Why do people buy expensive cars and not maintain them?
Discussion
ChocolateFrog said:
Pit Pony said:
Evanivitch said:
On the reverse, why do many people maintain their cars far more then the manufacturer's recommended intervals?
People do strange things for many different reasons. You can't explain it in one answer!
An oil change will cost me £35 if I do it myself with the correct oil. People do strange things for many different reasons. You can't explain it in one answer!
Now it's a 140 bhp turbocharged 1.4
When I was young 100 bhp per litre was pretty impressive.
I'm aware of the cynical nature of the car industry.
If a hire car company is making a purchasing decision, they want to buy a few hundred cars, where they don't have to ever service it, before they sell it on, so the car companies, will move the service interval to the point where statistically one or 2 might fail, within the warranty period. So they have to replace a few engines, but that meant they got the sale, in the first place. Rather sell 1000 cars and have to replace 10 engines, than sell no cars at all.
So with me the oil level gets checked every fill up. (350 miles), oil and filter is changed at 6 to 7 k instead of 18k.
Every car I've owned with a full service history in the past 10 years had spark plugs that were well past their best, and the original pollen filter. Totally blocked in most cases.
dsDeep Thought said:
Panamax said:
Deep Thought said:
I'd have thought most car enthusiasts can see the benefit of "over maintaining" their cars?
Please do tell - what is the "benefit"?BMW Service Intervals on their diesels is 18K to 20K miles. It is widely believed that that is too long and contributes to the chain wear that many BMW engines suffer from.
Therefore many people service theirs every 8K to 9K miles instead.
Even timing chains on BMW - many people will now replace those as a matter of course, rather than accept the BMW view that they are for the lifetime of the car (bearing in mind how many rattle or snap).
With my own current car - 2018 M2 - gearbox oil and diff oil are in theory for life of the car, however its been proven that its beneficial in terms of gearbox and diff wear to have that done every 50K miles.
Springs - the M2 is known for snapping springs. And not in a nice way where it just rattles. The suspension collapses in that corner making the car undriveable. Many owners pro-actively replace them.
Tyre wear - its widely proven that tyre grip deteriorates ahead of the 2mm recommended change marker. Many people change their tyres in advance of that.
Brake pads and discs - many people replace those ahead of recommended levels to maintain performance.
Suspension - widely accepted that by 100K miles it will need replaced. Again, it may well pass MOT but that doesnt mean its working at anywhere near optimum performance.
All of those either contribute to maintaining the optimum handling and braking of the car, reduce wear and thus increase longevity of the car or can save money or effort in the long term.
I didnt think that needed explained to anyone on a motoring enthusiasts group to be honest.
Edited by Deep Thought on Monday 30th October 12:44
I’ve just got my current BMW booked in for its first service as it’s about to pass 12k miles.
I’m the same with the wife’s Mini Cooper that is serviced annually and my Alfa Mito.
I know of many people who go ballistic when there no deposit Lease / PCP / Never Never actually needs money spending on it for the most basic of maintenance items.
Stick Legs said:
richhead said:
Lol at bwm diesel, and car enthusiast in the same post , sure its a nice car, but its nothing more than a white good, like a fridge, it does just what its ment too.
That’s a bit unkind, the 6 cylinder diesels are fun to hustle and have a decent turn of speed.Ooodles of torque and decent handling. Loved my F10 530d. Had 2 on the trot.
richhead said:
Stick Legs said:
richhead said:
Lol at bwm diesel, and car enthusiast in the same post , sure its a nice car, but its nothing more than a white good, like a fridge, it does just what its ment too.
That’s a bit unkind, the 6 cylinder diesels are fun to hustle and have a decent turn of speed.Ooodles of torque and decent handling. Loved my F10 530d. Had 2 on the trot.
Black_S3 said:
richhead said:
Stick Legs said:
richhead said:
Lol at bwm diesel, and car enthusiast in the same post , sure its a nice car, but its nothing more than a white good, like a fridge, it does just what its ment too.
That’s a bit unkind, the 6 cylinder diesels are fun to hustle and have a decent turn of speed.Ooodles of torque and decent handling. Loved my F10 530d. Had 2 on the trot.
richhead said:
Ive driven most types of bmw diesels, and yes they are good, but not what i wouldd call an enthusiat car, cant beat a good v8 or little 4 cl screamer , but for a commute then ye one would fit the bill. but so would an e bike. fun cars are different. personaly im a bike man, as no car can come close to the fun, but we are talking cars, and power or tourque doesnt come into it, its the fun, best fun i ever had in a car, and ive driven most you can think of, was an old mgb
I think we’re kind of on the same page, would completely agree if we were talking about say a 2.0 tdi front wheel drive VAG contraption. The 530d passes for me though as kind of like a what’s the most I can sneak past the wife type of car. To put it in perspective you’ve got rwd, basically a sofa for a drivers seat and a 0-60 time comparable to that of an e46 m3, maybe it’s a different type of fun but if a car enthusiast can’t find a way to have fun with that they might need to reconsider lol.reading a few of these replies brings me back to my days a couple years back at a large premium German premium dealership. the worst customers were the "instabook" ones that could afford the monthly payment but blatantly couldnt afford the service. they would always kick up a fuss over the most minor things to get money off, ask if we did payment plans and were just overall a pain in my arse. *EDIT* I remember a customer with a C63s who didnt like the tyre quotes and ended up paying something like £30 a corner for some chinese ditchfinders - along the sort of lines of "Jinyu" or "Boyo" or even "Sunygalop". Tried to explain that he had Pilot Sport 4S from factory. Came back a few days later complaining they were crap and the dealership ended up paying for a set of decent new tyres somehow.
