Traded CX-5 for 2018 Tiguan

[ColoradoDriver]

Well quite the opposite with me, my BMW 2011 328xi has 144,000 absolutely trouble free miles on her. In fact I am just now having my rear brakes changed for the first time! Fronts lasted until 95,000 miles. My CX5 feels like it's 10 years old with only 60,000 miles on her and has cost me more in maintenance, nothing but oil changes on my 328 and I changed my own plugs. I was a Nissan guy for 20+ years and none of them made it past 110,000 miles without falling apart with expensive repairs so no more Nissans for me. Bad eggs come in all makes and models. I will say they it's funny how Audi is made by VW and they have a higher quality rating than Lexus!

2014 Touring here. Nothing but oil changes, and tire rotations. Rear brakes done at about 52k miles. Plenty of life left in the fronts. New tires as I hated the factory Yokohamas. That's it.

Oh and I guess I am getting my windshield replaced tomorrow. But even it lasted 4 years before cracking, which trust me, is damn impressive in Colorado.

 

[CX-5um]

Seconded with emphasis!

I once asked a friend in Germany why my 7 Series BMW was such an expensive money waster compared to my no-problem Lexus and he replied that in Germany it is expected that you will build a relationship with your dealer and its service department no matter the brand. He was surprised I expected no problems from a crazy expensive flagship car. LOL

German cars... never again for this driver, but hey YMMV.

That's because in Germany they don't believe in driving "appliances". Driving matters....wait? LOL

The way I see it if BMW were to make a non-luxury line of FWD and AWD cars with less features at affordable prices they would produce cars very similar to Mazdas. Sort of like:

Lexus- Toyota
Audi- VW
BMW- Mazda

 

[banjos-n-beer]

That's because in Germany they don't believe in driving "appliances". Driving matters....wait? LOL

The way I see it if BMW were to make a non-luxury line of FWD and AWD cars with less features at affordable prices they would produce cars very similar to Mazdas. Sort of like:

Lexus- Toyota
Audi- VW
BMW- Mazda

Well, they do have the Mini line-up... and they're largely considered overpriced junk.

 

[CX-5um]

Well, they do have the Mini line-up... and they're largely considered overpriced junk.

I know Mini engines are made in the UK and diesel ones in Germany. Not sure how much they share chassis design and engines though.

 

[dougal]

Well quite the opposite with me, my BMW 2011 328xi has 144,000 absolutely trouble free miles on her. In fact I am just now having my rear brakes changed for the first time! Fronts lasted until 95,000 miles. My CX5 feels like it's 10 years old with only 60,000 miles on her and has cost me more in maintenance, nothing but oil changes on my 328 and I changed my own plugs. I was a Nissan guy for 20+ years and none of them made it past 110,000 miles without falling apart with expensive repairs so no more Nissans for me. Bad eggs come in all makes and models. I will say they it's funny how Audi is made by VW and they have a higher quality rating than Lexus!

Where I live now, you can get 3-4 year old BMWs, Audi's and Mercs for dirt cheap (10-15K) because everybody dumps them when the warranty runs out. A Toyota Tacoma on the other hand, still costs $15,000 with 200,000 miles.

I think where these cars are built plays a role. A german made BMW is different, as is a Mexican made VW. Mazda's Mexican made 3 is one to avoid as well.

 

[123373]

Where I live now, you can get 3-4 year old BMWs, Audi's and Mercs for dirt cheap (10-15K) because everybody dumps them when the warranty runs out. A Toyota Tacoma on the other hand, still costs $15,000 with 200,000 miles.

I think where these cars are built plays a role. A german made BMW is different, as is a Mexican made VW. Mazda's Mexican made 3 is one to avoid as well.

Nobody is buying a Tacoma with 200,000 miles on it for $15 grand. I searched for a 2014 with 200,000 miles loaded in mint condition and it was worth a little over 6 grand. I'll sell you some sand in the desert if you want to pay 15 grand for one.

 

[123373]

2014 Touring here. Nothing but oil changes, and tire rotations. Rear brakes done at about 52k miles. Plenty of life left in the fronts. New tires as I hated the factory Yokohamas. That's it.

Oh and I guess I am getting my windshield replaced tomorrow. But even it lasted 4 years before cracking, which trust me, is damn impressive in Colorado.

Report back when you have 144,000 miles. (popcorn)

 

[dougal]

Nobody is buying a Tacoma with 200,000 miles on it for $15 grand. I searched for a 2014 with 200,000 miles loaded in mint condition and it was worth a little over 6 grand. I'll sell you some sand in the desert if you want to pay 15 grand for one.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/711848112/overview/

So it has only has 153,000 miles and is from 2008, so sue me. Plenty of nice Tacoma's going for 15K with close to 200K miles. The ones that are going for 6 grand are complete junk.

