Are there downsides to used upscale brands?

[rstcso]

WoW. That all sounds good. Especially the amazing great part about you saving money on auto insurance. The majority of our similar stories here mostly end up with some or several of us complaining about the non stop rising costs of everything. It is great to hear someone get a break from the bill collectors!
Hope you all enjoy that new Pilot. My Honda dealership loaned me one for a weekend a while back. I was pretty impressed with them. (just not the prices-)

I went to the dealer this morning for a rear-end fluid change at 5600 miles. I about to go to London and my wife will be driving to Canada, so didn't have time to do it myself. Besides, I do want to build a relationship with a good service advisor, even though I'm doing a lot of the maintenance myself. He did ask "Are you sure you don't want to use our oil?", knowing I'm using Amsoil and he's using bulk Pennzoil Synthetic. He knew the answer and we both laughed.

It's only the first interval where the rear-end fluid has a short interval. From here on, should be in the 30k range.

 

[brages]

Shouldn't that be Honda Dual Pump Fluid II?

 

[OVERKILL]

By “upscale” I’m talking about brands like Lexus, Infiniti, and Acura: rebadged and cosmetically tweaked versions of Toyota, Nissan and Honda cars. For instance, is buying a Lexus RX350 a worse idea than buying the same year Toyota Venza? Do higher Insurance costs and repair parts prices make buying used upscale vehicles a worse purchase than their base brand counterparts?

Acura seems to rank consistently below Honda in the long term reliability study.

 

[CarlB]

By “upscale” I’m talking about brands like Lexus, Infiniti, and Acura: rebadged and cosmetically tweaked versions of Toyota, Nissan and Honda cars. For instance, is buying a Lexus RX350 a worse idea than buying the same year Toyota Venza? Do higher Insurance costs and repair parts prices make buying used upscale vehicles a worse purchase than their base brand counterparts?

Depends on how much you value getting a discount due to the steeper depreciation with luxury vehicles.

 

[rstcso]

Step into the only Porsche dealership in Calgary. The 20k, 30k and 40k mile service costs for the Macan are anywhere from $2000 to $6500. These are fluid changes, filters and spark plugs. Heaven forbid you need something repaired.

The latest game by manufacturers is to spec premium fuel in the upper classes of vehicles and regular fuel for the proliteriate class. Same engine, same ECU pulling timing on the regular fueled vehicles giving lower HP output. Lots of crossover there.

The Audi was recommended premium fuel with the owner's manual basically saying that if you used regular, it was going to cost you HP.

Not quite Porsche pricing, but a couple of years ago the hourly rate at the dealership was $289/hr. We'd prepaid the service while under warranty, but I think the 40k service would have been over $1k (fluids and spark plugs), quite a bargain vs the Macan. Ours had the EA888 engine.

The Honda service should be but a fraction of the Audi. Repairs: What repairs?

 

[rstcso]

Acura seems to rank consistently below Honda in the long term reliability study.

I suspect this has to do with their additional "features". This is exactly why we went with the Honda.

 

[rstcso]

Shouldn't that be Honda Dual Pump Fluid II?

Yes. This secondary discussion was around their using bulk motor oil vs Honda-branded for their OCs.

 

[GSCJR]

Yes, Lexus complicates Toyota's simplicity which jeopardizes reliability and increases repair cost. Adaptive Front-lighting system and unnecessary over engineered HVAC controls, just to name a couple.

 

[edyvw]

The Audi was recommended premium fuel with the owner's manual basically saying that if you used regular, it was going to cost you HP.

Not quite Porsche pricing, but a couple of years ago the hourly rate at the dealership was $289/hr. We'd prepaid the service while under warranty, but I think the 40k service would have been over $1k (fluids and spark plugs), quite a bargain vs the Macan. Ours had the EA888 engine.

The Honda service should be but a fraction of the Audi. Repairs: What repairs?

How long do you own Honda?

 

[rstcso]

How long do you own Honda?

Three months for the Pilot. We had a 2018 CR-V which we gave to our middle daughter in 2021 and bought the Audi the last day of that year. Prior to that, my wife had a 1999 CR-V which we gave to our oldest daughter when I bought my wife a 2007 Mustang (first year where they went back to the original-ish styling).

 

[edyvw]

Three months for the Pilot. We had a 2018 CR-V which we gave to our middle daughter in 2021 and bought the Audi the last day of that year. Prior to that, my wife had a 1999 CR-V which we gave to our oldest daughter when I bought my wife a 2007 Mustang (first year where they went back to the original-ish styling).

