What do they know that I don't?

"area man" (hurrburgring)
10/11/2016 at 16:20 • Filed to: None

Some (few) of you may recall my continuing attempts to purchase a car this year even though I live in a big city with no practical use for it. After a lot of Jalop daydreaming I’ve decided to finance a 2007-2017 sub-125k mile car so I can get a decent rate through either my bank or a company that my work contracts with as an employee benefit. Also my wife is sick of me looking at old B-Body wagons. What’s up with that?

My budget is anywhere from $6,000 to $13,000. Any more than that and the monthly payments start to hurt. Anyway, I’ve settled into a few options

Mazda3 hatchback. Have also seen a couple CX-9s that could work

Ford Escape/Focus hatch. BUT I’ve also seen more than one reasonably-priced Flex, which I love. Also the 2008 Explorer for some real 4WD

Saab 9-3. This one makes the least sense. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Base-modelish BMW E90-E93. Hence the lead image. And the source of my question!

So in searching for said basic BMWs, I’ve noticed that about 80% of the results are AWD models. Are people dumping these ahead of some major system failure that I’m ignorant about? Should I only target RWD models in my hunt? Am I crazy for even considering this as an option?

Thanks and advice/links always appreciated!

DISCUSSION (28)

Party-vi > area man
10/11/2016 at 16:23

IIRC a lot of the dealer orders were for the 328xi because they could get more for the AWD, and it was an easier sell with the AWD (safe, good in snow, blah blah blah). You’ll see most 328 and 330 models new for sale at dealers are XDrive cars too.

E90M3 > area man
10/11/2016 at 16:23

Where are you located? It could be a market biases toward AWD, so consequently there are more on the used market. Here in the south the ratio seems to be reversed.

area man > E90M3
10/11/2016 at 16:25

Searching tri-state area. You could be right.

area man > Party-vi
10/11/2016 at 16:25

That makes sense!

E90M3 > Party-vi
10/11/2016 at 16:25

So that’s what was doing wrong in trying to sell my 1. Should’ve thrown some xdrive badges on it.

Textured Soy Protein > area man
10/11/2016 at 16:27

Judging by that Autotrader link you’re in Brooklyn. Generally in more northern locations, if you look at entry-level luxury cars that come in rwd and awd versions, the awd versions are much more popular. Northern “regular car” consumers don’t think of rwd as a performance feature, they think it’s a winter liability. I’m in Madison, WI and the vast majority of your assorted commodity BMW, Mercedes, Lexus & Infiniti cars here are all awd.

(I have a tarted up 2011 335i xDrive coupe that is lowered probably more than it should be for real winter capability but it’ll still do halfway decent on snow tires.)

E90M3 > area man
10/11/2016 at 16:27

I haven’t really done too much research into AWD BMWs, but the AWD system doesn’t seem to be terrible. What E90 are you looking at? Like LCI, xdrive, engine etc

DrScientist > area man
10/11/2016 at 16:27

could also be the area in which you live, area man.

there is definite region-specific trending for features like awd.

by that i mean... the dealers could be stocking up on their awds in wisconsin, but sending their rwds to the auction or to arizona.

Textured Soy Protein > E90M3
10/11/2016 at 16:36

The xDrive system is decently reliable. Main things to watch out for are the front diff is weak if you are attempting to drag race a tuned 335. Also there’s a plastic worm gear in the transfer case that can get worn out but there are aftermarket metal replacements that are more reliable.

Also if you disconnect the battery you will get a scary “4x4 system inoperative” error the first time you start the car, until the steering angle sensor resets itself. That was fun the first time I had to disconnect my battery.

area man > E90M3
10/11/2016 at 16:41

Here’s one I’m currently eyeballing. Most are similarly spec’d.

Klaus Schmoll > area man
10/11/2016 at 16:43

Just like you, I am currently doing my homework on used cars to buy next spring. I’m pretty set on E61s and as far as I have read the forums the x-drive is a non-issue. I don’t want/need it, but I wouldn’t dismiss a good car because of it.

area man > Klaus Schmoll
10/11/2016 at 16:43

Good to hear, thanks! Good luck in your own hunt.

SantaRita > area man
10/11/2016 at 16:56

x-drive is more stability oriented than enthusiast oriented but its AWD and that’s nice if you need it. many of these cars have very lovely but somewhat expensive to repair items like the turbos, so many will drop these cars with that in mind.

listed on the forums: fuel pump failures(a recall was put out) , waste gate rattles, fuel injector issues and some ignition gremlins. find one with those sorted out already.

the saabs are an oddball but they were very well sorted cars after 2008 or so. A spyker-made saab with the AWD, manual with the high power turbo were finally offered together after about 2010 and are inexpensive and rare...like the turboX without the nostaligia play.

area man > SantaRita
10/11/2016 at 17:01

thanks! how expensive is a turbo repair?

