BMW X3, broke after 5 months. Dealer says they only give 3 months warranty

motorguy

EdGasket wrote: »

The Corolla is one of the best engineered, most reliable cars on the road.

but dynamically average at best and fairly dull.

Idiophreak

JustinR1979 wrote: »

Is this why they're owned by oap's?

Old people are sensible. Look at the Honda Jazz...OAPs love them...because they're awesome little cars

Hyperxr

motorguy wrote: »

but dynamically average at best and fairly dull.

Both the Corolla and Honda Jazz are excellent cars and old people love them because they are extremely reliable and comfortable. The jazz is actually a dynamically terrific car to drive, very nimble.

I do not see the point in spending 2-3 times more for a so called 'premium' car that breaks down more often and feels just as good to drive

motorguy

Hyperxr wrote: »

Both the Corolla and Honda Jazz are excellent cars and old people love them because they are extremely reliable and comfortable. The jazz is actually a dynamically terrific car to drive, very nimble.


I do not see the point in spending 2-3 times more for a so called 'premium' car that breaks down more often and feels just as good to drive

Three times the price?? :eek:

Jazz has a starting point of £12,000. BMW dont have a direct rival but their MINI starts at £13,000.

Auris (they replaced the Corolla some years ago) costs £17K, a BMW 1 series is around £19K.

Hyperxr

motorguy wrote: »

Three times the price?? :eek:

Jazz has a starting point of £12,000. BMW dont have a direct rival but their MINI starts at £13,000.

Auris (they replaced the Corolla some years ago) costs £17K, a BMW 1 series is around £19K.

Well, my point is that these so called 'premium' cars aren't actually better than a reliable Toyota and shouldn't charge more. It's the same principle for mobile phones, i.e. people want Apple iPhones for their status and name but Android phones are actually superior and cheaper. In this case
Apple= BMW
Android=Toyota

neilmcl

Hyperxr wrote: »

Well, my point is that these so called 'premium' cars aren't actually better than a reliable Toyota and shouldn't charge more. It's the same principle for mobile phones, i.e. people want Apple iPhones for their status and name but Android phones are actually superior and cheaper. In this case
Apple= BMW
Android=Toyota

Maybe some people simply prefer an iphone over an android phone for no other reason than they like apple products.

Hyperxr

neilmcl wrote: »

Maybe some people simply prefer an iphone over an android phone for no other reason than they like apple products.

Okay now we're moving into the realms of mobile phones and yes you are correct people may just prefer the operating system of an iPhone because they maybe use to it. However, the fact remains that Apple iphones are considerably more expensive than android phones despite that the android phones have better processors, more RAM etc

Same thing applies to these so called premium cars

Hyperxr

AdinUK wrote: »

Thank you all for your comments. My question was primarily focused on any statutory consumer law around car warranties. The brand of the car is kinda irrelevant, but thanks for the benefits of your opinions

A couple of additional points:
1. All the googling on x3 transfer boxes and worn plastic gear wheels don't apply. The fault was in the box itself, not the actuator. They tried replacing the gear, then the actuator and neither worked. This wasn't the fault. Tried that. Didn't work.
2. The dealer's mate is an independent bmw guy had diagnostic kit. He diagnosed the fault as not the actuator, but the transfer case itself. It was the dealers recommended repairer who said to take it to bmw the official workshop. He wasn't equipped to do the repair himself.
3. I paid the repair myself because I couldn't afford to be without the car.

I realise it is very unlikely to get the dealer to refund me the money for the repair. I just wanted to know if there was any legal obligation by motor traders in the UK. The consumer law in Australia, where I lived prior to coming to the UK 8 months ago, is a little clearer.

OP you still don't get it do you? WHY should the dealer cover the costs on a car that developed faults AFTER the warranty period? You say your question is primarily focused around statuary consumer rights, but you don't have any legal standing on this point you are trying to infer. 'Not fit for purpose....not safe to transport my wife and kids,' blah blah is all quite frankly a ridiculous argument to make. Further, you paid the BMW dealer without prompting the trader from which you purchased the car from. Maybe if you did (and the trader was insane!) he may would have offered to pay 50% of the cost as a gesture of good will. Saying that you paid the repair cost because you couldn't afford to be without a car isn't a strong enough of an argument.

And yes the brand of car is actually very relevant, albeit indirectly. You wanted a 'premium' car where more faults are likely to develop, so expect to pay premium repair costs. Maybe you should have done some prior research into the BMW X3 before purchasing it so you are more informed of its numerous faults.

JustinR1979

Brother had an X3 for a couple months, made about 4 grand on it.
Bet he regrets buying a premium car.

motorguy

Hyperxr wrote: »

Well, my point is that these so called 'premium' cars aren't actually better than a reliable Toyota and shouldn't charge more. It's the same principle for mobile phones, i.e. people want Apple iPhones for their status and name but Android phones are actually superior and cheaper. In this case
Apple= BMW
Android=Toyota

The current Auris gets a fairly average "3" on the Honest John review.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/toyota/auris-2013/

There are much better cars out there, including the BMW 1 series thats gets a 4 / 5.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/bmw/1-series-f20-2011/

Also, the new Golf is on the top of the pile, but it depends if you consider it premium.

The 3 series BMW runs rings around pretty much all of its rivals including the Avensis (which is pretty much a lame duck in comparison)

If you move into any sort of performance models, then you've really very little choice of performance variants in either the Auris or Avensis. With BMW, the worlds your lobster really.

Again, if you wanted a sporting coupe, your options are fairly limited with Toyota, not so with BMW.

Engines are usually vastly superior in BMWs and typically offer leading edge performance and economy.

Also, if Toyota is the "perfect" brand, how come they saw fit to "invent" a rival to BMW - Lexus. The first IS model was dimensionally almost identical to the 3 series, and in fact Lexus modelled the IS on the 3 series.

Interestingly, after nigh on 25 years, Lexus still havent been able to offer a car that is "better" than their BMW equivalent, and are still very much a minority player.

And dont forget, BMW and Toyota arent direct rivals anyway - Toyotas rivals would be Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, etc. Most of those manufacturers run rings round Toyota in terms of driver enjoyment and producing excellent cars.

But yes, if your absolute top priority is reliability above everything else - including driver enjoyment, dynamics, functionality, price, etc, then yes, a toyota is the car for you.