i'd love to have a newer German car... but not the cost of maintenance that comes along w/ it
BMW = free for I think 4 years. covers everything from brake pads to windshield wipers.
Mercedes has Service A and Service B Service A is done once a year and cost from 150-300, 300 being getting raped and 150-200 being normal.
Covers a free Mercedes loaner so you have zero down time and zero wait time.
oil, oil filter, inspect and top off all fluids. it's done every 12K miles or once a year.
Service B is done I can't remember how often but its pretty much the same as Service A but with replacing wiper blades, maybe changing tranny fluid and other stuff that should be done, I believe its closer to the 350-450 range.
Is it alot? depends how you look at it. add up 20-30 bucks every 3000 miles to do a civic that's $120 a year. VS 150-200 for a normal benz dealership, is it all that much more? not really. Plus you have to wait around to get it done unless you're like me and do it yourself, even so, 4 oil changes cost at least 80 bucks and the labor of 4 oil changes VS the 1 needed on the mercedes.... time = money.
Brake pads, tires, and other wear items will no doubt cost more then again you get what you pay for. 15" x 6" tires will always be cheaper then 18" x8" tires. Cheap pep boys brand brake pads will always be cheaper then brimbos...
Audi, not sure how much they run now to keep up with them.
back to the CTS
It's not great, but it's not that bad. Granted it's nowhere near Audi, because nobody can even touch Audi interior. However, the V is a big upgrade interior-wise from the base CTS. It doesn't feel as cheap and the Recaros are fantastic.
Here's my problem, the CTS is going AFTER audi and bmw, if you're talking about the V spec then you need to do apples to apples, the CTS = A4/A6 = BMW 3/5 series. Both the BMW and Audi milk the CTS and the CTS-V interior wise. to be fair the CTS-V needs to go up with the M3/M5 or RS4/RS6
It's one of those things if money isn't an issue and you have the choice to drive a BMW, Mercedes, Audi, or Caddy, I can't see Caddy ever getting picked outside of the BUY AMERICAN ONLY!!!!!!!!!! guys.
Vw and audi are way different in my opinion. Audi makes awesome cars that look and functions well. I would love to own a new Audi. Vw is in another class trying to bridge a gap between economy and luxury
VWs can get up there quality and price wise, if you're talking about a base line getta/golf/rabbit then yes I agree with you they can't touch Audi however they're still sharing platforms so reliability wise, its really not all that much different. the 1.8 motor was used in sooo many cars as with the 2.0 both VW and Audi. from the bettle to the A4s