Why Australians love luxury cars

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by tempted

It is no coincidence that sales of Euro cars have skyrocketed with the advent of the housing boom and cheap credit. Your average Joe who used to buy a Holden or Ford is now leveraging themselves to the hilt to buy a pos base model Euro because they want to be seen as "upper class". I have seen plenty of examples to warrant my opinion and more often than not it ends in tears.
Those who can comfortably afford a Euro are more likely to be traditional buyers who have always purchased Euros in the past and tend to buy high end models.

A "POS" base model euro is probably cheaper than your average 4x4 or high spec Jap cars. I think people would rather buy a base Euro now than I high end AUS or Asian car. I don't think the average buyer is spending much more than they use to, juts buying different cars.

[Brazen]

I think people over play performance. The cheapest C Class the C200 does 0-100 in 7.5 seconds that's probably fast enough for many.

[blueoval]

This is irrelevant to the thread, but I want an MB AMG A45.

Sorry, back on topic

[Ben73]

Originally Posted by Qwerty321

Define "luxury cars". I'm by no means a brand snob, but personally luxury/executive sedans have been my niche. Had a Toyota Windom (Lexus ES300) and now own a Fairlane. Personally just like the extra comfort (I swear to god the Fairlanes are basically just lounges with wheels. Soooo comfortable), space and the little techy things that make the car feel amazing. Plus the Fairlane and the Windom were by no means slouches, you put the foot down and the engines go from whisper to roar, with power to match. Both cars handled the corners like champs too.

So there's nothing wrong with loving luxury cars. They're damn good! Now if you just buy euro cars cause you want to say "I have a merc, beemer etc.", you're an idiot. Euro cars are no different to Aussie/American/Japanese cars, some are well designed and some are *****. Apart from Volvo, those things are tanks. You literally cannot ever get a bad Volvo

I love luxury cars too, but there is nothing luxury about a BMW 318 or whatever the cheapest 3 series is these days. I don't see a Euro as a 'luxury' brand, I personally see specific models as luxury.

Originally Posted by Dash_XR

Without knowing every owner personally all we can do is generalize based on our own experiences.

True, my personal experience is the only person I know well who has bought a BMW x5 is one of the nicest and most down to earth people you could meet.

Although I am sure some X5 owners are snobs, or show offs who can't actually afford it, I don't paint everyone with the same brush.

[MITCHAY]

I'd imagine novated leases may also help luxury car sales along.

[LoudPipes]

I love my C Class, it’s not as flashy on the inside as my E Class before it but I like the brand for many reasons and have own many Benz’s without any major problems.

This is most likely my last car and I feel comfortable in its skin.

Too the members who appear to have an irrational negative view I’ll quote the current Molly Meldrum ad on TV, "do yourself a favour….

[mik]

Originally Posted by blueoval

This is irrelevant to the thread, but I want an MB AMG A45.

Sorry, back on topic

This is also irrelevant to the thread, id like a GT , but id also like a LS 600h F Sport , hoping santa will be good to me this year .

actually regarding luxury cars , i can remember as a young buck seeing a friend of the familys 60`s ? jaggwah with ...... wait for it ...........electric windows .... ! powa windows woweee and one finger power steering .....

these days even the cheapest piece of crap has power windows and power steering and more buttons than the space shuttle , the things that once where only in super posh cars are now filtering down into the run of the mill cars , beemers and mercs no longer have the same distinction they once had , these are becoming every day mainstream cars just like the commy or the falcon ......... or the hyundai.

[Dash_XR]

Originally Posted by Ben73

I love luxury cars too, but there is nothing luxury about a BMW 318 or whatever the cheapest 3 series is these days. I don't see a Euro as a 'luxury' brand, I personally see specific models as luxury.



True, my personal experience is the only person I know well who has bought a BMW x5 is one of the nicest and most down to earth people you could meet.

Although I am sure some X5 owners are snobs, or show offs who can't actually afford it, I don't paint everyone with the same brush.

Either do I, generalizing doesn't mean everyone. Naturally there is going to be a higher concentration of arrogant rich people driving BMW's then say KIA's, that's all it is. Same as there is probably going to be a higher concentration of bogans driving commodores/falcons then BMW's, but as a Falcon owner I'm not offended over it.

[Beastie]

The Hulk would know....

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by tempted

He has a fair point. IMO nothing screams 'pretentious w****r' louder than a Euro SUV. Sure that doesn't apply to all Euro suv owners, but the large majority of them.
Envy has nothing to do with it as far as I'm concerned. If you gave me $100k to buy any car I wanted I would still buy a top of the line Ford Holden or HSV. The only Euro cars I have any interest in is the high end stuff. The base models are overrated and very poor value for money IMO.

