At the end I gave up and trade it in. Some DIY and some work at shops. I had to add transmission fluid monthly due to leak with a laptop connected to OBDII to read correct fluid temperature and no dip stick, had the car level at 4 stands, checking the laptop screen and then crawling under to add fluid. I like DIY but this was too much every month.

 

With the "high end" cars it really is all about maintenance and how you treat the car. My old L322 Range Rover is 2 years strong and all I've done is change oil and I did a trans fluid refresh.
It is also very important to have a trust worthy and experience indy mechanic.

2 to 3 repairs A YEAR for any car is a lemon.

 

The car I regret buying most was my old 2016 VW GTI. It was such a great little car but kept having to go to the dealer because of interior rattles and quality issues.

I also regret selling it because it really was the perfect package. VWs had the best ergonomics before they went insane and turned everything into a touchscreen.

 

I think you are right on that

 

Don't get him started lol

 

2001 BMW X5 4.4i Sport package. I loved this car. No joke, these things drove extremely well. At the time in 2003, this was the best "driving" vehicle i'd ever owned. Well low and behold once it reached past 65k on the odometer. Yup you guessed it here's the problem list that I can remember (these didn't all happen simultaneously but very close to each other all within the same year)

-Door handle frozen and broke, door wont open when you pull the handle. A cable inside the handle mechanism didn't like cold temps. It was 550 bucks to fix, and took them about 15 mins to fix. Keep in mind this was around 2006.
-Oil Seperator (crankcase vent valve) causing Engine oil to FREEZE overnight when parked outside in temps below 32 degrees. Upon starting the car, I got a nice blown valve cover gasket that i didnt know about until the roads were filled with clouds of smoke behind me (that was also 500 bucks for a rubber gasket yes) and oil leaking everywhere and smoke. These cases obviously resulted in a tow each time of course.
Another time it blew the Oil cap right off the engine when i started it. Yes there was that much pressure inside because of the Oil seperator. SMH. There was a SB out for the "fix" but of course we had to pay for it. No recall. Which is ridiculous.
-Buttons on the center console began to just fall off, a known common issue on BMW's at the time. You dont even wanna know what the cost is to fix it, so I just didnt fix those.
-Pixels on the gauge cluster began to not light up here and there. BMW's used Orange or red gauges forever and the numbers/letters were like this dot matrix pixelated digital display.
- CV boots went bad (but I dont categorize this one as another bimmer problem, but rather a regular maintenance)
-AWD TRAC control system broke and no longer was "smart" it would just spin all 4 wheels regardless if one tire or wheel was "Sensing" loss of traction, it would still spin..
- Uncontrollable shaking from the car at highway speeds that seemed like it wasn't a simple diagnosis either. At this point I was so fed up with the money dumped into it and what I was gonna have to keep dumping into it just to drive it, I got rid of the car and went Japanese fully...And never went back.

I had a love hate relationship with it. I loved it and drove great, when it worked..... As soon as ONE problem began, the rest followed, and quickly. I'm sure BMW has gotten a tad bit more reliable since then in their models. But I still anecdotally hear about problems from newer models that otherwise shouldn't be.

 

I know this is a Lexus forum, and i've owned couple Lexus before, but the vehicle i regretted buying was the 2021 Lexus RX350 FSport. it was for my wife, and at the time last year, almost every decent SUV commanded markups, but there was no markups on the RX plus there was a 1500 factory rebate. I regretted it not because it's a bad SUV, it just does not have one standout feature.

It's a five seater, so we would need a second car if going out with guests
Toyota's 3.5 V6 is tried and true, but the transmission tuning is holding this motor back, it feels sluggish uphill
Gas mileage has been disappointing, we're getting 20 in mix driving
Although it's a AWD, but it's heavily front wheel based, don't feel confident taking it out to wilderness for camping trips
Speaking of camping trips, cargo room is small compare to other 3 row SUVs.
Native resolution on the navi looks like a decade old

Sum up in one sentence, it does everything C grade, but nothing great. I guess the only good thing about it is the resale value.

 

20 is not bad for an AWD crossover SUV the size of an RX.

 

That's why those 3.5L last so long. As Dr. Tyrell said to Roy in Blade Runner: "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long". Out of all the Toyota/Lexus cars I've owned, the most aggressively tuned 3.5L was in the 2nd Gen IS350. But it also required extra maint, 5W30 oil, 50K spark plug changes, 5K oil changes while my other Toyota's like my Sienna and Camry requires 120K spark plug and 10K oil changes...although I ignore that recommendation and do 5K oil changes

 

I didn't own it, but the worst car I have ever driven for a prolonged period of time was a 1979 Fiat 131 Brava sedan. It had electrical gremlins and, shockingly, it leaked oil and pretty much everything else. My Dad had bought the car to commute to a vanpool stop about 1 1/2 miles from our house. I ended up taking it to college for my second and fourth years. It did not survive the fourth year. Trans crapped out. Awful car and I thank my Dad to this day for refusing to sell it to me.

 

1990's Chevy Tahoe. Worst car ever. Gas cap always made a CEL, brakes were as strong as using only the e-brake and constantly found bolts missing and had to take to the dealership to replace. For some reason it was a dent magnet everyone and everything wanted to ding it. Never bought another Chevy product after that.

 

The only Chevy product I ever owned was an 87 Cavalier Z24 with the 2.8L V6. Bought it from a dealers auction in 1992 at 60K. By the time I reached 80K, I had spent about $5K on it...digital dash had to be rebuilt, EPROM had to be changed, leaking oil pan, new radiator and a few other issues. Traded it in for a 1996 Toyota Corolla LE and stuck with Toyota products until now, I still own a 2006 Camry and 2013 Sienna

 

I always like that Chevrolet Tahoe. 2 door version were cool. I wish automakers would bring them back.

 

Ford has done the next best thing with the 2 door Bronco…although it is somewhat smaller than the old 1996 two door Blazer.

And that’s why Ford is getting a lot of customers that GM should be getting.

 

Oh good - another Blazer vs Bronco thread hijack. Yay.