Edited by Adwillsy on Friday 3rd November 03:24
richhead said:
Stick Legs said:
richhead said:
Lol at bwm diesel, and car enthusiast in the same post , sure its a nice car, but its nothing more than a white good, like a fridge, it does just what its ment too.
That’s a bit unkind, the 6 cylinder diesels are fun to hustle and have a decent turn of speed.Ooodles of torque and decent handling. Loved my F10 530d. Had 2 on the trot.
7 5 7 said:
richhead said:
Stick Legs said:
richhead said:
Lol at bwm diesel, and car enthusiast in the same post , sure its a nice car, but its nothing more than a white good, like a fridge, it does just what its ment too.
That’s a bit unkind, the 6 cylinder diesels are fun to hustle and have a decent turn of speed.Ooodles of torque and decent handling. Loved my F10 530d. Had 2 on the trot.
boyse7en said:
What is the opinion on Secondary brands? The ones where a premium tyre maker like Continental transfer its older design to Barum, or Goodyear to Sava?
Do the tyres suddenly become dangerous budget ditch finders just because they don't have a premium name on the side?
I think the "transferred an old design" stuff is completely unsubstantiated internet guff? I can imagine there might be technology transfers and the like but to think a Barum Bumdriller 3 is basically a ContiSportContact 6 now that the 7 is out seems very hopeful.Do the tyres suddenly become dangerous budget ditch finders just because they don't have a premium name on the side?
In any case, no need to speculate, they've been tested.
https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/2019-Summer-53...
Both Barum and Sava do better than real nasty stuff, but looking at pricing they're also into the mid range territory and they perform accordingly.
Nobody on PH disputes that mid range tyres are generally decent, I've used loads of Kumhos, Hankooks, Uniroyals, and even GT Radials and they've been fine. Sometimes they're just as good in one category but they're never as good across all categories as the best (and most expensive) tyres available, I think that's where the millions in R&D and more costly complex compounds and construction come in.
Edited by GeniusOfLove on Friday 3rd November 11:39
GeniusOfLove said:
boyse7en said:
What is the opinion on Secondary brands? The ones where a premium tyre maker like Continental transfer its older design to Barum, or Goodyear to Sava?
Do the tyres suddenly become dangerous budget ditch finders just because they don't have a premium name on the side?
No need to speculate, they've been tested.Do the tyres suddenly become dangerous budget ditch finders just because they don't have a premium name on the side?
https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/2019-Summer-53...
Both Barum and Sava do better than real nasty stuff, but looking at pricing they're also into the mid range territory and they perform accordingly.
Nobody on PH disputes that mid range tyres are generally decent, I've used loads of Kumhos, Hankooks, Uniroyals, and even GT Radials and they've been fine. Sometimes they're just as good in one category but they're never as good across all categories as the best (and most expensive) tyres available, I think that's where the millions in R&D and more costly complex compounds and construction come in.
Mid range stuff is fine, some of the budgets are acceptable, had some Jinyus and didnt find them to be that bad, but had never tried the car on anything else, but have had some utter howlers, the worst were "Triangle", turned a TT into a wayward shopping trolley, fitted some decent ones on and normal service was resumed, comically, dangerous bad. But, wouldnt buy budgets as dont need to nowadays.
richhead said:
Ok , one day you will get to drive a fun car, i hope you do
You’ve not read my car history in my garage have you. 
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?me...
An ex wanted new fronts on her MGF (we are going back a few years).
I said I would sort it but instead, she went off to some tyre place and had a pair of super cheap linglongs fitted.
The thing was like one of those wobbly cats on Tik Tok. The rears still gave decent grip, the fronts were like cartwheels and just wanted to follow the road, then not, then squirrel off into a hedge.
They were replaced by a set of Goodyears and we never spoke of it again.
James_33 said:
Reminds me of the types who like i saw a few days ago who spend the best part of £200k on a new Bentley then take it in to the local wash and scratch for £6
Yup.Some people dont care / dont know to the different / simply dont want to spend more.
I think thats key. I dont think with most its an issue of affordability - but of course we do like a good bit of projection here on PH and an opportunity to sneer.
I think on PH people do forget we're a bubble of enthusiasts with a massively disproportionate amount of Powerfully Built Company Directors and cash buyers of cars and are representative of the real world.
James_33 said:
Reminds me of the types who like i saw a few days ago who spend the best part of £200k on a new Bentley then take it in to the local wash and scratch for £6
The vast majority of people have no understanding of car washing.A small minority treat it as some kind of minor religion.
Somewhere in the middle there is a normal position.
Stick Legs said:
James_33 said:
Reminds me of the types who like i saw a few days ago who spend the best part of £200k on a new Bentley then take it in to the local wash and scratch for £6
The vast majority of people have no understanding of car washing.A small minority treat it as some kind of minor religion.
Somewhere in the middle there is a normal position.
Yes, theres people at the extreme who treat it as a minor religion, but between that and "normal" is probably where car enthusiasts usually sit.
Stick Legs said:
richhead said:
Ok , one day you will get to drive a fun car, i hope you do
You’ve not read my car history in my garage have you. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?me...
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