Thread: Looking for another car

As the title states I am at the beginning process of looking for another car to replace the high mileage car my kid drives to work everyday. Just broke 202k. I know a lot of you will say that is just getting broke in, but for me that is starting to live on the edge of reliability. Inspection is due in June and I'm preparing now in case there is a hefty repair bill coming. I already know it's gonna need tie rod ends and an alignment. (I'll install tie rods).

Being a GM guy, I am not all that familiar with the cars my kid wants to buy. I was hoping some of you car enthusiasts could help me narrow down the search. Key feedback I'm looking for are reliability and known issues. I already know repairs aren't going to be cheap, which is why I'm asking about reliability. He drives about 10k miles a year, just to and from work.

Here's a short list of candidates.

Audi A4
BMW 328I xdrive (I believe all those numbers they use are just there to confuse people)
Subaru
Cadillac ATS (I know, right? Why is a 2015 Cadillac with 28k miles under $14K)

If anyone has other suggestions the criteria we are using is the car is used, under $14k, AWD, no SUV/Truck.

repair costs for the audi and bmw i bet are rather pricey. part could even cost more.

subarus are notorious for head gasket problems and a PITA to replace.
beemers are good rides.

The newer Audi A4's are not bad cars at all. The Volkswagen group really dialed in that 2.0T engine and the DSG transmission. A manual would be even better. Parts are not that expensive for most things but some things are kinda labor heavy. Parts are shared across many different models from VW and Audi so the parts price isn't huge compared to others. I think some still suffer from oil consumption and you'd want to read up on forums for some on the main common issues or watch some youtube video's.

I don't know much about BMW's.

The Cadillac's are kinda cool cars if you ask me. 2.0T engines that make some decent horsepower and are RWD. Front suspension bushings and control arms should for sure get a once over to make sure they are tight. Check the brakes over too. I remember when I worked at a higher end shop a few years back we were getting this cars in from auctions off lease returns and at 20-30k miles the brakes were half or more gone by then on some. Again I'd read the forums and watch some video's are I'm sure the common issues are out there. At the time when I worked on them they were 1-2 year old cars and nothing really was wrong at this point in time.

Originally Posted by Fivefingerdeathpunch

The newer Audi A4's are not bad cars at all.

What year would you say starts the "newer" Audi's?

Thanks for all your info on the Caddy. Maybe that's why its price is unexpectedly low.

Originally Posted by SgtMarshal

why does it have to be awd?

Because his mother says so. lol. Seriously tho, his commute to work involves back roads to the back roads and they are not on the priority list of getting attention in the winter. I know, awd cars are not the real solution and will have trouble once the snow piles up enough to drag the bottom of the car. You could get stuck driving anything. AWD/4WD can give you a sense of false security. My dad once told me not all vehicles have 4 wheel go, but they all have 4 wheel stop.

Thanks for the Trax suggestion. I'll look into that one.

Caddy has the 2.0T which is one of the reasons it is under consideration.

2011+ on the Audi A4's.

After months of waiting we went and finally bought a new car. We went with a 2014 Beemer 328i with 60k miles. I took it to our mechanic so he could give it a once over and it got the thumbs up. They gave us $1300 for the GP with 210k miles!. It helped the salesman knew the value of the 3800 SC engine. It was still a good running car but it was getting old and we were going to have to put some money into it soon.

I told my kid now he needs to save for the repair and tire bills. It has run flats and those aren't cheap from what I hear.

Fordman77 - We did consider not getting run flats, but then what about if a flat tire occurs? There isn't a spare/jack, nothing. Do I keep a can of fix a flat in the trunk and does that stuff have a shelf life or ruin the wheel?

For s&g's we looked up oil filters at wally world and the filter for this car is almost $18 and they only had one brand. I opened the box to see what was so special. It is just a paper filter and looks so cheap. BMW = Bavarian Money Waster

Originally Posted by onxy

Keep an eye out for water pump failures on the N52, assuming they still used the inline 6 in 2014? If not the same concept applies to the newer 4cyl. They're electric and fail very quickly, with little warning. Typically you get a warning message, and within a minute it begins running hot.

N20 also has common timing chain issues, but i believe they have extended warranty coverages on them. Hopefully they've worked them out in recent years, but it was very common when that engine first started being used.

This car is all uncharted territory for me. He has the twin turbo 4 in it. I've been seeing all those 'N' numbers being thrown around. What do they mean and how do I find out which one we have?