Brake fluid color doesn’t tell you SQUAT about moisture. Try this very basic experiment - put some fresh fluid in a glass jar and let it sit out open to the environment. I’ve done that before in humid midwest summers and it doesn’t change color at all.

Edmunds estimates their costs based on the required change interval. If there is no interval given, they record NOTHING for costs. Ignoring substantial costs makes the cost to own equations absolutely useless.

How on earth can you not see that as gaming the system?

Looking at brake fluid doesn’t tell you squat in terms of moisture content of the fluid. And you’re presuming that the inspection was even done. I’ve taken cars in for service in obvious need of suspension work only to have the mechanic claim the suspension was…

Yeah - I can’t say my Camry wasn’t reliable - it was reliable. It was just misery for me to drive. :) I still look at Toyotas when we shop (which is rare), but I’m not overly sold on them based on my experience. And seeing some of the screwy things they’ve done recently just floors me. A relative had a new Highlander…

And which do you think is truly appropriate? Say you drove 12k miles per year. Edmunds would record your transmission fluid change cost over 10 years at $0 if they said “inspect” like Toyota does. By your manual, it would cost $160 per year ((12k/yr*10yr)/(30k/change)*$400 / 10 yr). By the mechanics manual it would…

NP - If I had decided to go the full out minivan route, I probably would have chosen the Sienna or Odyssey myself, but that TC is a nice package, too - I think Consumer Reports was absurd in their review, criticizing it for lack of a rear seat entertainment system (iPads are cheaper). And the other features like the…

And how long do you think that brake system would have lasted? Brake fluid is very hygroscopic and corrosive if you let it go like that. Not having at least a maximum time between changes is a recipe for a VERY expensive repair down the road. You can argue 2 years is unnecessarily frequent, but not setting ANY change…

Don’t jump to conclusions. This “study” has some glaring issues - Mercury significantly more expensive than Ford, despite being carbon copy clones? Not likely.

Furthermore, some of its conclusions go completely contrary to other studies. Warranty Direct, for example, publishes data based on actual claims for vehicles…

If you don’t need/want all the bells and whistles, check out a Transit Connect Wagon. They’re a bit more down-market (no power sliding doors, for instance), but after rebates and dealer discounts, they are a heck of a lot cheaper - when I cross-shopped them, they were a good $6-8k less than an Odyssey or Sienna (as…

Nope - they included repair costs:

“At YourMechanic, we have a massive dataset of the make and model of the cars we have serviced and the type of maintenance done. We decided to use our data to understand which cars break down the most and have the highest maintenance costs. We also looked into which types of…

http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/why-you-should…

“Holy tapdancing crapplesauce, the sheer space inside this thing is immense”

Do yourself a favor and at least cross-shop.

I used to drive a Camry. It is hard to describe how sloppy a Camry is in terms of performance compared to the Fusion and Mazda6 I have now. My wife isn’t a gearhead by any stretch, but when we got the 6 and she took it while I got the Camry, I would face a litany of…

True - and this site, if you read their claims carefully, state that these include break downs in their costs. So it isn’t purely maintenance.

And maintenance costs are also pretty screwy. I’m not up to date on current models, but for my past ones and current ones, the manufacturers play some ridiculous games. For…

Good points. I’ve never paid for an oil change for my Mazda (“free” for life with purchase - those fools didn’t know how long I keep my cars >:) ). But it needs about 3x per year. But they’re cheap even if you paid for them.

And yes, wrenching can save a fortune. Dealer wanted $320 to change the transmission fluid on…

Sorry, but this list is pretty absurd when you dig into it. They list the average 10 year “maintenance” (actually maintenance+repair) cost of a Mercury at $12,000, but Ford at $9,100? Every Mercury they would be looking at is a carbon copy of a Ford model, so the only way that is possible is if the Ford models without…

I know you’d like to think that, but your argument would never hold up in court. Without the failure, there is no goodwill repair. The part failure is most definitely an incident “leading or related to” their goodwill.

I know you’d like to think that, but your argument would never hold up in court. Without the failure, there is no goodwill repair. The part failure is most definitely an incident “leading or related to” their goodwill.

Except that it says “You agree to keep confidential our provision of the Goodwill, the terms of this agreement and the incidents or claims leading or related to our provision of the Goodwill.”

Except that it says “You agree to keep confidential our provision of the Goodwill, the terms of this agreement and the incidents or claims leading or related to our provision of the Goodwill.”

NP.

And none of that is to denigrate BMW, either - their import/export balance in the US is actually very good.