Hi everyone!
Firstly, thank you to all the regular contributors who have made this community such a great resource of the years. I’ve learned many useful things that have made my M3 2019 ownership more enjoyable.
I’m coming to the end of my 5yr basic warranty soon, and I was wondering if this community could help me make a decision, please?
Ultimately: should I keep the M3 and risk expensive repair bill or bite the bullet and trade up to an in-warranty newer model?
Some facts
- My car’s worth £20k less now than when I bought it. I appreciate depreciation, but that’s a killer. Far more than I was budgeting for when I bought it. This makes me want to keep the car for as long as possible, to now get the most use out of that sunk cost.
- I’ve had several issues repaired under warranty (foggy headlight clusters, faulty Autopilot / overheating computer / SuperBottle replacement). But most of those I would have lived with (except the SuperBottle, which I expect would have got worse and eventually caused the car to break down).
- Other than that, my M3 has been super reliable.
- I’ve not seen the community mention many widespread significant known issues with a M3 my age. Am I missing something?
- Battery still seems healthy (70% charge - 200 miles predicted on GOM). I know that‘s covered under different 8yr warranty, but it’s all still a consideration for a few years down the line if I decide to keep.
- I love the M3. Every time I get into it I realise how much car it really is. I‘m very happy with the product as is - nothing in the newer M3s would tempt me to upgrade.
- I don’t really want to spend any more money on the car, considering how much I’ve ‘lost’ in (what I consider to be) excessive depreciation.
- That said, I would quite like a MY, but not enough to upgrade.
So, the bottom line is do you think I should:
A) take the risk, and keep my M3 for a few more years, because 5yr old Model 3s are actually really reliable and ride out the depreciation to get my money’s worth?
or
B) stay on the safe side, because M3s from 2019 have some nasty known issues that rear their head around now and the cost of getting them repaired would be more than I’d lose trading up to a newer model?
To help me decide (apart from the sage words of advice from this community) I was going to get a service done at LCM Automotive here in Bristol, to see if they can find any signs of potentially expensive problems occurring. I’ve heard they’re probably the most knowledgable non-Tesla mechanics around this area.
So, that’s it. What should I do?
Firstly, thank you to all the regular contributors who have made this community such a great resource of the years. I’ve learned many useful things that have made my M3 2019 ownership more enjoyable.
I’m coming to the end of my 5yr basic warranty soon, and I was wondering if this community could help me make a decision, please?
Ultimately: should I keep the M3 and risk expensive repair bill or bite the bullet and trade up to an in-warranty newer model?
Some facts
- My car’s worth £20k less now than when I bought it. I appreciate depreciation, but that’s a killer. Far more than I was budgeting for when I bought it. This makes me want to keep the car for as long as possible, to now get the most use out of that sunk cost.
- I’ve had several issues repaired under warranty (foggy headlight clusters, faulty Autopilot / overheating computer / SuperBottle replacement). But most of those I would have lived with (except the SuperBottle, which I expect would have got worse and eventually caused the car to break down).
- Other than that, my M3 has been super reliable.
- I’ve not seen the community mention many widespread significant known issues with a M3 my age. Am I missing something?
- Battery still seems healthy (70% charge - 200 miles predicted on GOM). I know that‘s covered under different 8yr warranty, but it’s all still a consideration for a few years down the line if I decide to keep.
- I love the M3. Every time I get into it I realise how much car it really is. I‘m very happy with the product as is - nothing in the newer M3s would tempt me to upgrade.
- I don’t really want to spend any more money on the car, considering how much I’ve ‘lost’ in (what I consider to be) excessive depreciation.
- That said, I would quite like a MY, but not enough to upgrade.
So, the bottom line is do you think I should:
A) take the risk, and keep my M3 for a few more years, because 5yr old Model 3s are actually really reliable and ride out the depreciation to get my money’s worth?
or
B) stay on the safe side, because M3s from 2019 have some nasty known issues that rear their head around now and the cost of getting them repaired would be more than I’d lose trading up to a newer model?
To help me decide (apart from the sage words of advice from this community) I was going to get a service done at LCM Automotive here in Bristol, to see if they can find any signs of potentially expensive problems occurring. I’ve heard they’re probably the most knowledgable non-Tesla mechanics around this area.
So, that’s it. What should I do?