I suggest Envy has everything to do with it, who calls somebody they have never met a 'pretentious w****r' based on the car they drive.

PS when did this thread start comparing base model Euros to HSV's
which one of those gets a Luxury tax

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by tempted

Euro drivers tend to be arrogant snobs who think they are better than everybody else and look down their noses at people who drive Fords or Holdens. You can see it in the way drive too - they have a sense of entitlement and think they own the road.

Hmm, I drive a CLK and an XG Ute with a 5 poster Bull bar and a Roll bar . No wonder I have a split personality.

[Express]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

Hmm, I drive a CLK and an XG Ute with a 5 poster Bull bar and a Roll bar . No wonder I have a split personality.

People like you shouldn’t be allowed on our roads.

Looking down your nose at yourself while driving is extremely dangerous and you deserve to give yourself nothing less than a good rogering for doing it.

[Express]

Originally Posted by tempted

There is nothing more pretentious than somebody who gets into debt to the eyeballs to buy an expensive Euro only to walk around acting like a millionaire. I have seen so many examples of this its not funny.

None of my friends or acquaintances ever show me their bank statements nor any documents disclosing their financial status therefore I have no idea if they are in debt or not.

The people you meet must have a very open world philosophy.

[Qwerty321]

Originally Posted by commodorenutt

Reminds me of a guy at work who questioned why I was buying my G6.

He said "for the same money, you can buy a 10 year old mercedes benz like mine, and have a much more prestigious car instead of a Ford - it's just a taxi"

My German colleague beside me piped up with "in my country, Mercedes Benz are taxi"

Touche!

Fords and Holdens are taxis because they're built tough. Having a car that will happily drive to hell and back is nothing to be ashamed of.

[The Snout]

Just want to thank those in this thread who have made contributions on their experience in owning Euro cars, servicing costs, do's and don't etc.

Like many, I've had in my head for a long time that the ongoing costs of owning a Euro was significantly more than something local or Asian for not much return. How I got this idea is probably like many, based off half truths or someones experience I remember from owning a BMW in 1985 or something.

It's been a good read to see some people's experiences today in owning a Mercedes or BMW etc. And while I probably won't be in the market for a new one soon, it's given me a more open mind in consideration in the future.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by Express

People like you shouldn’t be allowed on our roads.

Looking down your nose at yourself while driving is extremely dangerous and you deserve to give yourself nothing less than a good rogering for doing it.

That's my problem. I get awfully confused so I tend to drive like a total snotty nosed upper class twit in the Ute. But then carry on like a real Bogan in the Benz.

I think it's a seniors problem.

[Mark^^]

Originally Posted by Express

And there's more growth to come from the booming SUV segment. In 2016 Range Rover will begin selling a convertible version of its Evoke, for example.

Its a Range Rover Evoque not Evoke journalistic incompetence

[SumoDog68]

There are lots of variations but in my experience most euro prestige cars are expensive to own and run. Price cut base model Mercedes and BMW that are missing half an engine don't count in that category - their only prestige part is the badge on the car.
First of all those cars are expensive to buy and depreciate fast. If you are looking at the older one and plan to do your own work - they are not easy to work on ( compared to aussie or Japanese designed cars).
So if you buy a new one , service it at the dealer and it is under warranty it is pleasant experience until you trade it. They will adjust servicing costs to match cheaper competititors.
Why there are BMW , Mercedes, Volvo Indy specialists around ? Because once out of warranty the maintenance cost at the dealerships skyrocket ( anything more than the Oil change ) . There is no need for independent Ford , Toyota , Holden specialists - most mechanics can work on them.
Those are prestige brands for a reason - something like X5 won't be cheap to run.

[sr71]

As a motoring enthusiast, I'm impressed with the amazing cars available at the moment.
I look forward to having a nice garage, hoist and all the tools. With mechanical confidence,access to forums for every luxury brand and high depreciation, ownership of a good used luxury vehicle won't be expensive.

[SumoDog68]

Originally Posted by sr71

As a motoring enthusiast, I'm impressed with the amazing cars available at the moment.
I look forward to having a nice garage, hoist and all the tools. With mechanical confidence,access to forums for every luxury brand and high depreciation, ownership of a good used luxury vehicle won't be expensive.

Don't forget good quality welder :-)

http://www.redish-motorsport.com/E46...forcement.html

[LoudPipes]

Originally Posted by SumoDog68

Don't forget good quality welder :-)

http://www.redish-motorsport.com/E46...forcement.html

That article reminds me of the metal fatigue suffered by the HQ – HZ’s of the 70’s.

