Best luxury car brand in terms of quality?
 

Which is the best luxury car in terms of quality and reliability? (BMW, Merc, Audi, Lexus, Acura, Infiniti, Cadillac)





Which is the best in terms of performance?





What do you think about BMW and their quality lately? (My parents own a 5 series and its time to replace it because non-mechanical failures have happened).

Rolls royce

Reliability? Lexus. You can talk to the owners and read the numbers online, the new ones rarely have problems. Infiniti as well, but once you need to replace parts, it'll cost more money.

Quality? We might be a bit biased as of owning a A6, A7 and now the RS7. But i really like the quailty of Audi, inside, outside and mechanically wise. Suspension components should be put on display. Well, maybe not the C6 A6's.

When it comes to the big three for performance, it's basically been

BMW - Handling
Mercedes- Straight line speed
Audi- Snow plow

Though the current gen has changed. The Audi S and RS models are getting more neutral handling, the M's are getting worse save for the M4/M3 and the AMG's can handle pretty well. The next gen of AMG, M and RS models will be most interesting.

The problem with modern luxury cars is that they all have to many sensors and overall technology. Something will go wrong within the first 40K miles. A sensor will go or an electrical gremlin will wreak havoc on a non essential system. The truth with complexity in life is that it allows for more things to go wrong.

Lexus has been crowned for the best in terms of reliability. I really like the look of BMW and Audi but they are too expensive to maintain, with that being said I might go with Lexus for my next car.

*cough* get a lexus RCF *cough*

No one mentioned Chrysler or Cadillac or Lincoln!?

Just kidding (there are nothing wrong with those cars though)

I really like the Lexus for reliabilty. The new Q70 from Infiniti looks amazing though.

I have never owned a German car for long. I had a Boxster S for about 2 years and it was fantastic.

Honestly if you have the money...a new Porsche or a daily driven Porsche is great.

I have to respectfully disagree with Demoon about the Audis though, I have had buddies have big problems with theirs, but they bought theirs used so it may have more to do with the previous owners than the actual cars.

Then again, my co-worker had a Passat TDI with 200k miles before anything major was needed. And he has a new Passat TDI and he loves it.

Lexus...

Love the look of the Q70. Debating on that or any Lexus..

With the Japanese brands you can at least have peace of mind in the drivetrain department, because they add very little to their standard engines before tossing them in, and they tend to keep things simple and reliable. Well, Toyota at least.

On the other hand, if you read BMW's stuff on their engines, you'll get a headache from all the extra parts you wouldn't find on a Toyota or Honda. Extra oil pump here, extra maze of piping there, not surprising things go wrong.

The issue is that the Germans never learned the K.I.S.S. principal. Over-engineered is an understatement...

Dacia Sandero.

Our 2007 bmw 525i (bought brand new and has lasted 8 yrs) has not had any mechanical problems. Just the cost of the services like oil change, or the coolant pump going bad etc are more than other cars and they annoying add up to a greater sum. There have been no problems with the engine, transmission etc. Then again there is less than 50k miles on it.

I am not a fanboy, but I have always liked BMWs and would prefer if they got another bmw to replace their current one... but it would be idiotic if the cycle is only to continue. Does owning a Lexus or an Acura really fare better?

This is for my dad who would prefer luxury and comfort over sport. GS fits the bill although I am not sure if I like the current gen. LS would be fine but above the price range of course lol.

Then there's the whole BMW ECU thing - your left hand door speaker is missing so I'll go into limp home mode :bonk: :bellyroll:

Okay it's quite that bad but you get the idea. What BMW get right is the suspension geometry, they seem to be able to put it all together that you get great compliancy & road holding. And it's not that the get the springs dampers right because when start going after market the BMW always holds this advantage.

My vote for reliability!

maintaining a bmw is free and when it stops you upgrade leasing a bmw is a great deal

If it's for your dad put him in a Lexus.

Unless he really wants a Benz.

lexus

Cadillac ATS or CTS. I have owned two out of the three Germans out of warranty. I will never do that again. Plus I do almost all of my own maintenance and repairs. Not only are the parts ultra expensive on German cars but they are a bitch to work on.

Lexus would be my second choice but I dislike the styling quite a bit.

For reliability and low maintenance cost and headaches, you can't beat Lexus. For interior quality, I like BMW and Audi. BMW has the driving dynamics down too (Audi isn't bad in that department either). Mercedes has never really impressed me, but I've only driven their lower end stuff (C-class, E350, etc). Overall, I'd probably get a 2 or 3 series (I drove an M235i recently, and it was fantastic), but you could make a case for a lot of options based on where your priorities lie.

Oh, and if you want reliability, performance, good looks, driver engagement, and interior? Porsche.

Porsche FTW! performance and interior

reliability, no one can beat Lexus.

For me it's Lexus. I do quite enjoy how they clean your car even if you take it in for a oil change (I'm sure others do that too but its a nice change from Toyota) Plus it's that much more satisfying when they tell you: "Unfortunately we do not have any CT200h loaners currently available, is a IS250 AWD alright with you?" (We own a CT200h and its dull)

I've found this sort of thing quite common with the premium car dealers in the UK. Basically they don't carry a huge number of low spec loaners because someone's going to get rather irritated if they swap their 5 series for 1 series, S6 for an A1...

Lexus is a great way to get reliable luxury, but for the performance enthusiast, a lightly used BMW N54 powered car (2007-2010 135i, 335i, etc) is the perfect balance between modifiable fun and luxury.

Parts aren't too expensive as the platform is fairly popular, and if you like to DIY-installs, mods are easy to manage.

The new N55 (2011+) isn't a bad engine either.



My wife's Audi A4 has been amazing in our two years of ownership. I haven't done much in the way of modifications though as they are surprisingly expensive.

As far as Mercedes goes, friend has an AMG and he laments how much everything costs. :p

Lexus will be your best bet.
BMW 335i is nice and fun but once it break down, money will be in the thousands to fixed.
I owned both the 08 and 2010 335i. The M3 are really nice but the transmission is an issue, which equal to money also...
If you want a reliable car with performance, the lexus RC-F...

Nice, theres a few of us old N54 fans around here lol

:cheers:

I didn't think N54 still exists with all the issues around Fuel pump and turbos..
lol

HPFP is officially warrantied basically forever now by BMW. Service bulletin or something.


Had no issues with my turbos. None of my friends have had any issues with their N54s either and I know of at least 8 in the area lol

Maybe you had a bad egg :p

I got tired of paying for the issues so I purchased the 550i...it's a pig, similar to my Cayenne...