I thought BMW was supposed to be a safe option?

[Lord Tyrion]

Which Volvo forum do you use generally?

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk

Decent site and Volvo is one of those brands where a lot of people are repeat customers so the knowledge is pretty strong and deep.

Are you on there or do you use another one? I think this is the main one but I have no link to it, other than using it, so I am not putting any others down.

 

[Foxholer]

Not really the safe option... BMW are the 28th most reliable car manufacture.

http://www.reliabilityindex.com/manufacturer

That index also factors in the cost of failures! So BMs probably more reliable - just also much more expensive when something does go wrong. So depends on what you mean by 'reliable' (or 'the safe option'). I've had British cars (Rovers) for about 40k miles and German ones (BMW and Audi) for about 600k miles and I know which I considered 'more reliable'!

Hope it works out Paul - keep at the manufacturer, as that sort of failure simply shouldn't happen except by a fault or mis-treatment.

 

[GreiginFife]

Previous car was a BM 3 series coop (E92) and had it 6 years with not a single issue. Ok so had to do brakes and tyres, a couple of shockies and bushes but thats only to be expected. But build nd relibility, even in the crappiest of crap weather, was second to none.
Now got a Mercedes A220 and so far (had it a year this month) its been faultless as well.
I would say they aint too bad overall. FH is right though, parts are bloody expensive for German motors, even VAG are now as expensive as BM and Merc.

 

[Fish]

German cars are over-rated, over-priced junk with an unjustified reputation for reliability. Buy Japanese/British cars if you want something reliable!

Rubbish!

Well I've had my Merc 4 years now, 179k on the clock, been through every MOT without anything mechanical showing up and passing 1st time every time, only had to buy brakes & tyres and 1 bulb in that period, she's never let me down, its an absolute star and only cost me £600.

I've had all the top of the range cars from new in the past and now with my 17yr old bus I'm of the opinion that new cars are over-rated.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Rubbish!

Well I've had my Merc 4 years now, 179k on the clock, been through every MOT without anything mechanical showing up and passing 1st time every time, only had to buy brakes & tyres and 1 bulb in that period, she's never let me down, its an absolute star and only cost me £600.

I've had all the top of the range cars from new in the past and now with my 17yr old bus I'm of the opinion that new cars are over-rated.

Not exactly; you bought a car from an era when Mercedes did have a reputation for quality & reliability. Read reviews on more modern Mercedes and you are liable to read phrase like this.

"The effect of it and other problems has been to destroy Mercedes’ reputation for “quality” and led to a tumbling of its used car values."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring...sty-Mercedes-and-lack-of-satnav-upgrades.html

Interestingly, further down was this gem;

Mercedes-Benz has successfully been sued in a regional court in Germany for economy figures that were impossible for a normal driver to obtain.

 

[Fish]

Not exactly; you bought a car from an era when Mercedes did have a reputation for quality & reliability. Read reviews on more modern Mercedes and you are liable to read phrase like this.

"The effect of it and other problems has been to destroy Mercedes’ reputation for “quality” and led to a tumbling of its used car values."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring...sty-Mercedes-and-lack-of-satnav-upgrades.html

Interestingly, further down was this gem;

Mercedes-Benz has successfully been sued in a regional court in Germany for economy figures that were impossible for a normal driver to obtain.

I've had new ones, my last 1 being a C220 Sports Coupe on a 53 plate, kept her for 3yrs without any problems at all putting around 30k a year on the clock. My wife had the original A Class and had that for 5yrs and again, no issues!

 

[Smiffy]

Made me laugh when a mate of mine started working as a salesman at a Merc dealer, he'd been there a week and came to pick me up in his new company car for a game of golf.
He had to walk round and unlock the passenger door manually 'cos his central locking had packed up

 

[la_lucha]

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk

Decent site and Volvo is one of those brands where a lot of people are repeat customers so the knowledge is pretty strong and deep.

Are you on there or do you use another one? I think this is the main one but I have no link to it, other than using it, so I am not putting any others down.

I've not used either yet as I've had the car less than 12 months with no issues, but I thought it's about time to look into one as I have an AC leak.

 

[Paul77]

I want my BMW back. I'm sick and tired driving my good ladys Polo and having BMW, Merc, Jag and all sorts of other big car drivers bully me all over the road. Driving up my ass, under taking and the like. I mentioned it to HID and she replied "Welcome to my world" Honestly it's just shocking the way folk treat small car drivers out there.

People need to have a word with themselves.

 

[Ethan]

Well, no car make is foolproof, so long as there are moving parts, electrical components or humans driving them, sometimes they will go wrong.

