Used Audi or Mercedes? Sub $10000 A4s?

[IndyIan]

I have/had 3 of those engines, two still in my garage. None burned oil, CC was traded at 126k without any mechanical work except spark plugs. Tiguan is 11yrs with us and you can only take it away from my wife’s cold dead hands.
If you want to know how stout 1.8TSI is, you might ask @TiGeo
As for your buddy, I know people who would break a breaker bar.

He's an accountant type, just unlucky I guess? He certainly doesn't beat on it, and read and follows the manual, but maybe goes to jiffy lube type places too?

 

[edyvw]

He's an accountant type, just unlucky I guess? He certainly doesn't beat on it, and read and follows the manual, but maybe goes to jiffy lube type places too?

I really don’t what to tell you. @TiGeo is beating the crap out of his.

 

[GR_CoB]

So as previous owner of VW CC with 2.0T, current owner for 11yrs of Tiguan that is 13yrs old, and Atlas, can you tell me when will my turbo chargers fail?
Also, since owning Tiguan I had vent resistor fail ($5 piece) one coil and water pump was replaced at 64k due to recall.
So, what else happened to my car that I don’t know about? For example none of my European cars ever left me or didn’t want to start in the morning bcs. bad mood. But Mazda Millenia, Toyota Sienna decided to do precisely that.
And Honda? Pesky oil pressure sensors that made me drive 100mls in safe mode 20mph an hour, potential VCM issues, timing belt, crappy brakes, and that torque steer like it is FWD from 1960’s.
So, what is basic annual maintenance on European car? I have 3. BMW is almost 150k, daily, tracked, go skiing twice a week, sees temperatures as low as -40.

I have owned more than a dozen of German cars with a turbo
charger and I never ever had to replace one single water pump,
timing chain or turbo charger.
For many years I thought Germans are notorious scaredy-pants.
Now I think Americans are even worse milquetoasts.
That let to a huge question: Why the heck Americans have such
frequent issues with European cars while (the vast majority of)
European owners obviously don't? I feel baffled . . . . .
.

Great for both of you. What makes you think I was talking about you though? I don't exactly know either one of you, other than your online profiles on BITOG.

I do know lots of locals personally though, and that's where my comment came from: the thousands of dollars my family lost on Euro vehicles, and a dozen other people (that I know personally) with similar experiences, and then tons of fanboys who spend thousands on their VW and Audis, while having the nerve to claim that their cars are "almost as reliable as a Camry". Never understood that logic...

I know of a couple Honda shops and only one Toyota/Lexus shop. They're not doing too well financially. Comfortable, but not flashy. Yet the Euro car shops are at every corner, and all are very well equipped with expensive tools, all are very flashy, and all are only growing. Not just in size of building, but also in number of branch locations. Wonder how do they have so much money if German cars rarely break and are cheap to own?

 

[GR_CoB]

Tell us how many you owned? Did you actually own any of these vehicles?
Also, I work in a public position, and I don't know a dozen people who drive Audi or BMW. Some drive American vehicles (including tesla), some Japanese, some Euro, some Korean, but apparently all your family and friends do drive only Euro cars.

I will never understand logic of people not knowing anything about it, but thinking that common blood line gives them knowledge about stuff.

Also, I own a Honda. I owned Toyota and Mazda; I still own a Toyota Prado in Europe. I also owned more than 40 VW's as delivery vehicles in Europe.
So, please, tell us what did you exactly own and what kind of experience you had with them? Bcs. You know, the experience of your cousin dating the cousin of his good buddy, and then you forming an opinion about that, goes along that line: "Opinion is like a.....e, everyone has one."

Oh @edyvw, you must know my life better than I do.
Nothing that I say will change your mind about VAG. So why waste time to give you more stuff to nit-pick on? Besides, why repeat myself if everything is here in my old posts already?
Excuse me while I go tell my coworker that his 280k mile G37 is defective and should've blown up 5 times by now.

 

[edyvw]

Oh @edyvw, you must know my life better than I do.
Nothing that I say will change your mind about VAG. So why waste time to give you more stuff to nit-pick on? Besides, why repeat myself if everything is here in my old posts already?
Excuse me while I go tell my coworker that his 280k mile G37 is defective and should've blown up 5 times by now.

Do you actually own anything, including a driver's license? That is how my 8-year-old says: dad, look what my friend's dad is driving.

 

[GR_CoB]

Do you actually own anything, including a driver's license? That is how my 8-year-old says: dad, look what my friend's dad is driving.

I own nothing bud. I live in a dog house, that's inside a van by the river. Look for the one with "0W40FTW" license plate.

 

[edyvw]

I own nothing bud. I live in a dog house, that's inside a van by the river. Look for the one with "0W40FTW" license plate.

Well, hang on onto that house.
Leave this conversation to people with bit higher aspirations in life.

 

[GR_CoB]

Well, hang on onto that house.
Leave this conversation to people with bit higher aspirations in life.

Thank you graciously. Hang tight to that high horse bud. Never forget to remind everyone who's the know-it-all in the room.

 

[edyvw]

Thank you graciously. Hang tight to that high horse bud. Never forget to remind everyone who's the know-it-all in the room.

Some people know based on experience, some still need to get DL.

 

[TiGeo]

My personal vehicle experience:

2000 VW Jetta. Bought new, base model 5spd. 220K/14 years. Needed a water pump and the normal maintenance stuff. Original clutch when I sold it to a buddy's mom who got more use out of it. Interior fell apart but mechanically sound. M1 0W40 10K changes for a chunk of that. V. durable and low-cost-to-own car.

2003 VW Passat W8. 120K. Notoriously one of the most complicated/expensive VWs to own. This one is 21 years old and I would not say that it is "really reliable" nor should anyone think it should be. I drive it regularly and have had to spend some money to keep it running. Amazing vehicle and the most comfy seats out of any vehicle I've owned.

2018 VW Golf Sportwagen. Bought new. 104K @>2x stock power, tracked, beaten on. 180psi across all 4 cylinders, no oil consumption to talk about. Drive and looks, for the most part, new. Water pumps are the main drama here. My timing chain tensioner went, based on the "community", this was definately a strange/rare event.

2018 VW Altas. Bought new. 60K. A few bits/bobs under warranty but has been "reliable".

Cheapest car to own and most "reliable"? 2013 Ford Focus. Bought new. 135K. Had an engine mount I paid for. That's it beyond normal maintenance.

Most expensive car to own? 2006 Honda Odyssey. Amazing minivan but kept chewing up engine mounts and needed a steering rack. Had a '94 Civic, great car. Wife/father-in-law had early-90s Accords, great vehicles. Like Hondas and buy again (Type R!).

Bro and sister-in-law have had~4 VW some long-term. I recommend VW all the time and know plenty of folks with them without drama.

 

[M56959]

Unfortunately the bickering stage of the topic means its run its course.