E90M3 > area man
10/11/2016 at 17:01

The link to the car isn’t working, until I go in a delete a bunch of things in the URL, it’s seems to be a common Kinja problem. I’ve been using tiny url for most of my autotrader links recently, seems a lot more robust: http://tinyurl.com/zd4mq7y

Not bad at all, stick under 100k non-turbo pre-LCI E90, I like it.

E90M3 > Textured Soy Protein
10/11/2016 at 17:02

Ah, BMW and their plastic gears.

Textured Soy Protein > E90M3
10/11/2016 at 17:08

Luckily there’s this guy who made his own CNC metal replacement gear and sells them on ebay for 60 bucks a pop . I’m thinking of proactively buying one just in case since they’re cheap and who knows how long the dude will be selling them.

SantaRita > area man
10/11/2016 at 17:10

On the 335i it’s major money...Replacing the turbos will cost $5,000 to $6,000 at a dealer. These engines are really packed tightly.
2010+ models are little better and 2011 are better still.

but you know what, 300hp rwd 335i coupes check the same check boxes as a mkIV supra, its within 100lbs of weight and is rated a little more power...that’s pretty lovely spec to start with.

FromCanadaWithLove > area man
10/11/2016 at 17:22

If you’re interested in the Mazda 3 or Ford Focus, check out the Volvo C30. It’s the same chassis, but with a nicer fit and finish. They also depreciate quite a bit, so there’s value to be found. The T5 is pretty reliable and fun to drive.

area man > FromCanadaWithLove
10/11/2016 at 17:31

My dad has one actually, 2011 R-Design. The 6MT is pretty terrible, which is a shame, but I agree on the looks. I thought about other Volvos but I feel like I don’t know a single 2007+ owner without a litany of maintenance issues.

E90M3 > Textured Soy Protein
10/11/2016 at 17:54

It’s probably worth it, I’d do that if I had an xdrive E9X.

FromCanadaWithLove > area man
10/11/2016 at 18:14

I haven’t tried the MT. My girlfriend and her dad both have C30s (‘07, ‘09). Both are the 2.4i NA engine. Neither have had issues. Both are autos, and that’s a pretty ho-hum transmission. Cool car, though.

Pinks1ip > area man
10/11/2016 at 19:45

With no practical use for a car, why are you looking at such boring, practical cars?

Milky > area man
10/11/2016 at 20:30

This is what they learned the hard way.

Kinja'd!!!

area man > Milky
10/11/2016 at 21:26

I can only hope they’ve already covered a proportional amont of that

area man > Pinks1ip
10/11/2016 at 21:41

It’s complicated! I take public transit to work every day, and I want a car so I can take more road trips and generally just get out and explore more with my wife and friends. So it has to be reliable, not too flashy since I’m street parking it, seat at least five, and be capable of driving across the country since we want to move to California eventually. And on that note I actually already have an impractical car, a K5 Blazer, but it lives at my in-laws place in California.

Pinks1ip > area man
10/12/2016 at 12:47

Well now that you’ve identified hypothetical use-cases for the vehicle, what do you want in a vehicle? As your list of considerations shows, any reliable car with 5 seat belts qualifies for carting your friends around.

(BTW, while it’s a nice gesture to want room for your friends, why is this a priority? Do they also not have cars?)

It’s too hard to pinpoint your taste, so I’ll do a quick run down of the cars you listed:

Mazda3- if you’re REALLY planning to pile friends in your car, why get a compact?

CX-9- sounds like it technically meets your very meet-able needs, but otherwise doesn’t jump out at you.

Escape/Focus hatch- see CX-9.

Explorer- 4WD wasn’t in your initial criteria, so it probably isn’t a reason for you to consider the Explorer.

Saab 9-3- you said it yourself: makes the lease sense.

E90- probably not the best cost of ownership within your budget, but not terribly unreliable if you stay with a naturally aspirated model.

Flex- you love it? Then buy it. It meets your criteria and speaks to you on some level. It’ll be way better on a road trip or stuffing friends in the back than a compact sedan/hatch/CUV.

area man > Pinks1ip
10/12/2016 at 14:00

No one I know owns a car because we all live in a very expensive city with great public transit (guess). You have good points. I might go check out that Flex. I also found a manual 2010 forester that looks solid