@the_same_mountainbike.
This is Triedaq and the last car I want is an old, sluggish diesel. If Mrs. Triedaq thinks I move slowly now and don’t get things done, I would really be slow going out to pick up materials for doing maintenance and repairs around the house if I had to depend on an old diesel to transport me.
If I could have a vehicle from the past, I would hunt down a 1960 Austin Healey bug-eyed Sprite. I like the idea of using the gears to maximum advantage to keep pace with traffic.
Back in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s when our friends had the Mercedes 240D, it got great fuel mileage for the time. The seats gave good support and the ride was steady and firm. Most gasoline cars had carburetors. With the advent of fuel injection, the diesel lost much of its fuel mileage advantage over gasoline powered cars. In fact, with the higher price of diesel fuel over gasoline and gasoline engines that can last up to 300,000 miles, the diesel car may have no operating cost advantage over a gasoline powered car.
I have never even ridden in a BMW. My only experience with BMWs was back in 1970 when I was a graduate student and we were living in married student housing. New faculty were allowed to live there for a year while they looked for permanent housing. A new young professor and his wife lived there and they owned a BMW. We went out one morning when it was pouring down rain. I was taking my wife to her job and then going on to campus. The young couple with the BMW were frantically trying to start their car. She was yelling at him that she would be late for work while he was trying to dry out the electrical system. I offered them a ride which they accepted. We all piled into my 1965 Rambler. I delivered the wife of the new faculty member to her job, then took my wife to her job and then the new professor and I headed to campus. This new faculty member proceeded to tell me what a great car and how well engineered a BMW was and how poorly engineed my Rambler was. I finally said that no matter how cold or wet the weather, my Rambler would always start. I also mentioned that we had moved in 90 degree weather and I was pulling a loaded U-HAUL trailer and the engine didn’t overheat. I said that I thought the Rambler was engineered well enough for me. The new professor then told me that I wouldn’t appreciate a fine car. I guess there is something about owning a.BMW that I just don’t get.
One.other non-automotive story about new faculty that I still.laugh about was that my department where I taught was interviewing a new Ph.D for a position. This woman made it quite clear what courses she would not teach. I was assigned the task of driving her around and showing her the community. She asked to see where I lived,.so we swung past my house on the way back to campus. When I pointed out my residence, she said “My, that’s a chinzy house”. I thought about asking her if she drove a BMW, but decided not to. I did.make the mistake of telling the incident to Mrs. Triedaq and ultimately we had to build a new house.
At work, several of our employees drive old cars that look ugly, aren’t worth much, but are still doing their job
They have the money for newer cars, but see no reason to give up on older cars that are reliable
Some of these guys are supervisors who could be buying brand new cars for cash
I’m in the public sector, and what I described is not uncommon, and nobody seems to be pressuring them to buy newer cars. Maybe the wives are, but not the other employees
When I was in the private sector, it was common to see people driving much newer vehicles, and colleagues were constantly pestering each other to junk their old cars, in favor of new models. In my opinion, there are man reasons for these different behaviours
Maybe they drive ugly commuter cars and keep the nicer family vehicle home. I bought a new Accord because I’ll be commuting for the next five years before I retire. I didn’t want to rack up big mileage on a more expensive car.
It’s a good thing I did that, because I really like the Cadillac CT6, and Cadillac was Queen of the Prom in CRs latest annual reliability ratings. While that was mostly the Escalade, I’m sure the new electronic monitoring systems had a lot to do with it. I could have bought Honda’s electronic monitoring, but I’d heard bad things about it. I saved over a grand and have a more reliable car. I just have to pay attention while I drive. Oh, wait a minute, I have to do that anyway.
I understand a lot of what you are saying. However, I would like an AWD wagon and do not want a SUV and need the space for my family… and there is only The German cars and Subaru. Although Subaru is a quality car, even when buying a 35,000 limited my payments would still be high $500. Yes, you do own it at the end which would answer many of your advice. But in terms on wagons, I’m limited. If I was looking for a sedan, I would be looking at something less expensive and get me from A to B
Not sure you do understand. Your posts indicate you are concerned about the expense of a BMW and if that is what you want then just get one. I think you need to actually be more receptive to other vehicles that might serve your purpose. Even a loaded Kia Soul is considered a wagon and is quite reasonably priced. My feeling is that a BMW wagon is more image than actual wagon.
Me too. I love those little buggers. But I’d need one for each foot.
I would have shown her the rattiest part of town. Perhaps she would have declined the position as below her station in life. 
@the_same_mountainbike Me too. I have size 14 feet!
I did live in the rattiest part of town. That’s why I took the candidate past my house. The whole addition where I lived at the time was built right after WW II for the returning servicemen. There were only three different house styles. My house was less than 1000 square feet, only one bathroom and no garage.