Things Could Be Worse !

[onthecut]

Hi all.

Little story from another part of motoring land, just to put our various XM woes in perspective.
Friend of mine has a Subaru, just over 50k on the clock. Never done anything more arduous than the school run on tarmac roads. In for service and MOT at Subaru dealer. Service -- £400 odd. MOT -- at same main agent, at the same visit -- £40 odd and it failed ! Return visit now due to replace worn bushes and some steering items; likely total cost of the whole session, nearly a grand !!!!!!!!!!
Funny thing is, his last service at about 40k was also around £400, with the explanantion they were changing the belt in good time.
I've had a gander under his last one (just can't believe you'd fall for the same con twice ) What a dismally ordinary car. Suspension bits made from bent tin; hub bearings that wear out before an XM is even run in; crumbling fuel tank made to same spec as XM spare wheel carrier; very, very average. Absolutely can't see why they have a 'quality' reputation. No -- I guess thay don't 'break down', but that's only because they are already in the agents being fixed, after which the owners are too poor to go out in them !

Mike.

[Ciaran]

Evening Mike,

My friend has a Subaru Impreza WRX STI, the top model with 306BHP, bucketloads of torque, all the usual stuff. Absolutely fantastic car, in terms of speed and performance. However, as you said, the interior of them is very, very ordinary, the ride harsh, etc.
I do really like this particular example, as it is a bit special being the famous rally model, and not your normal run of the mill Impreza, but still I think if I'd paid what she did for it, I would be disappointed. Servicing costs, well, a recent routine service came in at £450 odd, though that was including timing belt I think. Still though, you could buy an XM for that.

I don't think its just the Subarus though, I've noticed a trend with the likes of BMW and other expensive marques with a supposed pedigree and reputation for reliability. Namely, price and running costs. I think if you spent the same amount of money on maintaining a Citroen or a Ford, they would be just as 'reliable' as some of these more expensive types.
Admittedly, I've spent quite a few times the purchase price of my XM on it since I got it, but if I was going the dealer route it would be more like 10x the amount.

Then theres the likes of that VW unit you told me about previously, with the injector wiring inside the engine! I despair!

This post has been edited by Ciaran on April 01, 2007 08:53 pm