Ongoing General Automotive Thread 2.0

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by nik-

I love Audi, but I don't know what it is about the R8. It's just never done it for me. I hate the intakes, especially on the first gen, but even the body shape doesn't really grab me.

I think Porsche's have a great mix of performance and reliability in that realm. People can really mile out Porsches. I'm not a Porsche guy, but if I was given 200000 with the requirement to buy a performance car, it would be a 911. The idea of owning a Ferrari would be better than actually owning a Ferrari I think. They're beautiful but I would be scared to drive it.

I hear a lot of horror stories on other auto forums about the cost associated with Porsche repairs out of warranty. There's no such thing as a simple drivetrain repair on a 911.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I hear a lot of horror stories on other auto forums about the cost associated with Porsche repairs out of warranty. There's no such thing as a simple drivetrain repair on a 911.

That's nonsense.

911s are generally bullet proof, parts are reasonably priced and plentiful and qualified mechanics are relatively common.

I'd far rather own a 911 out of warranty than an M or AMG.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by nik-

I love Audi, but I don't know what it is about the R8. It's just never done it for me. I hate the intakes, especially on the first gen, but even the body shape doesn't really grab me.

It's weird, it seems to be like cilantro for some people... just puts them off. I like the shape, I like both the rear and front end view (I don't love the front of some Porsches, including the Cayman and some 911s), I love both engines (the early V8 is the same as the RS4 and who doesn't want to listen to a V10), and it's got a gated shifter... just all around good. Only thing I don't like is the interior, and even there, it's not so much offensive as bland and a touch dated. Nothing nearly as bad as the 996, obviously.

I think Porsche's have a great mix of performance and reliability in that realm. People can really mile out Porsches. I'm not a Porsche guy, but if I was given 200000 with the requirement to buy a performance car, it would be a 911. The idea of owning a Ferrari would be better than actually owning a Ferrari I think. They're beautiful but I would be scared to drive it.

Absolutely true on the second part. On the first, yeah, maybe... I'd probably get a GT4 optioned up to around 150k, and then do a few things to it to reduce weight. 911s are obviously excellent vehicles but they are a bit bloated at this point. Or I'd get a used earlier gen 911 in a collectible model like a 50th anniversary, perhaps.

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

This is really wild. She should have an article or something.

To be fair, these days she almost always just drives her Impreza, which is an auto. But a few years ago, yeah. I'm not sure what we'll do with the S2000.

They couldn't even do their RWD R8, in a proper transmission.

I have never understood why anyone wanted a RWD R8. It's an Audi, it's AWD. That's what they do. If you want RWD, buy something else.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

To be fair, these days she almost always just drives her Impreza, which is an auto. But a few years ago, yeah. I'm not sure what we'll do with the S2000.

Your grandma needs her own YouTube channel with the S2000.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by you&me

That's nonsense.

911s are generally bullet proof, parts are reasonably priced and plentiful and qualified mechanics are relatively common.

I'd far rather own a 911 out of warranty than an M or AMG.

I think that's a little over the top to call it nonsense. No vehicle is immune to issues and while Porsche (bread and butter not the ones using Audi engines) reliability seems to be pretty good they still have issues. It's not a hot take as over the years I've seen hundreds of "thinking of getting a Porsche...." threads at BMW forums from owners that moved to Porsche cautioning others that the cost of ownership is considerably higher than what they are used to with BMW. This doesn't mean they are unreliable but when repairs are required they are generally very expensive. I also recognize an M car will be expensive to repair but pretty well everything you say about plentiful parts and qualified mechanics also relates to BMW's if not more.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I think that's a little over the top to call it nonsense. No vehicle is immune to issues and while Porsche (bread and butter not the ones using Audi engines) reliability seems to be pretty good they still have issues. It's not a hot take as over the years I've seen hundreds of "thinking of getting a Porsche...." threads at BMW forums from owners that moved to Porsche cautioning others that the cost of ownership is considerably higher. This doesn't mean they are unrealizable but when repairs are required they are generally very expensive. I also recognize an M car will be expansive but pretty well everything you say about plentiful pars and qualified mechanics relates to BMW's if not more.

It's all relative. You're buying a very high end car, it's not going to be all gravy. I'd much rather own a Porsche over a Lamboghini or a Ferrari.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by nik-

It's all relative. You're buying a very high end car, it's not going to be all gravy. I'd much rather own a Porsche over a Lamboghini or a Ferrari.

For a garage queen Ferrari. If I was going to daily drive Porsche for sure.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by you&me

That's nonsense.

911s are generally bullet proof, parts are reasonably priced and plentiful and qualified mechanics are relatively common.

I'd far rather own a 911 out of warranty than an M or AMG.

I wouldn't go as far as to say that parts are reasonably priced, but in my experience Porsche's definitely earn their reliability reputation over their German counterparts.

I've had two Porsches so far (both out of warranty), and both have been excellent compared to expectations. The only thing I had to fix on my Cayman over 7 years of ownership was the stupid TPMS sensors. Otherwise it was all just seasonal maintenance. Compared to the Saabs, and BMWs, and Volvo's I've owned and all their random/electrical issues...that Cayman was practically a Camry.

The 964, is a bit of a different beast. It's reliable and has never let me down...but it's old, so parts and labor on it are not what I would call cheap. And yet, still much better than any Merc/BMW (or Ferrari lol) from it's generation.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

My Cayman is a 2011 and the only fixes I've had are the replacement of a headlamp bulb and a switch that told the car whether the clutch was depressed so you could turn the ignition on. The bulb was next to nothing and the switch was $100 or so. Dealer oil changes are expensive but I use those to get an annual inspection at the same time. So far so good.

