Originally Posted by HouseB328

Since we are all Lexus owners, we care about reliability, to put it simply. My first car was a 1989 BMW 325i, and it was so exciting to drive, while requiring proper maintenance. In addition to the Odyssey, do people on this forum also own German vehicles (BMW, Mercedes, Audi) as their other vehicles? I've always wanted to buy an Audi Q5 or the new Mercedes GLC as a small SUV -it would be fun to drive and practical also due to the cargo room. (I left out BMW X3 since it is way too expensive.) Their driving dynamics are great, and there's something cool about having a car made in Germany. But we all know the Japanese know everything about reliability. I'm going to post on why I think German cars have a bad reputation about reliability and you tell me what you think. (This is in addition to the general sense that Japanese care are more reliable anyway).

>This is one reason that German cars have a reputation of being unreliable. They have technology that push the limits of mechanics at that particular point in time. Most people buy a car for $50k and then they approach the 60k maintenance that will cost them over $1000, if not close to $2000. Since these people might trade their German car before 100k miles or so, what's the point of spending that money on constant maintenance?

I suppose some german automakers include more technology than their japanese, american, or korean counter parts. Of course more amenities, means more things that CAN eventually break. HOWEVER i do think that the Japanese whilst not quite on the same level of cutting edge technology as the germans may be, they do deliver on reliability. Take Benz on their early 00 models for example, they had REALLY nice ABC systems instead of standard shock and spring, and they had nice V12s in some of their higher end vehicles. Take the S500 for example, anyone who's owned a Benz with ABC knows what a pain in the *** those systems are. Could last 25k could last you 100k who knows? The S600, never owned a V12 before, i do hear horror stories of failed coilpacks (which cost about $1200 a pop) due to poor quality wiring. Take a Lexus LS430 on the other hand while no V12 model was offered, fully loaded with the works "ultimate luxury package" I dont think Lexus fell short of "ultra luxury" equipped with massaging rear chairs, power window shades, and air suspension. We dont hear too many horror stories of failed components on these cars as we do their german counter parts.

So you sell your $50k car at 90k miles without proper maintenance already skipped, to some kid who wants to look rich for $15k. Said kid barely has the money to pay for the car, let alone get maintenance done. Any money he has will go to aftermarket rims and a stereo system, and the skipped maintenance cycle continues.

This is very true, dumb kids (me included) buy cars they cant afford to maintain and instead of maintaining, buy some gaudy rims and a big boom box for the trunk. We do see a lot of these neglected cars no matter what brand of automaker

This process repeats itself several times and in the end you have someone who buys a used BMW/Mercedes/Audi for $5k with and deals with all kinds of engine trouble, OEM rubber parts crumbling to pieces, interior trim coming off -on top of that having to listen to a smug coworker tell him how their beige Corolla has never given them any trouble with only basic oil changes.

Now if 1 or 2 people had owned this German car and did all of the maintenance that was required and not skip out on everything, you will most likely have a German car that made it to 200k with minimal headaches.
Yes this is true, in all honestly you can get any car to go 200k IF YOU DO THE MAINTENANCE. The question comes down to, what includes maintenance? Many Benz cars have transmission problems before hitting 100k, maintenance at the Benz dealer says eh, replace it, its maintenance. This will very very rarely be a needed maintenance item if ever on a Lexus. So really, it comes down to maintenance COST i think. If you want to go 200k miles, sure both a Benz and a Lexus are capable of getting you there, but at what cost?

Originally Posted by patgilm

I have had at least one Lexus in my garage since 2003. I have always had Japanese cars (with the exception of the Viper) since I started driving. Since I just started leasing cars and my lease is up next month I have been looking at all kinds of cars and looking for something small to commute in. I narrowed it down to the IS350 F-Sport and the Audi S3. I test drove both twice and I really liked the S3 much better even though it is a little more and a little smaller. The interior and exterior is more plain looking but I thought it was way more fun to drive. Since I am leasing I don't care how much it costs to fix something but it does scare me a bit to have to make more trips to the dealer since I am used to going in for oil changes only with Lexus and not much else. i just don't have much time anymore. With that being said, I am ready to make the switch, I am tired of the same power plant/ powertrain in the Lexus over the last several years.

Originally Posted by Aron9000

^ Have you thought about a used Jag F-Type for a fun car in a couple of years? Jags depreciate like a falling stone, I'm sure you could swing it.

Originally Posted by dseag2

Audis have gotten infinitely more reliable over the years. I would not let that scare you away from the S3.

http://www.thecarconnection.com/news...eliable-brands

Also, go on the S3 Forum on Audiworld for real life experiences. Most there love their S3's, especially the "fun-to-drive factor".

Originally Posted by patgilm

Thanks for the heads up on the S3 forum, I was looking in VWVortex forums and there wasn't much activity there on their S3 forum. My only fear is that it looks like the S3 engine has some oil consumption issues but I guess I just have to have a little oil on hand for that so maybe not a big deal. Hopefully the summer of Audi event starting next week has good deals on S3 leases.

Originally Posted by jmtamu

I have a 2014 Lexus GS F-Sport and just got a 2016 BMW M5.

The BMW has so much more soul and makes the Lexus seem like a POS in comparison, but I still love both cars. Life is too short to be married to one brand. We are looking at mid size SUVs to replace the '14 GS in the near future. No idea what brand we will pick up but if it was soley my choice, it would be the X5, but my wife doesn't have the same love for BMW that I do, but she is coming around because the F10 M5 is the entire package of awesomeness.