Used Car Shootout - Audi vs BMW vs Cadillac vs Lexus

We have a continuing debate in our shop what best car would be for the money if you were in the market for a used car with the budget of $10k.. Other guys in the shop are kinda fanboy'ish towards specific brands. I tend to like them all.

Audi A5 - with the 2.0t.

BMW E9X - my personal choice would be a wagon

Cadillac CTS 3.6 - not AWD

Lexus IS350 - we've decided to eliminate the 250.

My argument is I would take the Audi. I think the 2.0t would get decent fuel mileage, highly tunable, looks decently good (IMO). Downsides... timing belt, high pressure fuel pump. Strong 2nd is the Lexus. Those are just solid cars. I like the looks of the Cadillacs, but don't they have pretty significant timing chain issues? Help me with my argument!! 

Get the IS350. Then instead of spending time repairing, enjoy the driving experience. 

BMW if a wagon would be my go to.  I love wagons.  Up next would be the cadillac, I love the way they look.  The audi would probably be last for me

Lexus. It will tolerate lack of maintenance much better than all others.

mr2s2000elise said:

Get the IS350. Then instead of spending time repairing, enjoy the driving experience. 

This. All day, everyday, and twice on Sunday. 

My modern, turbo BMW experience has soured me on basically everything German..............double my salary and I might not care as much.

What's your priority? Do you want something you can mod for more power, but not care about reliability?  Then the Audi or BMW might be the answer. Have money set aside for stupid repairs.   

Reliability your jam? Lexus all the way.  Just normal maintenance should take you far. Not much you can do to get any significant additional power.  

Cadillac will likely be the depreciation leader, thus netting you a newer, lower mileage vehicle.  Couldn't you get the 2.0 with a manual in the CTS....or was that the ATS? Probably reasonably reliable, though not compared to the Lexus. 

Dog piling in on the IS350. We've owned two, drove both up to 150k with brakes/tires/gas. Backseat is a little tight though

TGMF said:

What's your priority? Do you want something you can mod for more power, but not care about reliability?  Then the Audi or BMW might be the answer. Have money set aside for stupid repairs.   

Reliability your jam? Lexus all the way.  Just normal maintenance should take you far. Not much you can do to get any significant additional power.  

Cadillac will likely be the depreciation leader, thus netting you a newer, lower mileage vehicle.  Couldn't you get the 2.0 with a manual in the CTS....or was that the ATS? Probably reasonably reliable, though not compared to the Lexus. 

 

We're just debating on everyday, sitting in traffic, power to merge on to on ramps, which would look the best in another 10 years time, preventative maintaince and which would be the first to have a major failure..

Lexus. All day and every way.

Feedyurhed said:

Lexus. All day and every way.

Came here to say this. 

In reply to TGMF :

The 2.0T with the stick shift was in the ATS.

If I'm just having a one night fling with it, the BMW.

If I've got to say "I do" and marry it, the Lexus.

I daily an E61 and love BMW.

I'd still get the IS350.

We just got our third A4 2.0T and all three are still running great. I think the reputation they got for maintenance came from people trying to treat them like a Chevrolet (do an oil change once a decade and call it "maintenance") and then being pissy when they fail. Take care of it and it's fine. The neighbors bought the 04 1.8T from us and it has 200k in it now and just got it's third timing belt. We just sold the 06 2.0T with 184k on the clock. The new 11 2.0T has 128k on it already.

I'd go BMW over Lexus because manual transmission and driving dynamics.

IMHO Cadillac would be interesting if it had an LS, but not the V6.

I like Audis, but not the 2.0T.

No experience with the Cadillac.

Can’t stand Audi driving dynamics, numb steering, just a snore in general. 

BMWs drive much more to my liking.

But, I don’t want the maintenance of a BMW, so I vote Lexus.

mr2s2000elise said:

Get the IS350. Then instead of spending time repairing, enjoy the driving experience. 

This was my immediate thought after reading the title.  Buy the Lexus because it is most likely to be in perfect working order compared to the others.

In reply to DukeOfUndersteer :

The 2010-11-ish Audi you'd probably be looking at does not have a timing belt, but that was the period of "low tension rings" and high oil use. There was a TSB on the issue & it took care of the problem. Also '12 was the last year of the Audi wagon before they got tall & soft. The 2.0T was a better matched motor than the BMW N/A 6 in the wagon at that time. 

Of those choices, I lean towards the A5 2.0T since it was the only A5 available with a manual transmission. And I've always liked how those cars look.

One of my co-workers has two Lexus models. The reputation for reliability is very much overstated.  And he has both cars serviced at the local dealer (since it's not far from the office).  They break down quite a bit in a rather "VAG-like" fashion - nothing that ever leaves you stranded, but will leave you frustrated.

Google up mechanical problems with the IS350.  You wind up with a page full of "My CD changer stopped working..."

A Volvo something or other, because it's none of those. 

As much as I love German cars, I can't bring myself to buy one.  Those two in particular are pretty much a path to emptying a large wallet very quickly.

The Lexus is basically a Camry.  Buy, change oil, fill gas tank, drive 300k.

With the BMW, you'll buy, replace a $1400 radiator, then have to replace the entire VANOS system only to find that your crankcase vacuum is off by a hair and you have no compression....  Or buy the Audi and have to constantly chase nickle-and-dime things like crankcase vent hoses, PCV valves, etc.

In reply to Curtis73 :

And god forbid if you buy non-OEM parts for said BMW, like VANOS solenoids.

Most aftermarket are junk and don't even fit.

I'm a big BMW fan, so I say get the Lexus.  If you're buying a well-used car for $10k and want to make it last another 10 years, you'll spend more than $10k on the Audi or BMW.  Hell, even with $10k of maintenance the Audi or BMW may not make it to 10 years.

Dr. Hess said:

Google up mechanical problems with the IS350.  You wind up with a page full of "My CD changer stopped working..."

My Coworker's wife has an IS350.  The engine blew up under warranty and Lexus replaced it.