View Poll Results: Would you buy a "first model year" model of a vehicle?
Yes, I value having the first one and I will put up with whatever teething problems there are.
17
34.00%
No, I will wait until at least the second model year to get lower prices and some of the bugs fixed.
33
66.00%
Voters: 50. You may not vote on this poll
Would you buy a car in the first model year?
12-05-08, 05:01 PM
#16
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We have had 3 1st year models, a 96 SE Pathfinder but it was right before the 97 came so asides from the severe exhaust manifold warping which happened on a good number of Nissan VG motors, it nothing that branded it as a 1st year keep away
2nd was a 2003 V8 4Runner bought with an extended warranty, nothing happened to it in the 1st year but warranty did eventually pay for itself.
3rd and most unbelievable is the 07 ES350, not a thing wrong with it and you would think every ES and V6 Camry that rolled off a dealer lot had a faulty transmission, obviously not the case with ours.
2nd was a 2003 V8 4Runner bought with an extended warranty, nothing happened to it in the 1st year but warranty did eventually pay for itself.
3rd and most unbelievable is the 07 ES350, not a thing wrong with it and you would think every ES and V6 Camry that rolled off a dealer lot had a faulty transmission, obviously not the case with ours.
12-05-08, 07:38 PM
#18
Lexus Fanatic
I made this mistake when buying my first gen G35. 2003 purchased in june of 2002. It was cool having people appraoching me constantly to ask about the car, but then that stopped and the annoying teething problems of a first gen car came in to the picture.
12-05-08, 08:51 PM
#19
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Interesting that a majority says they won't buy a 1st year car BUT;
In a certain other thread, we're people are judging the success of a certain car in it's first year and saying that, because it's down, it's a failure. People have said that a new redesigned car is supposed to be selling like hot cakes no matter what.
I'm starting to lose it.
In a certain other thread, we're people are judging the success of a certain car in it's first year and saying that, because it's down, it's a failure. People have said that a new redesigned car is supposed to be selling like hot cakes no matter what.
I'm starting to lose it.
12-06-08, 01:06 AM
#20
Image, here, is lagging reality a little. For years, first-year models, especially those of domestic nameplates, were indeed risky buys (the original Saturn S-series and Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan/Lincoln Zephyr triplets were notable exceptions....they were reliable from Day One). Often, though, unreliability continued through several years, or even the entire production run.
While that is not entirely gone, the risk of buying a first-year model, especially from Asian manufacturers, is MUCH less now than in the past. This is because of several reasons, including advanced computer designs that can spot potential defects before they get into production.
That, of course, does not mean that manufacturers, even Asian ones, always get it right the first time. The Nissan 350Z was a good example (partly due to cost-cutting in its design), with numerous design defects involving alignment, tires, manual-transmission synchros, and flimsy interior parts that tended to break. And sometimes, defects show up AFTER the first-year models......Chrysler/Dodge minivans and the Acura TL, with noted transmission problems that lasted years, are examples.
And just because a first-year vehicle is unreliable does not mean that later models will be reliable either............the constant stream of lemons, year after year, that came out of the Mitsubishi/Chrysler Diamond-Star plant in Normal, IL and the Nissan/Infiniti plant at Canton, MS proved that.
While that is not entirely gone, the risk of buying a first-year model, especially from Asian manufacturers, is MUCH less now than in the past. This is because of several reasons, including advanced computer designs that can spot potential defects before they get into production.
That, of course, does not mean that manufacturers, even Asian ones, always get it right the first time. The Nissan 350Z was a good example (partly due to cost-cutting in its design), with numerous design defects involving alignment, tires, manual-transmission synchros, and flimsy interior parts that tended to break. And sometimes, defects show up AFTER the first-year models......Chrysler/Dodge minivans and the Acura TL, with noted transmission problems that lasted years, are examples.
And just because a first-year vehicle is unreliable does not mean that later models will be reliable either............the constant stream of lemons, year after year, that came out of the Mitsubishi/Chrysler Diamond-Star plant in Normal, IL and the Nissan/Infiniti plant at Canton, MS proved that.
Thank you for bringing up the 350Z tire wear problem. I think the Lexus IS has a simular problem. As I recall Nissan dealers were fixing the problem & giving away front tires.
Honda has always been exempt from my don't buy first year policy.
Lexus is back on the don't buy list because of my 2007 IS 350 buy
Porsche is now exempt because of there record the last 7 years
12-06-08, 06:12 AM
#23
Lexus Champion
My 2IS is a first model year car and I love it, but if I had a chance to do it again, I probably would wait until at least the second model year. There are a lot of "bugs" that I've encountered so far like the excessively dusty front brake pads, the start up engine grinding noise, and a defective nav DVD that was showing my car as being in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean!! Not to mention other issues that I didn't really take care of like the rear view mirror TSIB.
12-06-08, 06:49 AM
#24
Lexus Fanatic
Honda has always been exempt from my don't buy first year policy.
Lexus is back on the don't buy list because of my 2007 IS 350 buy
Porsche is now exempt because of there record the last 7 years
Lexus is back on the don't buy list because of my 2007 IS 350 buy
Porsche is now exempt because of there record the last 7 years
Perhaps the most common defects I see in new cars today (some Hondas included), first-year or otherwise, is steering-wheel and brake-pedal shimmy at higher speeds, from out-of-round rotors and out-of-round or unbalanced tires/wheels. Those are comparably minor things to deal with, though.
Last edited by mmarshall; 12-06-08 at 06:53 AM.
12-06-08, 10:47 AM
#26
Lexus Fanatic
The Aurora, like many GM cars from that period, ws troublesome from Day One. One of its most annoying defects was defective glass that tended to warp the vision out of the windows.
The non-turbo 2.5, however, was somewhat troublesome after 1996. Subsequent versions, from 1999 through 2002, had the well-publicized head-gasket problems. They were generally cured after a gasket re-design for 2003.
However, I had the first year of the Subaru 2.5L engine (1996). That car is still on the road today.
12-06-08, 03:00 PM
#28
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They increased the compression ratio in '97, upping the HP and enabling it to run on regular gas (thank God). I still have yet to replace a HG in a 2.5L Subaru.
12-06-08, 03:22 PM
#29
I have bought 1st year, 2nd year, ... It comes down to timing. If I have a need for a car (selling old, trading in, new size, ...), I will research what I like at the time and make a decision on that. If the car I like best is a 1st model year and the company has a positive track record, so be it. If the need is not as urgent and I can wait, I will go for later model years.
I did not vote because the reasons are not my reasons. If I had to pick, I would go for the "not buy 1st model year".
I did not vote because the reasons are not my reasons. If I had to pick, I would go for the "not buy 1st model year".
12-06-08, 03:54 PM
#30
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Interesting that a majority says they won't buy a 1st year car BUT;
In a certain other thread, we're people are judging the success of a certain car in it's first year and saying that, because it's down, it's a failure. People have said that a new redesigned car is supposed to be selling like hot cakes no matter what.
I'm starting to lose it.
In a certain other thread, we're people are judging the success of a certain car in it's first year and saying that, because it's down, it's a failure. People have said that a new redesigned car is supposed to be selling like hot cakes no matter what.
I'm starting to lose it.
Can't say that having the first of a car model is important to me. And I do not like paying a premium just for the privilege of having a new model vehicle. But the voting and comments are pretty interesting.