flacaltenn
Diamond Member
Been driving the same BMW station wagon for 18 years... Still runs good, but parts are hard to get for "almost collector" cars.. It has only 150,000 miles on it and my super hero independent BMW mechanic says he could KEEP it running for another 3 or 4 years... VERY little major maintenance over those 18 years...
SO -- I've been car shopping.. ALMOST made a deal last night on used BMW crossover.. But I learned a couple things...
First -- there's no spare.. It's "run-flat" technology... BMW makes the claim that it's for safety, but when PRESSED as to why they chose this inferior design, they admit it was about saving 32 lbs of weight to INCREASE the EPA/EU ratings... No spare, no jack, no tools... BMW's EDICT (not advice) is --- IF YOU GET A FLAT -- YOU MUST JUNK the tire... Not many tire shops will attempt repairs of run flats because of legal liability and VIOLATING a "manufacturer recommendation"...
Not only are you supposed to JUNK the tire if itt's flat, these tires cost almost twice as much and LAST half as long... And you CAN give the finger to BMW and repair them yourself OR have a few tire shops mount STANDARD tires on the vehicle which perform and handle better.. But there's NO WHERE TO STORE a spare and you COULD violate warranty with BMW...
Secondly -- I looked at the Land Rover DIscovery which is a DANG fine vehicle, with the exception of the price and absolutely NO visibility out of the back... Got to talking about THEIR "eco considerations"... Jaguar/Land Rover are still living in the luxury car world even tho they are now owned by India's Ta Ta motors which makes tiny little bugs that East Germans would have killed each other over...
So THEIR considerations to meet increasingly high EPA standards was to go to "multi-layered" aluminum construction.. ( I had asked if the panels were easily replaceable for crash damage).. This is a fairly hi tech process which DOES result in fairly good strength, where the LAYERING for strength VARIES at different points of the body... Which SOUNDS cool but AGAIN --- when it comes to crash damage -- I got another "JUST JUNK THE CAR" answer....
Because the panels are INTERCONNECTED and pulling them creates MORE damage during the repair...
THANKS SO MUCH EPA for making stupid manipulative sales people the LEAST of my worries in buying a new car... And for filling our dumps and salvage yards with rubber and perfectly FINE cars.....
SO -- I've been car shopping.. ALMOST made a deal last night on used BMW crossover.. But I learned a couple things...
First -- there's no spare.. It's "run-flat" technology... BMW makes the claim that it's for safety, but when PRESSED as to why they chose this inferior design, they admit it was about saving 32 lbs of weight to INCREASE the EPA/EU ratings... No spare, no jack, no tools... BMW's EDICT (not advice) is --- IF YOU GET A FLAT -- YOU MUST JUNK the tire... Not many tire shops will attempt repairs of run flats because of legal liability and VIOLATING a "manufacturer recommendation"...
Not only are you supposed to JUNK the tire if itt's flat, these tires cost almost twice as much and LAST half as long... And you CAN give the finger to BMW and repair them yourself OR have a few tire shops mount STANDARD tires on the vehicle which perform and handle better.. But there's NO WHERE TO STORE a spare and you COULD violate warranty with BMW...
Secondly -- I looked at the Land Rover DIscovery which is a DANG fine vehicle, with the exception of the price and absolutely NO visibility out of the back... Got to talking about THEIR "eco considerations"... Jaguar/Land Rover are still living in the luxury car world even tho they are now owned by India's Ta Ta motors which makes tiny little bugs that East Germans would have killed each other over...
So THEIR considerations to meet increasingly high EPA standards was to go to "multi-layered" aluminum construction.. ( I had asked if the panels were easily replaceable for crash damage).. This is a fairly hi tech process which DOES result in fairly good strength, where the LAYERING for strength VARIES at different points of the body... Which SOUNDS cool but AGAIN --- when it comes to crash damage -- I got another "JUST JUNK THE CAR" answer....
Because the panels are INTERCONNECTED and pulling them creates MORE damage during the repair...
THANKS SO MUCH EPA for making stupid manipulative sales people the LEAST of my worries in buying a new car... And for filling our dumps and salvage yards with rubber and perfectly FINE cars.....
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