I am coming up on an inevitable clutch replacement in the next year or three, I think, so that'll be pricey - maybe $1500 for the kit (leaning towards an FX250) plus install. There is also the known issue with the shifter cables, which, depending on whether I go upgraded OEM or aftermarket, is somewhere from a $500-$1000 job parts and hours together. Neither concerns me overmuch.

[Erick Estrada]

I would like to buy a used Porsche one day but my OCD always gets in the way when it comes to used cars. I was close to buying a 2018 M4C a couple of weeks ago but I couldn’t get over how worn the seat bolster was on a car with only 15k km’s. I had to factor seat cover replacement in my offer and we just couldn’t get it to work.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I would like to buy a used Porsche one day but my OCD always gets in the way when it comes to used cars. I was close to buying a 2018 M4C a couple of weeks ago but I couldn’t get over how worn the seat bolster was on a car with only 15k km’s.

If it helps, I've found most Porsche guys to be pretty OCD themselves. Compared to your stereotypical M3/M4 driver, a typical Porsche 911 owner is probably going to be older, drive with more care, and be more diligent with their car's upkeep. There are always lots of quality examples to pick from.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Honestly, it varies. Some people are OCD and some treat their toys pretty harshly. You're better off spending more to get one with no mods and a good service history. But cosmetic stuff like seat bolsters wouldn't bother me... my car's biggest issue when I got it was some gravel rash, which turned out to be a sort of blessing in disguise because now I'm not as worried about driving it before the streets are swept.

[nik-]

The nice thing about a worn bolster on a used car is that you don't have to cringe every time you drag your ass across it getting into your car. It's already over.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by nik-

It's all relative. You're buying a very high end car, it's not going to be all gravy. I'd much rather own a Porsche over a Lamboghini or a Ferrari.

This is it exactly.

I think 911s get a bit of an unfair bad rap and again, it comes down to relativity and perspective.

Porsche, particularly 911s, are still very aspirational, and generally the next logical step for German car guys coming out of S/M/AMG cars... I think the bullet-proof reputation can set some unrealistic expectations for these first-time buyers when they lose sight of the fact that the 15 year old 911 they now want to buy started out as a $130,000 car... I like to say that cars depreciate, but parts and maintenance don't. I still feel service prices for 911s are relatively better than, say, on a used M3, i.e. the 911 might have been nearly twice as much new, but service costs are only 25% more... I'd also expect to spend less time (and therefore money) dealing with minor issues on a 911.

[btimbit]

Alright, I'm again thinking of getting something fast and German to cruise around in, but I don't want to sell the Corvette so thinking of spending sub $20k. I think I had this urge and posted about it last year too but I'm still leaning toward a E90 BMW.

Anyone here have any thoughts or experiences on N54 v N55?

[woob]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

The sweet Porsche pic that TimSJ posted in the middle of Truck talk made me think of something.

It's been interesting to see how the mid-life crisis for Men has evolved from a sick sports car to a sick pickup truck. No less than 5 guys in my similarly aged friend group have gone for $60-80K pickups (before mods and wheel/tire upgrades) this year whereas before it probably lead to something German and fast.

I'm guessing it comes down to a few factors:

- Insanely good financing, leasing, and cash incentives (like Ford's deal on F150's above)
- A need to pull a trailer (or claimed plans to do so in the future)
- Easier to justify from a 'practicality' point of view
- Space for a family of 5
- The macho/survivalist/bug out image is in - svelte urbanist is out
- People are having kids at 35-40 commonly, which makes mid-life co-incide with peak parenting ages

That said.... bad marital related decisions are still being made as they always have....

My mid-life crisis vibes have been focused around wanting to build a kick ass wood working setup. I used to be all about getting a sweet ride, but now I just want to make things lol. But I did buy a truck 5 years ago, but mostly to tow a trailer.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Alright, I'm again thinking of getting something fast and German to cruise around in, but I don't want to sell the Corvette so thinking of spending sub $20k. I think I had this urge and posted about it last year too but I'm still leaning toward a E90 BMW.

Anyone here have any thoughts or experiences on N54 v N55?

Depends what your goals are, and whether you can find an N54 car in decent shape with reasonable mileage. N54 will make more power cheaply if you want to tune, but the downside is lower reliability.

N55 is pretty reliable overall, I have one with 90k km in a 2014 M235i, but it makes less power if you tune it. Pre-2014 N55s are pneumatic wastegate so they max out at 350hp or so on the stock turbo, 2014 and up EWG cars you can make close to 400hp on the stock turbo.

I would personally choose the N55 again, mine has been solid for 7 years and other than general maintenance and an oil filter housing gasket has needed nothing. The F series cars in general seem better than the E90s, but I have a colleague with a 2007 N54 car and his has been pretty solid as well.

[btimbit]

Good info to know, thanks! I'm not too worried about tuning, at least right away. And if/when I do look at power increases replacing parts like the turbo isn't a big deal. I do like the interior of the 2010-2013 so thinking of going that way

I did a lot of research last night on common issues and none of those are dealbreakers to me. Granted I enjoy working on my stuff so an afternoon replacing oil gaskets and a charge pipe getting drunk in the garage sounds fun to me

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Good info to know, thanks! I'm not too worried about tuning, at least right away. And if/when I do look at power increases replacing parts like the turbo isn't a big deal. I do like the interior of the 2010-2013 so thinking of going that way

I did a lot of research last night on common issues and none of those are dealbreakers to me. Granted I enjoy working on my stuff so an afternoon replacing oil gaskets and a charge pipe getting drunk in the garage sounds fun to me

They are pretty straightforward to work on and there is a youtube for almost everything you'll encounter. My only advice would be to find one with good service records that didn't get 15k km oil changes.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Why the BMW, out of curiosity?