Hello! New member looking for advice

[J.Barton]

Hello, I am a 18yr old male living in Canada and am going to purchase a new car within the next month or so. I am looking at getting one a German car (Audi, BMW, Mercedes) and was wondering of those three which one has the cheapest model to maintain. My budget is about $8,000-$10,000. I'm fully aware of the costs of a German car as my family owns 3 Mercedes. Thank you!

 

[Deleted member 1071]

A 2010-ish M-B C-Class sedan (W204), C180 or C200 petrol engine variety. With 100K-150K kms on the odometer, they are located in your general price vicinity. Not expensive to maintain and highly dependable as well as well-assembled and durable. Germanys' Autobild magazine has a W204 C180 sedan in its' carpark with some 500K kms on the odo. It's been bullet-proof so far. They estimate total running costs minus depreciation at 0.23 Euros per kilometer.

 

[fortuner]

I would say a used w204 is best bet very strong reliable cars I still have my w204 c220cdi in South Africa the car has around 300 thousand kilometres and hardly any issues excpet diesel filters....

 

[J.Barton]

A 2010-ish M-B C-Class sedan (W204), C180 or C200 petrol engine variety. With 100K-150K kms on the odometer, they are located in your general price vicinity. Not expensive to maintain and highly dependable as well as well-assembled and durable. Germanys' Autobild magazine has a W204 C180 sedan in its' carpark with some 500K kms on the odo. It's been bullet-proof so far. They estimate total running costs minus depreciation at 0.23 Euros per kilometer.

Do you have any experience with Audi A3's? They are in my price range and seen extremely efficient on gas. Is is safe to assume that the upkeep is similar to that of a VW because VW owns them? Thanks for your quick reply!

 

[Deleted member 1071]

Do you have any experience with Audi A3's? They are in my price range and seen extremely efficient on gas. Is is safe to assume that the upkeep is similar to that of a VW because VW owns them? Thanks for your quick reply!

Steer clear of model year 2008 through 2011 A3s' fitted with VAGs' 1.8 & 2.0 L TSFI (EA888) powerplants. Poorly designed/insufficiently dimensioned piston rings are a cause of major grief (exorbitant oil consumption). Insist on legally binding documentation that rings have been replaced by more robust, well-designed examples. VAG pussyfooted around for quite some while before fessing up and accomodating affected customers.

Otherwise, the A3 is an extremely well-assembled, high quality automobile.

 

[J.Barton]

Steer clear of model year 2008 through 2011 A3s' fitted with VAGs' 1.8 & 2.0 L TSFI (EA888) powerplants. Poorly designed/insufficiently dimensioned piston rings are a cause of major grief (exorbitant oil consumption). Insist on legally binding documentation that rings have been replaced by more robust, well-designed examples. VAG pussyfooted around for quite some while before fessing up and accomodating affected customers.

Otherwise, the A3 is an extremely well-assembled, high quality automobile.

Thank you, I will be sure to stay away from that gen. Here is a link to the one I have been considering. Car - 2007 Audi A3 4dr HB Auto S-tronic FrontTrak in HAMILTON, ON $6,995