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Sedans Luxury Lounge
21503 messages, Last post on Dec 04, 2009 at 1:21 PM
You are in the Sedans Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: lexusguy (Jun 30, 2009 3:55 am) June 3 (Bloomberg) -- Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s U.S. chief said its BMW brand, leading Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus in U.S. sales through May, has a “good opportunity” to unseat the Japanese automaker as the top seller of luxury autos. “It is a good opportunity for us to obtain No. 1 this year,” Jim O’Donnell, president of BMW of North America LLC, said in a Bloomberg Television interview today. “I think there is a good possibility that we will do that.” Lexus has held the top spot in annual U.S. luxury sales since 2000. A loss of that ranking would be another blow for Toyota City, Japan-based Toyota, which posted its first full- year loss in 59 years for the period that ended in March. Full article: Luxury Lead Regardless of the perceptions, BMW seems to have a better formula. Lexus is tops on quality but not even close with performance. Lexus is following close to Buick and better make some changes....FAST.  Toyota is a hurting corp. at this time. Hyundai has the best marketing campaign of any car firm out there. Now they want to lock in customers at $2.49/gallon of gas guaranteed as they bet the price will rise to $3.00/gal. in the U.S. Pretty savvy stuff on top of the assurance program. They are leading and others merely following. BMW at least gives free maintenance before you have to dump the cars! Lexus would do well to follow that immediately. Regards, OW
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Replying to: lexusguy (Jun 30, 2009 6:29 am) Well, LG, then THAT sounds like a MUCH better recommendation than the LS. 100,000 miles in superb increments.  BTW, AT&T cell coverage absolutely sucks here in Malibu. Going to the Sprint store today or tomorrow.  Might have to settle for the Pre. Don't know what else to do. TM
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Replying to: circlew (Jun 30, 2009 6:38 am) Their entire lineup is uninteresting, and many of their cars are not as reliable as they used to be. Lexus is getting squeezed on all sides. The Germans have made massive improvements to their overall quality in the last few years, Infiniti can match them on reliability with cars that are actually fun to drive, and they've been embarrassingly slow to enter many segments. |
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Replying to: tagman (Jun 30, 2009 6:46 am) Doh. Since my E90 is unlocked and I'm long out of contract, I could hop on to T-mobile tomorrow if I wanted to. Going to Sprint or Verizon though would unfortunately mean a new phone. It could be worse though. I think the Pre will eventually shape up to be a decent platform. A beta version of the SDK was just released, so applications should start showing up in earnest by the end of the year. Verizon's got nothing. I think the Storm is awful, and besides that there's an upcoming Bold clone and some mediocre WM phones. |
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Replying to: dewey (Jun 29, 2009 10:41 am) Wow, I envy you a lot. I actually ended up renting a car on this vacation to avoid having to pilot my mother-in-law's Prius for the week we are here. She loves the car and its been pretty much dead nuts reliable. My life would be so much less complicate if I was just willing to succumb to the slushbox transportation pod mentality (which would probably also better align with my budget) but I can't do it. I think its great that others can! |
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Replying to: lilengineerboy (Jun 30, 2009 4:13 pm) Nice turn of phrase. However, the concept of the car as an appliance seems to work nearly every time it's tried. Zero input of any kind -- oil checking (who needs a stinkin' dipstick?) & gear shifting (who cares what gear I'm in?), plus tire pressure monitoring & no spare. We're a dying breed, 'boy. |
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Before everyone nods their head that the worst thing in the world is to own a lux car out of warranty, lets catch our breath. The absolute biggest expense in car ownership is depreciation. Owning a Lux car for a year or two out of warranty may not be that big a risk, considering the depreciation you are saving. Or, If you buy it used you begin ahead of the game. Moreover, not only do people who trade every three years pay heavily in depreciation, they forget to consider sales tax. The case saved on depreciation and minimizing sales tax can take the sting out of maintenance bills. Finally, over a vehicle's service lifetime its position in the duty roster changes. As a couple's third car it may see only weekend use. Or it goes to the beach house for 6 months a year. Just a thought.
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Replying to: blckislandguy (Jun 30, 2009 4:33 pm) I think you certainly put your finger on the real cost--depreciation--I have decided not to get an extended warranty on either the BMW or Audi...Both have been excelent cars well maintained, and there should be no reason for them to have some major breakdown...I`l see.. I almost got the Bentley Continental, and think it a very attractive car, that four years ago didn`t cost as much as they are asking now...Still very steep depreciation, which makes a person think before they jump again....Over on the Audi d3 board there is a person named Bruce that buys cars for certain people , and I think you may find his service to be reasonable if you do not buy from a dealer...Good Luck with your decision...Tony |
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Replying to: blckislandguy (Jun 30, 2009 4:33 pm) So true, & yet not widely understood or appreciated. This is why non-business leasing has always struck me as financially senseless. You're buying the most expensive portion of a car's life - the early years, when depreciation is most costly - in return for the purported peace of mind of warranty protection. Those big post-warranty repair bills that you're afraid of are a possibility, but depreciation is a certainty. In effect, you're paying $1.25 (or more) today to avoid paying $1.00 tomorrow.
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Replying to: jimbres (Jun 30, 2009 7:00 pm) It depends on the car. There's no way I'd buy a brand new S8 or XJR. These cars lose buckets of money in their first two years, and with CPO programs and extended warranties and such you can still enjoy a lightly used example while saving $30K or more, and have the piece of mind that if the Jag's supercharger fails, you're not on the hook $6K for a new one. On the other hand, when we got the X3, BMW was subsidizing the leases so heavily that it was the only option that made sense.
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