The rear shocks would punch through the floor in the boot and after you had a steel plated welded in the steel plate would punch through the floor and after you had an even bigger steel plate welded in it too would punch through the floor.

When I lived in Sydney back in the 80’s there was a business near me that was constantly repairing Taxis to the point where it started to specialised in repairing private cars as well.

The rough Aussie country roads were brutal on the rear floor pans of those models.

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by tempted

I wonder what he would say about this then..

image

The commonness of base model C Class, means they suffer horrible depreciation. I got offered a C280 2010 model for the princely sum of $15,000. One owner, immaculate, Lady driver, AMG wheels and kit, 60,000km on the clock . My client was buying a new C-Class for his wife and that was all MB would offer him for it.

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by SumoDog68

Don't forget good quality welder :-)

http://www.redish-motorsport.com/E46...forcement.html

Is this for real? An oversight like this on a BMW with their large r&d budget is almost unforgivable. And this is an M3, not a garden variety model..

[STEALTHY]

Originally Posted by SumoDog68

First of all those cars are expensive to buy and depreciate fast.

You're talking about all cars there. I doubt there is a huge % different of depriciation between a high end euro and a taxi, its just that the euro cost alot more to buy!

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

If a customer is happy to supply parts ill fit them, no worries.

The way this works is you supply parts its your problem to cover warranty and you'll be paying my time to remove it again and refit if it needs to go back for warranty.

At least with locally sourced parts if they send out the wrong parts or something craps itself then you have peace of mind to send it back and they'll exchange/refund.

Funny I mentioned this because I ended up with a Peugeot arrive at my shop on a tow truck, alternator is toasted.

Customer sourced his own reco alternator from Ebay overseas, has it sent to my shop cause it was cheaper, at around $300-odd.

It arrives about a week later.

Its seized, not only that its the wrong alternator for the car.

The alternator on the car is a 150A Valeo unit.

He ended up getting a new one through me, my supplier had one in Adelaide, comes here in a few days, although its $950.

VY Commodore alternator (same year as this Peugeot) is $200 for a new genuine Bosch unit.

[LoudPipes]

Originally Posted by tempted

I've seen plenty of older Euro cars for sale on ebay for basically scrap value because they have had some sort of failure and the cost of parts and repairs is either close to or outstrips the value of the car, making it unviable to fix.

That’s interesting as you only have to read a few copies of magazines like Unique Cars to see how popular many of the old Euros are with enthusiasts and they generally snap up even the base old models for common parts to make their hobby cheaper.

Anything that is classed as a desirable model even in a non-running condition is always sort after for the same reason and doesn’t stay on the market for long.

How old are these cars you’re talking about and do you have any eBay links to the scrap value ones or are they just s-boxes like that of many other old undesirable cars.

One of my neighbours has a 2001 VX Commodore which has hail damage from a storm last year and the cost to repair was quoted at about $2,500.

He said it’s not worth it as he can buy another car for something similar to that amount.

There are many Holden and Fords rotting away in backyards or sent to the knackery every year that the owners don’t consider worth the price of repair.

[STEALTHY]

Originally Posted by tempted

Few examples for you here. Not the greatest examples of what I was talking about but could probably find more if I looked harder.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2003-Land...EAAOSwkZhWT6rR

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Volkswage...wAAOSw~gRV59ID

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Damaged-2...4AAOSwUdlWb8dY

For every 3 Euro's, there another 97 ford/holdens in that same boat...

[LoudPipes]

Originally Posted by tempted

Few examples for you here. Not the greatest examples of what I was talking about but could probably find more if I looked harder.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2003-Land...EAAOSwkZhWT6rR

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Volkswage...wAAOSw~gRV59ID

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Damaged-2...4AAOSwUdlWb8dY

No need to look harder for me, I'm already aware of the reality.

[cheap]

We have returned from 3 days in Sydney.

My kids played spot that Porsche and in those 3 days they counted +160 Porsches.

We're back in Brisbane, and over the past 8 days they have spotted 8 Porsches.

So either Sydney is full of rich people, or vast numbers of people are mortgaged up the wazoo.

[Angeldust]

well my 2c... I have a hand me down '02 e46 320 coupe from mum that we had since brand new.

owning a bmw out of warranty is more expensive than the equivalent holden. Genuine BMW servicing and repairs are very expensive. I have been using an independent to get any repairs fixed, but it took a while to find one. It is usually about half the price what genuinine bmw repairs would cost. Though once I got stuck recently and ended up having to be towed to BMW and decided to let them do it. Nearly $2000 for a alternator and battery fitted. From then on said never again.