Quote:
Originally Posted by XutvJet
Since the 1950s, car have been viewed as "disposable". Back in the 1950s and 1960s, people kept their cars for 2 to 4 years as cars weren't overly reliable and were considered done by 100K miles. These days, people in the US keep their cars 7 to 9 years.
Cars are no doubt more complex, expensive, and difficult to work on, but they are also immensely more reliable overall. Heavy reliance on electronics in cars is a double edge sword for a number of reasons. Electronics will certainly make maintaining a current gen car hard for decades on end, especially cars that have systems that require coding with changing out parts (I'm talking to you BMW, Benz, Audi/VW, Porsche).
I absolutely love my M235 and intentionally ordered it without nav or a moonroof. I wanted the least tech possible and if I could have got it without electronic shocks, I would have done that as well. I would love to keep my M235 for a good long time (4.5 years and counting now), but I do worry that 10 years from now it will be hard to find a shop with the necessary equipment to talk to the DME. Also, automakers only need to make parts for model for 10 years. After that, they don't have to make anything.
Undoubtedly there are and will be more and more specialized companies that will be able to make/fix hard to find parts, program ECUs, etc. but it will take legwork from the owner. The same goes for the owner of a rare vintage car, the difference being they're trying to source rare mechanical parts.
I grew up in the 1990s. I appreciate some tech, but value connection even more. I also appreciate reliability. What will likely happen for me is I'll buy a used later year Lexus ISF (5.0 liter, 416hp, poser-M3 with a ton of reliability) and then supplement it with something like a 1st gen NSX or do up an ND Miata for street/track use. I like going fast, but I want something I can use often without it trying to kill me.
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You nailed it on the head. I think we've gone past the point where I consider cars reasonable to own out of warranty personally. The golden age was between 2005 and 2015 IMO. Mechanically sound, but not too many tech stuff to go bad, such as self driving ect...
I've also looked into Lexus V8 products and find them very nice (although I still prefer my S65 powered vehicle, see below). I've driven a first gen NSX but I think there are way way way overpriced currently.
Unfortunately (or fortunately?
), the list of cars I want to add is getting smaller everyday.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Germanauto
I just enjoy a driver's car so much that I have to drive one daily lol, and Japan just doesn't offer anything worthwhile besides maybe the Supra which may end up having BMW reliability. 
The LC seems super impressive, and I also saw them popping up used $60k which seems like a great deal for such a car. Why didn't you like it? It seems like a great cruiser but not a driver's car. |
It's not that I didn't like the LC500, it's just that I could never justify the price for that car, even used.
The interior and exterior is extremely impressive, far more interesting than most cars out there. Exhaust noise was also pretty damn loud for a stock car which I found surprising for a Lexus. The car I drove was a 2018, so it rides harder than the 2021 models, and this one also had 21" wheels. The handling was OK, but you could tell it was a GT.
While I've said in many threads I don't need 600 hp to have fun, this car just felt lacking in performance. 4400 lbs, and "only" 471 hp. This felt more like an E39 M5, which is not a bad thing, but I still prefer my E92 M3 to it in terms of driving experience. Car just feels a generation or 2 behind. I think that car would be a good buy more at $30k. Transmission was also not as sharp as an 8ZF.