Dependable & Reliable Sporty Vehicle?
I'm in search of a sporty 4-door vehicle along the lines of S4's, M5's (E60), C63's etc.,
but I'm really concerned about reliability & dependability. I'm coming from a nearly 10
year old Toyota that's only needed a clutch replacement (at around 81k) since I've had
it. Its never given me any issues and I'm hoping to find something just as reliable.
It makes sense to me to pay a little more for a 'sports car', but I'm not looking to sink
thousands every year just to keep it running. Two different coworkers shared their
BMW experiences with me and urged me to reconsider based on their experiences.
(One was used, one was new via European Delivery) I've read a lot of horror stories on
various BMW forums of people having issues as early as 12k miles (VANOS lines,
SMG, SMG pump, crank bearings etc.) on a brand new car. I see a *lot* of SMG M5's
up for sale, but only a few manual transmission M5's. (Ratio is literally something like
one MT for every 50-65 SMG's) This gives credence to the idea that SMG's are
problematic and manual transmissions are so awesome, no one wants to let it go.
And that's just the BMW's! I haven't even hit up the Audi and Mercedes forums for their
'common issues'.
Obviously, its one thing if I'm driving the car into the ground, and putting some serious
load on it:
- racing light to light
- participating in heavy 'spirited driving' all the time
- slamming into corners and hairpin turns at 90mph
- frequent burnouts & redlining etc
But that's not my driving style. I've got a family, so I won't be doing anything foolish.
Is it wrong for me to want, and expect, relatively low maintenance, almost no serious
issues, reliability and dependability from a car of that caliber used as a daily driver?
I'm really interested in your feedback. I want to make as informed a decision as
possible.