My dad has put twice as much money into an American made truck with about 80K miles on it in the 12 years he had it than into 3 BMW 5 series he had in the same time period, combined, 1 of which topped 100K miles. I have a 14 year old BMW and other than a battery draining issue a few years back, I have probably put $3K of non-standard maintenance into it in the 7-8 years Ive had it. Our "family" mechanic who I'll still bring my car to for work when I'm back home was at a Chevy/GM certified spot for a long time, switched to a German dealership, bought a used 3 series, and has never looked back. Opened his own shop specializing in German vehicles cause its more enjoyable work for him. You're right that they are not set up for amateur/home tinkering and repair, but they are reliable and great to drive. Absolutely will get a few year old certified pre-owned BMW/Audi in a year or two before I would buy some dumbass Impala or the like. That being said, I will admit to almost being embarrassed at how impressed I am with what Hyundai has done.
Well current American cars are alright. I'm still a little shocked at some of the cheap plastic components BMW used in my generation. It doesn't end up being a ton if you DIY but they can be catastrophic if left unchecked. Most of the time you are going to spend 150$ for someone just to look at them. Foreign repair prices are costly.
Yep. The 20 year interior of my old BMW was in way, way better shape than a 2 year old interior in a Challenger or Charger. The new American Muscle cars have such shit interiors, I just don't get it. It was the 2nd video... where he was serenading you on an organ (the musical instrument kind)... with a jar of peanut butter sitting on it.
Because if you're the type of person who buys a Charger or a Challenger, you consider any dollar spent on something that can't be seen while you're revving your engine in the high school parking lot (even though you left high school 8 years ago) to be a waste of money you don't have.
It was more a counter to my praise of European autos just prior. I wasn't aware those cars had any other features other than HEMIIIIII. HORSEPOWER. HEMI.
Asian cars are hard to tell apart, just like Asian people are. They range anywhere from Ninja Warrior to Karate-man. The women mostly giggle and cover their faces with fans that they also use to decapitate enemy tournament combatants.
I've owned three Dodge trucks and have never had a significant issue. Currently, I have 65k on my 2011 Ram and I haven't needed to do anything to it other than routine maintenance.
Yeah, just give it time. I know that Toytoy is gonna chew my ass over this, but Mopars are another make that I would never buy; MAYBE a heavy duty Ram with a Cummins diesel, but then I'd only be buying it for the engine. The quality on Mopars has always been third-rate compared to Ford and GM (and GM is a notoriously cheap company), and they always seem to want to do things differently (and not always for the better). I guess when your company is continuously circling the toilet bowl, you're more willing to take risks. Working on Mopars ranks up there with German cars on my list of cars that make my stomach drop when I see them pull into the shop parking lot.
Meh. I've never been one of those Mopar or no car guys. My preference for Mopars is kind of a hangover from my muscle car days, when I owned quite a few of them. But, I also owned Chevys, Fords, Mercurys, AMCs, hot rodded VW bugs, a Buick GS350 and God knows what else. Hell, my '37 Plymouth coupe had a 350 Chevy in it with a '64 T-Bird rear end (Why a T-Bird rear end? A trip to the wrecking yard with a measuring tape. It was a perfect fit.) I've owned a little bit of everything. In fact my Durango is the first Mopar I've had in about 30 years.
As long as you don't keep it past 100k, or 7-8 years, your odds aren't bad. It's tough to get your money's worth at less than 8 years or 100k for a new truck, in my opinion. I like the way Dodge trucks look when they're new, and they sound pretty good.