e36: How long should I keep my car?

[Tony Canike <canike@xxxxxxxxx>]

Good question.  Your car is at the point where maintenance starts to become 
more then filters, oil, tires, and brakes.    You can sell now while it has 
market value and get a new one, or you can decide to keep it going for a 
while.     The maintenance usually isn't overbearing, as these are 
well-made cars, but your first $1400 repair bill can be a shocker!     Of 
course, what's $1-3K a year on non-wear items when you have no car payments?

What are your goals and desires?   Do you want a no-brainer monthly loan 
payment, or do you like to dig in and tinker?

I suspect since you are asking the question you aren't a DIY 
mechanic....but maybe you want to become one?   Or perhaps you want the 
satisfaction of finding an excellent indie BMW specialist repair shop and 
building a relationship that may last for decades?     Make a new bunch of 
friends having a cup of coffee while getting parts at the local specialist 
import (non-dealer) parts store?      Or spend an occasional weekend with 
people who race 20 year old BMWs and can swap in a new tranny in their sleep.

It's a great car.   You can get decades of transportation and satisfaction 
out of it, and keep the total lifecycle cost of ownership very low, with a 
little smarts, patience, and effort.   You can learn to do the work 
yourself, or just learn what needs to be done and have a good shop do 
it.   There will be good times and there will be bad times, but it will be 
a fun ride.

If you want a turn-key experience with no worries, and have other things to 
take care of, just buy a new car every three or five years and don't think 
about it.

Tony.      (9 years with no car loan payments)


At 04:30 PM 5/18/01 -0400, you wrote:
>Date: Fri, 18 May 2001 11:38:55 -0400
>From: "Serge Maillet" <serge.maillet@domain.elided>
>Subject: e36: How long should I keep my car?
>
>G'day folks!
>
>I'm deperately looking for suggestions from 'experienced' BMW owners on how
>long I should be keeping my car. Here's a quick description: I have a 1997 BMW
>328i with 65,000 miles. It both runs and works great. I'm still making monthly
>payments on this car. I have a powertrain warranty until 100,000 miles or
>another 2 years, whichever comes first.
>
>Now my question: How long should I keep this car? Should I keep it until the
>junkyard has to come pick it up or should I not push my luck and trade it in
>for something new with factory warranty.
>
>Thanks in advance for any input!!
>
>Serge

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