Well, based on how previous Pilot’s did, don’t make enemies of service managers.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Step into the only Porsche dealership in Calgary. The 20k, 30k and 40k mile service costs for the Macan are anywhere from $2000 to $6500. These are fluid changes, filters and spark plugs. *Heaven forbid you need something repaired.

View attachment 296430
The latest game by manufacturers is to spec premium fuel in the upper classes of vehicles and regular fuel for the proliteriate class. ** Same engine, same ECU pulling timing on the regular fueled vehicles giving lower HP output. Lots of crossover there.

Only two possible reactions I can think of to all that!
* Heaven forbid you need something repaired. = YIKES!
(Of course that service writer can't get the smile off his face as he writes up the work order)

** Same engine, same ECU , lower HP. Lots of crossover. = WoW!
(The service writer likely tells his victims... I mean customers, "if you don't use premium fuel your car could end up TOTALLED!)

 

[rstcso]

When the Audi went past 3 years of their 4 years' warranty, I couldn't decide whether to plan on keeping it "forever" or get something known to be more reliable. The lowest third party warranty quote received was over $13,000. I called my dealer and they wouldn't even give me a price, so I called another Audi dealer, and they told me it's so ridiculously high, you might as well just buy a new car... so I bought the Honda Pilot.

The Audi had a recall in the first year related to the bottom end of the motor. After testing, mine "wasn't affected". Two years later (and two weeks before trading it in), the engine had a second recall, but this time the top end. That was the final straw.

So if you're considering anything from the Volkswagen Group, their hierarchy is VW, Audi, Porsche, and maybe some Lamborghinis thrown in for good measure. Just add another zero or two to the repair costs of each tier as you move up.

I had an Uber driver with an Acura MDX tell me he always got his car's maintenance at a Honda dealership because the scheduled services were half the cost than the Acura dealership.

 

[Nick1994]

I don’t think so. I just bought a 2014 Lexus ES350 last month private party, I also cross-shopped Avalons and I’m not sure it really cost much more to get the Lexus version. I’m very familiar with the Avalon as my aunt had a ‘16 Avalon that I put a ton of miles on and the Lexus is the clear winner, hands down. More comfortable seats and the leather is much better. Much better suspension too.

 

[Ws6]

By “upscale” I’m talking about brands like Lexus, Infiniti, and Acura: rebadged and cosmetically tweaked versions of Toyota, Nissan and Honda cars. For instance, is buying a Lexus RX350 a worse idea than buying the same year Toyota Venza? Do higher Insurance costs and repair parts prices make buying used upscale vehicles a worse purchase than their base brand counterparts?

Yes, they often have deferred maintenance which will cost more than the generic. Yes they often have more complex drivetrains that require more PM and are more expensive and more prone to breaking. Also, there is an ///M, AMG, RS, etc tax, and it's real.

 

[Ws6]

All things being equal, I would have an issue with paying more for a badge. (Especially for the Infinity)

Yeah, this has always been a thing for me, as well. I tend to shy away from badges, because they don't mean anything really. I bought a Kia EV, and guess what? It as a make/model has done as well or better than all the other stuff out there from MB/BMW/Porsche, etc. Buy a PRODUCT, not a badge. For example, if you want a high performance ICE SUV, Buy something with an S58 under the hood. If you want a cheap RWD sports car, buy the Mustang GT. If you want an AWD sports car, buy whatever your wallet inspires in you from the VAG. But don't go buying a family car SUV from VAG, because your life will suck long-term, lol! Don't go buying an ICE car from Kia, because you will be a sad panda. Don't go buying an EV from Ford. Buy the specific model, and forget the badge.

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

Yes. Due to volume older stuff may be incredibly expensive or unavailable. Lincoln mks headlights for example. And due to small volume there is no good aftermarket options.

 

[Elkins45]

Also, there is an ///M, AMG, RS, etc tax, and it's real.

I don’t know what this means.

 

[rijndael]

Parts for the BMW M series, Mercedes AMG and Audi RS vehicles seem inordinately more expensive than their non-performance counterparts.

 

[andrew_j]

My personal findings are insurance rates are considerably lower for daughters Acura ILX(civic based) vs Honda Civic. Same is true of insurance on my V6 powered Acura RDX vs CRV loaded I peeked at.

Also my insurance increased a tad buying a used base model 2015 Honda Pilot vs same underpinned way fancier 07 Acura MDX I sold.