I know more than a few people who have had a lot of problems with their VW cars. Two have even gotten to the point where they will actively discourage people from buying a VW. I would consider their reliablility to be fairly poor. I know of Mercedes owners who have had a lot of issues with their cars, especially the M-Class SUVs. And finally, a couple of mechanics I've spoken with have said never to buy a BMW, only lease, because their pursuit of performance has led to compromises in reliability.

In reguard to American cars, I'll admit that I have a strong bias against the big three in terms of reliability. It comes from both past experiences and from growing up in a time when US cars were at their worst. That being said, my parents ended up buying an Explorer because of it's value when compared to a Pilot and Highlander, and so far, no issues (that they've told me about at least). Hopefully it will stay that way. Maybe their experience will be what it takes for me to reverse my bias. Strangely though, my bias doesn't exist when it comes to trucks.

Someone either in this thread or the one in Off Topic said something along the lines that American quality has improved, but they have to exceed that of other manufacturers in order to reverse their past history. I do agree with this sentiment. It seems to me that Z06ified has accepted this as a trend/fact while takuyaah is not yet a believer. Let's just be happy that they are not in charge of buying cars for each other.

gunga

 

nicely put..i totally agree that american cars reliability has improved...but to be better than import cars? i dun think so

 

G has dual exhaust. Boxster single.

 

what do i do when warrentys up? well im covered til 100k. im a firm believer in new car about 4-5 years so about 80k miles. so thats not an issue. just sell it and get a new car. heheh and where did u read audi perfomance and handling sucks? audis been tearing up le mans for the last decade. since the S4's came out in 2000, audi performance has drastically improved. my "4000 boat" runs low 14's 1/4 mile. i think thats pretty damn good for a huge family hauler. and handling? i word Quattro. probably the most advanced 4wd system in the market today. get sportpackage, and slap on some h-sports sway bar and you'll run curcuits with Minicoopers and S2000's

 

"i totally agree that american cars reliability has improved...but to be better than import cars? i dun think so"

I think that it has improved enough that you can say that some American cars have better reliability than some Japanese cars and some European cars. I don't think that the old Sentra was the most reliable machine put out by Nissan, while it seems like the new Malibu has held up pretty well.

gunga

 

s4 can probably run mid 13's when its broken in..but while the new e46 m3 can run high 12's...it seems..like...its way off anyway...i read the perforamnce and "handling" in multiple magazines....i understand the m3 is about 5K more expensive...but seriously..if they made s4 comparable to m3..i will get a S4 over m3....i dunno if you ever read magazines comparing bmw vs audi...they always say the same thing..audi's handling and perforamance is awesome..but compare to BMW its a grade lower...or half...

 

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VW is getting better and better every year (probably leeched off mercedez/audi)..but still...its not gonna fall apart like it used to be anymore...

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I saw the top of the line VW (Phaeton?) at the NYC car show a few weeks ago. It looked REALLY nice. Definitely not your father's Volkswagen...

 

ok, i didn't know that about your warranty. but 80k on a vw is going to be pretty bad resale no matter what. of course, with the audis it'll be higher, but the point is, the resale is no match for, say, honda/acura or toyota/lexus.. or, hell, even bmw. or the new nissan generation.

i didn't say anything about handling/performance for the audi... i guess you were talking to someone else.

and i believe a 1985 4000s runs 16.8 stock... i guess you modded it??

as for the most advanced 4wd system on the market? not for performance, by a long shot. attessa ets comes to mind right off the bat. mitsubishi's awd system with ayc and acd? after getting the sport package and the sway bars, how much does the s4 quattro come out to? i think it's going to be something 18k more than an s2k... and an astonishing amount more than a minicooper. while the performance is decent, i'd rather get a corvette while we're playing in the ~50k price range. all the performance shoot outs i've seen with the s4 have it coming in dead last in every category.

to put a better perspective on things in performance, SCCA lists the audi s4 (00' and up) under D stock with the likes of the non-m series bmw 3, g35 sedan, mazdaspeed protege, regular wrx, volkswagen golf/jetta/gti vr6, celica gts, integra type r.

i'm not debating the outcome of modified cars, but stock for stock, that's where the s4 is classified.

a stock s2k is listed under A stock with evos, stis, e46 m3s, acura nsxs.

 

I believe the porsche has dual exhaust also, they are just placed together at the rear of the car.

 

I've raced one and won. The Porsche is more fun to drive in the twisties though.

 

On avg, the Boxster S is around half a second faster in the 1/4 mile (both magazine & owners' times). That's a significant difference. The G coupe may have 30 more hp, but it also weighs some 600 lbs more. If anyone beat a Boxster S, it was because they were the better driver, not because the G is faster.

Handling, Boxster S easily. 600 lbs lighter, rear-weight bias, lower centre of gravity, mid-engine design. Drive them back to back & you'll come away feeling the G coupe is overweight & disconnected. Anyone who says the G coupe handles better doesn't know anything about cars.