I have an Audi A6, 108k up in 7 years and it is the best car I have ever owned and I would replace it with another tomorrow. There have been a few repairs needed over those years and miles, and Audi dealer work is not cheap, but nowadays I use an independent.

Have owned a number of BMW 3 series in the past and found them pretty reliable, and would happily consider another Beemer.

Never really liked Mercedes, though.

 

[MegaSteve]

Think the youth of today are missing out on the spirit of adventure that should be associated with motoring... Setting out on a journey with only an evens chance of reaching your destination is true motoring experience....

 

[Paul77]

Think the youth of today are missing out on the spirit of adventure that should be associated with motoring... Setting out on a journey with only an evens chance of reaching your destination is true motoring experience....

I did used to get that feeling. I had a Mk4 Vauxhall Astra at the time lol.

Only reason I bought a more "Reliable car" was because I was working as a sports photographer at the time and having car issues wasn't an option. Deadlines and all that. Maybe this is my wee car telling me it needs a rest from doing 250 miles a week

 

[Foxholer]

I did used to get that feeling. I had a Mk4 Vauxhall Astra at the time lol.

Only reason I bought a more "Reliable car" was because I was working as a sports photographer at the time and having car issues wasn't an option. Deadlines and all that. Maybe this is my wee car telling me it needs a rest from doing 250 miles a week

That's not a very large mileage - about 12.5k per year. I was doing 1000miles per week for 5 years a while ago! And, likewise, reliability - once the journey began - was critical, which is why a higher quality, higher capital cost, higher (if maybe less frequent) maintenance cost, but more comfort and far greater peace of mind, is actually justifiable!

And the 2 Audi A6 Diesels I had were absolutely top notch! I always had the impression that the BMW had 'gadgets' that were not fully reliable - and it may be that this is the case for the OP too!

 

[Paul77]

And the 2 Audi A6 Diesels I had were absolutely top notch! I always had the impression that the BMW had 'gadgets' that were not fully reliable - and it may be that this is the case for the OP too!

Mine doesn't have any fancy gadgets lol.

I like the sound of this Audi A6 you speak of.

 

[la_lucha]

Think the youth of today are missing out on the spirit of adventure that should be associated with motoring... Setting out on a journey with only an evens chance of reaching your destination is true motoring experience....

I agree. I once left a fiesta At the side of the road and rang the scrapyard. Having only got halfway to snowdon

 

[Paul77]

I agree. I once left a fiesta At the side of the road and rang the scrapyard. Having only got halfway to snowdon

I guess that's where the saying

FORD = Found On Roadside Dead comes from lol

 

[Fish]

Think the youth of today are missing out on the spirit of adventure that should be associated with motoring... Setting out on a journey with only an evens chance of reaching your destination is true motoring experience....

That was every school holiday heading for the coast with 4 of us rammed into a Hillman Imp with all the luggage strapped to the roof, within 50 miles the cars behind would be flashing their lights signalling that we had steam & water pishing out from the boot, where the engine was

My dad then went from 1 extent to the other and got a Zephyr Zodiac, what a great car that was, bench seats and column drive and it was big, very big :smirk:

 

[Ethan]

Think the youth of today are missing out on the spirit of adventure that should be associated with motoring... Setting out on a journey with only an evens chance of reaching your destination is true motoring experience....

Ah, you mean driving an Italian car?

 

[Ethan]

I guess that's where the saying

FORD = Found On Roadside Dead comes from lol

FIAT - Fix It Again, Tony.

 

[Foxholer]

Mine doesn't have any fancy gadgets lol.

I like the sound of this Audi A6 you speak of.

You might not think you have, but there will definitely be 'BMW innovations' that may be great and may turn out to be liabilities!
My (D Reg) 528 had an innovation that switched the engine fan off/down when it (supposedly) wasn't needed. Unfortunately, this also happened when the car was stationary, so the temperature under the bonnet could get really high. On a snow delayed M25 trip once, it got to 145! The Thames Valley Police had to ditch theirs because of chronic overheating! And the 'Service Level Lights' innovation wasn't a complete success either! I got mine replaced FOC by complaining (a lot and loudly) when it played up (missing lights) yet they were advertising that feature as particularly special! They are an 'innovation led' company, but maybe their stress testing is not up to the levels needed. I remember some old Mercedes comment about their 'new' features being tested for the equivalent of 10 years service before being put into production - though they went through a period where their quality was not up to scratch!

The A6s were great - the first was an A100/A6. Wouldn't choose one now though - the A5 would be my choice!