JD Power, Consumer Reports......

[sts 50]

My eternally roving eye caught a very nice Merc C Class with the supercharger on a lot in Nitro. Low miles (less than 50K), very clean, mid teens. Thought it might make a nice upgrade from the PT for my daily. So I do some due diligence, and everything I read says "run away". In fact, Consumer Reports says if it's not a 3 series BMW or an S-60 Volvo (or a Porsche, but we're talking sedans here), the european stuff should pretty much be avoided (especially Audis, sorry Nate). JDP says that Land Rovers are pretty much the worst thing on the road. How much stock do you folks put in CR or JD Power?

[RobbieNelson]

<snip>(or a Porsche, but we're talking sedans here)<snip>

Uh... Panamera? he he.... Oh... you're talking used cars.... Sorry...

http://www.blog.automotiveaddicts.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/porsche-panamera-spyshot.jpg

[AchTTung]

Even the non-camouflaged Panameras are hideous...

[administerturbo]

i guess i have a different perspective. imo, everything will have issues and everything will break something eventually. BUT the kraut crap is more expensive to fix, which is why i do it myself. our 16 year old S4 never left us stranded once... i guess i consider that loyal service.

ann has a C230 sport with the super charger. it was/is a lovely car. stout little ride but she did have some sensor issues here and there. was covered by CPO warrantee thankfully. that being said if you're not into fiddling with computers and fault codes yourself make sure it's CPO'd. she never had any mechanical issues at all. the suspension was nicely sorted, 4 pots up front hauled that thing down nicely over and over. seats were average, auto trans was average, engine is a sweet little gem easily tuned but doesn't really need more power for DD use.

snow performance will be lacking... but capable with nice snow tires.

drive it...

[Jason V]

I don't go by JD Power or Cons Reports.. I troll the marque specific message boards and look for common problems.. even the all mighty 3 series has had it's share of issues (plastic Water pump impellers for one)..... I am going to stick with VW/Audi for my newer cars.. why??? the all mighty VAGCOM!!! (a pc based tool to do pretty much everything to a VW/Audi computer wise that the stealership does) without access to such a good diagnostic tool I would go with something alot more old tech... Carbs or 70s/80s Bosch fuel injection.

[Neogema]

I don't go by JD Power or Cons Reports.. I troll the marque specific message boards and look for common problems.. even the all mighty 3 series has had it's share of issues (plastic Water pump impellers for one)..... I am going to stick with VW/Audi for my newer cars.. why??? the all mighty VAGCOM!!! (a pc based tool to do pretty much everything to a VW/Audi computer wise that the stealership does) without access to such a good diagnostic tool I would go with something alot more old tech... Carbs or 70s/80s Bosch fuel injection.

I ran into a guy that had one of those tools. He plugged my OBD2 into his laptop and you could change almost anything. In the newer Audis he said he could make the instrument panel sweep when turned on, which supposedly was a Europe thing.

[sts 50]

To each his own, just curious. Jason's marque-specific comment makes a lot of sense. I do know folks who have had good experiences with Audis, although our neighbor across the street just punted after one year of A4 ownership and went back to Subaru. On the other side of the coin, my parents last car to leave them stranded was a Honda - twice!

[Hillbilly]

Buy what you want, nothing's unbreakable, just make sure it's worth it.

[BacDoc]

Even the non-camouflaged Panameras are hideous...

My thoughts weren't gonna be so complimentary.

[kirk4]

I have a 97 Land Rover Discovery that is the strangest car I have ever owned. Things on this car break that I have never had an issue with on any other car. The beast in question has 108,000 miles. Problems:
2 sunroofs - both broken
Ignition - Replaced
All power windows - broken, not a fuse but actual broken motor or track parts
Clock - broken
Subwoofer - broken
Cruise - broken
Rear door latch - broken
Power seat swithces - both broken
Head liner- falling down
Paint - Special edition paint faded to 5 different shades.


Thats just a partial list. I also have an 89 BMW with 128,000 with no isues, go figure.

As for the Panamera, sign me up.

[Kurt_W]

I've never put much faith in JD Power or Consumer Reports for cars. Generally the cars that interest me scare most normal drivers so they usually have bad reputations. (That being said my daily is a Subaru - maintenance? What Maintenance?)

In all honesty I can't think of a European car that doesn't have a reputation for being a pocketbook gremlin except for maybe an old Beetle or Golf.


I have a 97 Land Rover Discovery that is the strangest car I have ever owned. Things on this car break that I have never had an issue with on any other car. The beast in question has 108,000 miles. Problems:
2 sunroofs - both broken
Ignition - Replaced
All power windows - broken, not a fuse but actual broken motor or track parts
Clock - broken
Subwoofer - broken
Cruise - broken
Rear door latch - broken
Power seat swithces - both broken
Head liner- falling down
Paint - Special edition paint faded to 5 different shades.

Sounds like you're describing my 99 Disco 2 though I haven't had the window motor problems; however only 2 out of 5 door locks work properly plus a small list of other minor issues. Biggest issue is where the anti-freeze is going...haven't solved that one yet. That being said, I knew about all these issues before I bought it. Question is: "What is your tolerance for pain?"




As for the Panamera, sign me up.

Me too, its ugly enough that it would fit into my garage just fine ;)

[Hillbilly]

(That being said my daily is a Subaru - maintenance? What Maintenance?)
Yeah, I wouldn't call swapping engines and trannys maintenence either.

[Kurt_W]

Yeah, I wouldn't call swapping engines and trannys maintenence either.

Nah, most of the time that's just for fun!