Nissans and BMW's

G-Money

Hey folks,

Maybe I have too much time on my hands, but recently I have been thinking about cars. My current car drives quite nicely and has low mileage so I'm not planning on changing it... yet.

However a friend of mine changed his car recently and I guess it got me thinking too. I'm quite fond of Nissan's and would consider going for a 2nd hand Qashqai.

What really surprises me though is that I have even started to consider buying a BMW. I wouldn't be buying one of those huge one's that are so expensive you require a mortgage, but one of the smaller ones. I think a 3 series one is what I'd be considering.

So I guess I'm wondering what you good folks think of both cars from your experience driving and owning them. One thing I noticed about BMW's and Merc's is that they are rubbish in the snow. I remember one time a couple of years ago driving along in my car in the snow and watching the BMW and Merc drivers just sitting there with their wheels spinning whilst everyone else went past.

As I say, I'm not really considering changing my car anytime soon, especially as I'm not working. But I'd like to get some opinions about Qashqai's and BMW's regards how they drive, reliability, maintenance etc.

Stephen

You'll be hard pressed to find a second hand Qashqai. There's a big waiting list for new ones and they're not around all that long either.

Rowley Birkin QC

Are you buying the BMW for the sake of buying a BMW?

If yes, you will get lots of better cars for the same money than joining the fleets of 316 owners out there.

Phaetonman

So I guess I'm wondering what you good folks think of both cars from your experience driving and owning them. One thing I noticed about BMW's and Merc's is that they are rubbish in the snow. I remember one time a couple of years ago driving along in my car in the snow and watching the BMW and Merc drivers just sitting there with their wheels spinning whilst everyone else went past.

What a bizarre statement.

Who gives a **** about snow performance of cars. You live in Ireland and all cars are crap in the snow.

markos79

in my opinion lexus would be a great choice.i had a is200 best car ive owned.

drunkmonkey

I've a merc....a 03...200 kompressor (big red engine:D) saloon prefer it to any bmw i've ever owned.....it just feels a little more comfortable to drive....refreshing on a long spin and plenty of power for overtaking........

ahh nissan.....it was nice to give them a nod;)

mickdw

grandmaster wrote: »

One thing I noticed about BMW's and Merc's is that they are rubbish in the snow. I remember one time a couple of years ago driving along in my car in the snow and watching the BMW and Merc drivers just sitting there with their wheels spinning whilst everyone else went past.
quote]

Its the fact that they are rear wheel drive while most other stuff on the road is front wheel or four wheel drive. Rear wheel drive is useless at climbing hills in slippy conditions. Dont know why really.

Tails142

I got myself a set of snow chains for my beamer I would usually get one use out of them a year, usually make a trip to friends that live up near sally's gap between xmas and new years and the road is usually 'impassible'. Was no snow this year so I was a bit pissed off after shelling out 100 euro, hehe

Anyway, yeah any rear wheel drive will struggle a bit on snow, felt like I was gonna get stuck in a grass verge in the phoenix park before but eventually it made it out after the traction control going a bit crazy for a while.

I find the BMW fun to drive, but there are certainly better cars out there, I've a 528i. The suspension can be quite hard, and you can feel the bumps a bit, not as much as some of the **** boxes on the road, but there's no comparison with mercs or some lexus, they can be very smooth.

To be honest, get a nissan if you want, I dont see the attraction of the qashqai personally, if I was to get a car that was cheap to run I'd get a skoda superb diesel, but I spend a lot of my time driving so I dont mind spending a bit extra on fuel and servicing and the intial outlay which is why I drive what I drive. Not sure what the happy medium between enjoyment and cost would be, I suppose its different for everybody

bazz26

Stephen wrote: »

You'll be hard pressed to find a second hand Qashqai. There's a big waiting list for new ones and they're not around all that long either.

There are plenty of used ones on carzone.ie:

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=search&maxrows=100&MakeID=20&xMakeID=20&ModelID=1806&xModelID=1806&Year=&xYear=&submit=Find+cars+%3E%3E

galwaytt

er, there's snow ??

And we're expecting some in light of global temp increases...........??

If snow is a real issue - just skip all the BS and buy something with Quattro written on it - 2, 4, 5 doors, petrol/diesel, saloon/coupe/estate. Old or new, right back to.........86?

JHMEG

galwaytt wrote: »

And we're expecting some in light of global temp increases...........??

It may still be pissing rain there in Galway, but contrary to popular belief the planet is actually cooling at the moment.

E92

Indeed the planet is cooling, has been for a couple of years at this stage, makes you wonder what all the fuss about CO2 is about. It's obvious that CO2 is not causing the planet to heat up (I always wondered how CO2 could produce heat anyway), and that it is what I've always felt it was - something that the planet just does itself.

Nevertheless we do need to find a practical alternative to crude oil, just look at the way oil prices are going.

G-Money

Haha, I didn't think asking a few questions would require a fire extinguisher in order to put out the flames

murphaph

Phaetonman wrote: »

What a bizarre statement.

Who gives a **** about snow performance of cars. You live in Ireland and all cars are crap in the snow.

Not bizarre at all. RWD cars really struggle in snow and ice compared to FWD motors. I'll never forget a wedding I went to in Cavan a few years back, around December and north of Navan was a snowy wasteland...all the attending dubs in RWD motors had to get lifts off those of us in little FWD things....a churcha carpark full of micras and starlets and abandoned BMWs all along the N3. a rare occurence and not a reason to avoid a RWD car I'll grant you.

G-Money

I'd love to know why rear wheel drive vehicles seem to perform so badly in snow and slippery conditions compared to front wheel drive.

I'm guessing someone will flame me now for saying that too

guil

are ya takin the piss, its cos of less weight in the back so less traction

G-Money

I genuinely didn't know. I don't I'm only one on this thread either who didn't know.

ianobrien

If it's traction in the snow, get an air cooled beetle. We had one years ago, and one winter's day, the main Cork-Bandon Rd was closed, as nobody could get up the Liberties with the snow. We arrived in our crappy beetle, put it in second and left it chug away at 1200rpm. We got up the hill no problem (at walking pace!) and NOTHING ELSE managed to get up.....