I want to open a discussion comparing reliability of cars. Edmunds has True Cost to Own data on their website and one of the items is expected repair costs for 5 years. They base this on the price of an extended warranty for the vehicle minus overhead and profit, and also take into account any applicable new vehicle warranty. This makes sense because an extended warranty provider has to accurately predict the repair costs of the vehicle and charge an amount for the warranty to still make a profit after paying those claims.

So, here are the numbers for expected 5 year repair costs. All 2007 models so the bumper-to-bumper warranty has expired and the powertrain will soon:

2007 Lexus IS 250 RWD auto: $3,149
2007 Acura TSX auto, no nav: $3,036
2007 Infiniti G35 sedan base: $3,080

So far, so good for the Japanese brands. On to the Germans:

2007 BMW 328i sedan: $7,977
2007 Mercedes-Benz C230: $7,977
2007 Audi A4 2.0T CVT: $6,765

Hmm... This is not looking good for German reliability. Some other cars:

2007 Cadillac CTS 2.8L V6: $5,663
2007 Jaguar X-Type AWD: $14,514
2007 Porsche Boxster 2.7L: $10,194
2007 Toyota Camry LE 2.4L auto: $2,470

Wow, I would think twice before buying a Jag or Porsche!

So there we have some real numbers to show that Japanese cars are more reliable/cheaper to repair than other cars. Any comments or criticisms?

 

I had my 2005 camry for 6 years & did not spend a penny on repairs. That's reliability! Maintainance: oil changes, battery, Serpentine belt, water pump (under warranty), tranny fluid change. plugs. That's it: say $500.00 (excluding oil chages).

I expect the same from Lexus, even thought changings plugs on the 250 is a PITA, i'm gonna pay to have it done, i expect to pay about 250.00.

 

^^ Actually from the places i've been asking, labor alone for the spark plugs is about $200-300. It's a pretty labor intensive job from what i'm seeing.
That's independent shops, don't even ask how much the dealer wants for just labor on the plugs

 

3 years on my 2009 is250, only thing I've done is oil changes. The other $10k+ was upgrades I wanted to do haha I'm at 54k miles btw.

Edit: also two sets of tires at ~$900 a set.

 

Nothing in this post is a surprise to me, it's pretty much exactly as I would expect. German cars are known for poor reliability, Japanese are known for good reliability. Jags have extremely poor reliability, Porsche has better reliability than most Germans but if something does go wrong, it's extremely expensive. So it's interesting to see the numbers, but more than anything it just quantifies and reinforces what people already know.

 

I'm not surprised either. But in the end, I think those that can afford cars like Porsches, don't care about money for fixes since if they did, they wouldn't have gotten it in the first place.

 

Same here, but I have a '06 350. More recalls completed than oil changes, but not a penny spent on repairs of any sort. And my Nav unit still works flawlessly.

 

That frozen navigation thing is the only problem I've had with this car.

 

my independant shop charged me 180 just labor on SPark plugs. BUt i do know him soo....