T you drove but I would recommend the BMW 328i, even though my wife has a newer A4.

Why? The BMW is better to drive, BMWs tend to be more reliable, and if you buy brand new you get free scheduled maintenance for four years and 50,000 miles or whatever their warranty period is.

I also prefer a good I-6 to a I-4T.

But really, both are great choices.

 

The argument for the BMW might be that's it's more athletic and fast. And I agree with you about having a six over a turbo four. But after driving the A4 2.0 quattro I don't agree. The car had more torque,was faster, and stuck to the road like glue at all times when pushed really hard.

Nobody could argue that the bmw is not a great performer. But my main complaint is the interior. I don't like the gauges, dash layout, and lack of room. My opinion is for long distance driving and comfort I think the audi is the better choice.


Now, if I knew the audi would leave me alone like my TL. I would go for it.

 

We owned a 2.0T and currently have an A6, and both Audi's were more reliable then the Acura's I owned. However, different people have different experiences. General consensus is that the newer German cars (2005+) are much better then the older ones, however, many of us (me included) will not own a German car out of warranty.

Anyway, I was going to recommend you do a search since this topic has been beaten to death pretty badly... but I had a few minutes and ran a quick search simply typing in the word Audi.


Audi Related Topics:
https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/official-audi-discussion-thread-719563/
https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/2010-a4-avant-pictures-%2A%2Anew-pics-added-page-3-%2A%2A-766530/


BMW Related Topics:
https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/i-turned-dark-side-b-m-755413/
https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/reliability-bmws-773756/


General Related Topics (Covering German cars in general, including BMW and Audi, plus comparisons to Japanese brands):
https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/need-2nd-hand-german-car-opinions-please-773864/
https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/why-acura-better-than-pos-mercedes-753549/
https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/r-t-comparison-s4-vs-335i-vs-g37s-vs-tl-sh-awd-769192/
https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/bmw-m3-vs-lexus-f-775372/
https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/europeans-get-774825/
https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/what-makes-luxury-car-luxury-car-773147/


And those are just the topics which were active through 3/30/10. Just do a search as there are plenty more if you need additional material!

Happy Reading