I spent lots of time looking at Tacomas and Frontiers. They hold their value in the south.

 

[old-school]

Well quite the opposite with me, my BMW 2011 328xi has 144,000 absolutely trouble free miles on her. In fact I am just now having my rear brakes changed for the first time! Fronts lasted until 95,000 miles. My CX5 feels like it's 10 years old with only 60,000 miles on her and has cost me more in maintenance, nothing but oil changes on my 328 and I changed my own plugs. I was a Nissan guy for 20+ years and none of them made it past 110,000 miles without falling apart with expensive repairs so no more Nissans for me. Bad eggs come in all makes and models...

Interesting.

Apparently German brands enjoy <8% of US market share while Japanese Brands >37%. http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2017/04/march-2017-usa-auto-sales-brand-results-rankings-stats.html

Repair and Maintainence Costs by brand according to the car owners (which is how CR derives R&M) is worst in BMW than any other major automaker. Worse than a Jag, even a Porsche. German brands in fact rank 1,2 and 3 in most costly to keep running. https://www.consumerreports.org/car-maintenance/the-cost-of-car-ownership/

Mazda's market share is equal to BMW and the Cost to Own is SUBSTANTIALLY less than a BMW and beats Chrysler and Nissan but not Ford or Chevy and is a far cry from the wallet snatching German brands.

Cars after all are built one at a time. They don't propagate by cloning. You may have stumbled on an unusual BMW and found a poor Mazda. But in the grand scheme of things your experience looks to be far and away an outlier.

...I will say they it's funny how Audi is made by VW and they have a higher quality rating than Lexus!

But cost nearly 2X as much to keep running than a Lexus. I'm not an enthusiastic subscriber to JD Powers INITIAL quality ratings by NEW car buyers as a useful purchasing tool... Maybe you were referring to something else?

 

[CX-5um]

Interesting.

Apparently German brands enjoy <8% of US market share while Japanese Brands >37%. http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2017/04/march-2017-usa-auto-sales-brand-results-rankings-stats.html

Repair and Maintainence Costs by brand according to the car owners (which is how CR derives R&M) is worst in BMW than any other major automaker. Worse than a Jag, even a Porsche. German brands in fact rank 1,2 and 3 in most costly to keep running. https://www.consumerreports.org/car-maintenance/the-cost-of-car-ownership/

Mazda's market share is equal to BMW and the Cost to Own is SUBSTANTIALLY less than a BMW and beats Chrysler and Nissan but not Ford or Chevy and is a far cry from the wallet snatching German brands.

Cars after all are built one at a time. They don't propagate by cloning. You may have stumbled on an unusual BMW and found a poor Mazda. But in the grand scheme of things your experience looks to be far and away an outlier.



But cost nearly 2X as much to keep running than a Lexus. I'm not an enthusiastic subscriber to JD Powers INITIAL quality ratings by NEW car buyers as a useful purchasing tool... Maybe you were referring to something else?

On the flipside of things, the cost to DIY minimizes the total cost of ownership a bit. Coming from the route of purchasing a used BMW outside of warranty for cheap. My experience was their engines are stout but you have to account for tons of electronics and sensors on top of cost cutting parts each model has. BMWs are notorious for plastic water pump parts, weird AC unit designs, and cheapo power window regulator parts to name a few. They don't skimp out on the engine, suspension, and brake components.

 

[rochrunner]

After almost 84,000 miles, my 2014 CX-5 was starting to burn oil and experiencing other issues (loose and creaking panels and erratic Bluetooth)

Looked hard at the 2017 CX-5 GT w/ Premium Package but decided to get the Tig SEL Premium.

For anyone interested, compared to the top of the line 2017 CX-5 GT w/ Premium Package;

Advantages compared to the 2017 CX-5:
*Auto up/down for all windows & auto close (1 touch close) pano roof
*Digital cockpit
*Android Auto & Apple Car Play
*360 Camera
*Front & Rear parking sensors
*Power folding mirrors with puddle lights
*Ambient lighting
*Passenger side reverse gear auto-tilt

Disadvantages compared to the 2017 CX-5:
*No H.U.D
*No power passenger seat
*Halogen fog lights
*No Auto-hold
*No seat warmers for 2nd row

Loving the car and after my 2013 CX-5 and 2014 CX-5, it was time to move on. I will still lurk in the forum reading posts as I really like the Mazda brand.

