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"Your BMW will have cost two or three times what the Renault did, cost considerably more to service and repair and have far further to depreciate."
Even so I still reckon that Renault has been neglected. I bet the OP has serviced his BMW in accordance with the schedule and attended to any items that need fixing/replacing when they occur. That's the difference IMO.
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A friend of mine working at a main dealer for a non-premium brand reckons that they don't see cars much older than 18 months!
What's interesting is the number of people on here and other forums that have major / expensive problems with 3 - 6 year old cars that have been serviced outside the main dealer network.
Presumably this is because most of these cars have £99 services whereas the parts alone specified in the main dealer's service schedule probably come to more than that.
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Yes indeed. I've actually only had it two years, and at 11 yrs old now it is way out of dealer servicing. Instead, I get the oil changed by my local excellent garage, and do the rest myself.
Whatever car we drive, I think the main thing is to listen out of the noises. I know I'm a 'car bore' but it amazes me the people that drive around blissfully unaware of the clunks, groans and other noises that their cars make until they are presented with a huge bill.
That little E36 BMW 318i though is one of the last with brilliant build quality. It really feels as if it could easily get to 150k. Of course, I don't know what problems are round the corner, but that gamble is all part of the fun of owning a cheap, fun runaround.
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The E36 is a fantastic car - our neighbour has one. Looks amazingly simple and so well laid out under the bonnet, everything in easy reach apart from the starter motor I believe.
I'm still loving my 1988 W124 'weekend car'. Again, another classic before the accountants moved into head office. Drives like it's 22 weeks old, not 22 years.
I'm assured by other forums that the autobox may need a rebuild in another 100,000 miles or so, but the engine should last another 200,000 - 300,000 miles without too much work. ;)
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>> Your BMW will have cost two or three times what the Renault did, cost considerably >>more to service and repair and have further to depreciate
An E36 BMW? My E36 323 estate has cost peanuts to service, and apart from suspension replacements, hasn't needed any repairs. 153,000 miles and passed it's last MOT. This is all on the basis that you don't go to the main dealer of course.
I would say that some Renaults cost considerably more to repair than BMW's,due to expensive parts and illogically laid out components that wear out quickly, meaning much higher labour bills.
Edited by corax on 15/04/2010 at 19:16
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I would say that some Renaults cost considerably more to repair than BMW's,due to expensive parts and illogically laid out components that wear out quickly, meaning much higher labour bills.
You hit the nail on the head.
We had a 2004 Renault Grand Scenic for 18 months. In many ways, the best car we've ever owned. Practical, supremely comfortable, good to drive, well kitted out, brilliant dCi engine etc etc.
But.
Whatever went wrong with it, and there was a lot after 60,000 miles, cost an absolute fortune. I'm normally pretty good at estimating repair costs, but the Renault involved tearing up everything I knew and binning it. New clutch? That'll be a thousand pounds sir (and that was an indie!). 9 hrs labour. Front of the car has to virtually come to bits. Driveshaft gaiter gone? That'll be a complete new driveshaft at £300 if you go to Renault, because they won't sell you any of the bits separately. Plastic glass carrier snaps in the window regulator? £250 for a complete unit with motor and cables, because it isn't available separately. Power steering motor playing up? That's £1000 for a new steering column etc etc. And every single job was a nightmare. Even getting the engine undertray off where the captive nuts inside the chassis rail weren't welded properly, and detached, causing the bolt to turn.
A great car, engineered and built by monkeys. I've never loved and hated a car so much at the same time. If Honda built it, it would be amazing.
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DP
Renault, for some reason, seem to use plastic in many areas where metal would be better. Some time ago, we had a Renault Clio 1.2, and the clutch wouldn't adjust properly, so it needed a new adjuster. The plastic had broken on the old one. Why would you use this material on an area that gets serious day to day use? We also had a water leak somewhere from the engine. It turns out that a grommet had fallen out of the bottom of the inlet manifold, so the whole water heated inlet manifold had to come off to replace a grommet worth tuppence, at a cost of a few hundred pounds. And the high price of replacement parts doesn't make sense to me, considering they are the same quality as the part that broke in the first place.
I like Renaults for their looks, ride, refined diesels, and the current Clio 200 Cup is great, but I know that when the excitement dies down, there will probably be some expensive repair around the corner. Perhaps you should just look at them as a short term choice, then buy a replacement before things go wrong!
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I've never loved and hated a car so much at the same time. If Honda built it, it would be amazing.
Actually after our recent experience of the build quality and some aspects of the production engineering in the latest generation Civic FK3 I'm not sure it would be quite the panacea you imagine....
A former colleague of mine works for Nissan in Sunderland, when Renault took their stake in Nissan and helped return it to profitability, one of the major cultural changes was the use of glue and plastic where metal screws and fixings had previously been used on Nissan's UK built cars.
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Had an E36 BMW 316i(1991 model) from 1994-2009. Final mileage was around 180000 miles when we got rid of it. Had it from 3 years old.Since I had it only 4 shock absorbers, front discs and exhaust was changed (once).
The rest was all original, NO other parts replaced except for oil,filters,plugs,pads,tyres etc.
That car only saw a garage workshop on four occasions in the 15yrs we had it-3 timing belts and once for the front shocks.The rest did myself. Buying parts from Eurocarparts it was a very cheap car to run.
Only got rid of it on sc***page scheme-was working perfectly when it went.
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