[fsd350]

Originally Posted by BEWWWM

No one wants your self proclaimed horrible, unreliable, german POS. Especially seeing it has been driven using drive by feel.

Eat Rice - Don't Drive it!

[petey_highboost]

I'll give you 9k cash for the lemon of a 335d you have, better than the 6-7k you'll get on trade

[Pierre Louis]

Originally Posted by fsd350

Excepting the LFA, one of the best engineered and performing vehicles in history, Lexus and Toyota share MOST of their engineering and components. Most of their line is not performance or luxury engineered to the degree of a true high-line vehicle. The parts come in the same box. They are not worth the premium they command was my main point. Lexus is one of the best marketing plans in history. Drive an ES350 "Camry" and then jump in a MB E350 or a BMW 5 series. The difference is clear immediately. The Japanese and other Asian makes are getting much closer however. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Apparently most buyers are not as discerning. Lexus styling is far better. They are different that way. I'll take Toyota engineering for what it is: reliable and conservative. They've made some pretty good engines over the years. Handling, not so much. Styling is for the beholder, and some of their cars aren't so bad. But I won't buy a Toyota for your reasons. The CT200h, however, which was designed to sell in Europe, has a lot of styling cues borrowed from BMW and does a few things really well, especially a real 50 mpg (not as advertised but closer to its brother, the Prius). It has a few things right, but BMW has a much better ride/handling compromise as well as being more "fleet on its feet."

PL

[Pierre Louis]

Originally Posted by dixy2k

driving my car after I get it back from the shop really puts a smile on my face.
Possibly the last great BMW built. The driving dynamics and the pleasure to drive are hard to equal in such package.
But, the new ones are terrible. Steering is very bad, suspension awful, navigation idiotic.

iDrive brilliant though. Lexus does not even come close to iDrive.
Simply put Lexus infotainment control is at best schizophrenic.

Most 335d owners have been more fortunate as far as reliability. That's the chance you take.

I look at it from a practical point of view. Should I go for a Honda Accord, for example, I would lose a lot in resale value after my serious boredom with such a vehicle after, say, 2 years. I'd much rather get a beautiful European car and take care of it like a European would - meaning much more respect for the machinery - not drive it like a race car (Porsche can do this but you pay $10K more for arguably fewer features) - than what Amurican stop-light-grand-prix drivers might consider "sporty." I can't say enough about bone-headed horsepower kool-aid drinkers whose muscle cars can't handle the next turn and need their own gas station to keep moving, ha ha. Oh, and anyone can put a monster motor into a small car, but this isn't my idea of "performance" with poor fuel economy and high expense/repairs/maintenance in many cases.

Alternatives to a 335d? Few and far between. Have your cake (power) and eat it too (fuel economy etc). Maybe a GTI or, uh, dunno. Great cars are hard to come by these days.

PL

[dixy2k]

I don't want a FWD car.
Yes a Camry or Accord would be at the top of the reliability list, but next to the bottom when it comes to pleasure of driving it.

Went to the Lexus dealer yesterday to look at the IS and NX. I need a short car so I can park it in really tight spaces I often go to.
The IS feels so small and cramped inside, almost uncomfortable. The infotainment controls are just bad, no way around it. Much more useful to use voice command.

Positives:
RWD, short, heated/ventilated seats, heated steering wheel, Lexus reliability

Negatives:
no power (turbo or V6 makes no difference); interior space; badly designed controls;

My wife just got a GS and I am not impressed with the way it feels driving it.

Negatives with all the new BMW 3, 4, 5 and X3 series I had tested so far for many miles:
Steering, Steering, Steering bad, bad, bad
8-spd trany bad. It needs to be constantly in Sport mode, anything else it's just a Lexus. No interior options as I want them, except for the 5 series which falls off of my requirement list.
Suspension setup on any new BMW is bad. You need the M package. Without the M package it's just a Lexus.

I think the new BMW vision is to steal customers from Buick. It's geared toward retired people now. It has changed so much with all the current series.

I probably have to come to terms about the new car, it's all about compromises. You can't have it all.
At 25k miles I drive a year I still need something reliable though. Or just not keep the car, any car, once it reaches 50k miles.

With this in mind the new Alfa Romeo Giulia sounds really good.

[Pierre Louis]

Originally Posted by dixy2k

I don't want a FWD car.
......
With this in mind the new Alfa Romeo Giulia sounds really good.

Would have looked at Jaguar if I were you - RWD, more reliable, service probably better than Alfa, probably better steering/suspension than BMW.

Ironic that Alfa is in your sights - perhaps less reliable than BMW, dunno.

PL

[dixy2k]

Indeed ironic.
Could it be any worse than my experience with 335d?
It feels like my d was made in Italy.
I was thinking, if I keep the car for the length of the warranty I should be ok with any car.
I love the looks of that new Giulia.

[dixy2k]

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[dixy2k]

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[dixy2k]

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