I also shopped this car and was ready to get it until my wife rode in it and vetoed it . We drove it on a sunny day and she had three objections: for stickering close to $40K and no power passenger seat; the passenger sun visor doesn't slide on the rod and she couldn't block the sun coming in; and when she looked up she could see the shadows of rain spots on the roof through the translucent sunroof shade.

We actually liked the Golf AllTrack better (at least both visors slide back!) but it was missing a couple of important features for us.

Right now the CX-5 is still near the top of our list, but we may end up getting another Outback in the end.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Report back when you have 144,000 miles. (popcorn)

Yeah I know...54k (what it is now) not a lot.

When mine feels like a 10 year old vehicle, it will be 10 lol.

Edit: Also, yours is not much more miles (60k) then mine???

 

[tibimakai]

What is so great about these?
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/toyota/tacoma/2014/reliability

 

[dougal]

What is so great about these?
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/toyota/tacoma/2014/reliability

Well, their drivetrains seem to last forever. I think there is also a truck thing in the south and these things seem to last. The Frontiers are equally as expensive. My son wanted a Tacoma or Frontier and we looked at a bunch of them. They are nice, smaller trucks that are versatile. However, they are expensive to insure and the gas mileage is terrible. I bought him a new Mazda 3 instead. The logic being 20K for a new car is better than 15K for a car with 150K miles on it.

 

[ceric]

" BMWs are notorious for plastic water pump parts, weird AC unit designs, and cheapo power window regulator parts to name a few. They don't skimp out on the engine, suspension, and brake components."

So true. I owned a '98 BMW 540iA for 9 yrs..... painful memory.
I got my money back from ext. warranty. Imagine that....
Cooling system, sensors, and actuators and regulators.... you name it. Been there, replaced them.
Engine/suspension/brakes gave me no issue at all.
Traded three times on roadsides.

 

[old-school]

...Coming from the route of purchasing a used BMW outside of warranty for cheap...

Seems there could be a reason for that. Kudos to you for wrenching your own and making it work.

...They don't skimp out on the engine, suspension, and brake components.

Same reason Mopar has endured for so long...

Don't get me wrong. I love German cars, have had one in some form or another all my life. I have a VW in the garage right now I would never part with. VW's 1965 and prior was brilliant engineering! It started to fall apart with the Super Bug.

 

[tibimakai]

Sorry to be off topic, but what is bad about the Super Bug? Eventually, I will pick one up(73 or later) for a project (Subaru STI engine/trans transplant).

 

[Anchorman]

Seems there could be a reason for that. Kudos to you for wrenching your own and making it work.



Same reason Mopar has endured for so long...

Don't get me wrong. I love German cars, have had one in some form or another all my life. I have a VW in the garage right now I would never part with. VW's 1965 and prior was brilliant engineering! It started to fall apart with the Super Bug.

Early VWs were indeed very good compared to what else was available.

 

[123373]

Yeah I know...54k (what it is now) not a lot.

When mine feels like a 10 year old vehicle, it will be 10 lol.

Edit: Also, yours is not much more miles (60k) then mine???

Sorry was comparing to my 2011 328 which is in better shape at 144,000 miles than my 2014 60,000 mile CX5, in fact I just lost the driver side window actuator in the CX5 today. Luckily the window is stuck in the up position, other 3 windows are fine other then a bit noisy. Unfortunately my wife is at her wits end with all the problems we continue to have with our CX5. I really don't have the confidence even trying to go another 40,000 miles. It just feels and acts very cheaply built with something always breaking or rattling. It was the first 2014 on my dealers lot untouched right off the truck. My wife loved it at first, but now she refers to it as our tin can car!

 

[old-school]

Sorry to be off topic, but what is bad about the Super Bug? Eventually, I will pick one up(73 or later) for a project (Subaru STI engine/trans transplant).

Sounds like a great project, a good fit. Japan's updated version of the Porsche/VW motor in the classic flat four vehicle.

Regarding the Super Bug: It's bigger and uh homely, big lights, big curved glass, and especially the strut front end. These you might see these as an advantage for your project though, eh? The Super Beetle signifies VW's attempt to update and the beginning of the end of the air cooled era.

Older VW's had a stout link pin front end that has more versatility in lowering or raising. Splicing an IRS trans in one of these gives it close enough the handling of the later models with the clean lines of the older body style. Your Subi trans would take care of that rear end issue.

Bring up a pic of a Super Beetle then say a 63 bug. Put 'em side by side and what you think is what matters. The earlier Bugs look chopped and uh quaint next to the SB's more garish lines.

I lived and wrenched the air-cooled era, my project is an air cooled stroker in a '65 sunroof. Ok, I'll admit it, I'm a snob.