Jason bought me my first BMW when I first got to Guam.  I loved this beauty.  She was a 1993 7.40 IL.  Gold, tan leather interior, sunroof.  She was old as all get-out and I loved her.  Mainly because she was the only one on Guam, and there wasn't really anything I could do to break a 26 year old car.




The only thing we ever did to Betty in the 2 years we had her was a few oil changes.  Oh, and replace the battery, but I left her sitting without starting her for 3 months, so that was understood.  She was great!  She only had something like 55,000 miles when we had to let her go.  We actually sold her for $500 more than we paid for her because she was still in such great shape.

So then we got to Hawaii last year and we needed a car.  During our car shopping we came across a 2003 BMW 3.25i that was in our price range.  We both figured that we could buy an 07ish Nissan or similar, or the 03 BMW.  It's older, but they are such great cars, and it still looked really great.  And it only had like, 55,000 miles on it.  Oh!  And the one we had back on Guam was 10 years older and still running perfectly! I had always heard that they are great cars until you have to do maintenance on them or repair them, but was that on my mind that day?  Nope.  We drove it and fell in love. That day we took her back home (to the BOQ..) and we drove her happily for the next 3 months.  Then the boat left the Pearl Harbor dry dock to come back to Guam, so Jason put her in storage.

The day we bought her

For the next 8 months we would both say things like "I can't wait to get back to our car in Hawaii!"  We really missed her.  So we got here and paid to get her out of storage and were happy to be driving her.  Until today.

I was driving my hot car around yesterday with the windows down and the sunroof open.  It was glorious!  But then I got home and the rear passenger window wouldn't roll up.  It sounded like there was loose gravel in the door.  Boo, car!

Oh well.. She needed an oil change anyway, and the BMW dealership gives you a loaner BMW to drive while your's is being repaired.. So no biggie.  Or so I thought.

I get to the dealership.  Let me just tell you, there is something special about purchasing a car from a "luxury" dealer.  You walk in and you are important.  There is an espresso machine with cardboard go cups with hand-wrappers, not a sad looking coffee pot beside a water cooler.  There are marble counter tops in the ridiculously plush restroom.  (Which, coincidentally, is the place where I threw up the only time during my pregnancy, but that's another story.)  All that to say, I got inside and I felt warm and fuzzy

The service manager is the nicest guy ever!  He played with KB, got me an espresso, made me feel good.  Then he gave me the damage.  Will The BWM Service Guy is no longer on my list of favorite people.  He says, "Ok Mrs. Frederick, I'm going to give you a 'shopping list', if you will, of the damage.  You can pick and choose what you'd like to do today."

First was the window repair: $750!  WHAT?!  Wow, that sucks, but ok.. Give me the rest.  He then proceeds to inform me that it's time for the 60,000 mile scheduled maintenance.  I don't even remember what all he told me about, but what sticks out most is that the HEPPA filter needs to be replaced.  (WHAT?!  My car has a HEPPA filter?!  WHY???)  Oh, and the other thing that sticks in my mind is that this SCHEDULED regular maintenance is going to be $4,000.

An old favorite song of mine quips "Getting the oil changed in the BMW is my baby's biggest fear."  Holy crap, now I see why!!  (And 10 bonus points for the first person who did NOT go to Ole Miss, but can recite the next line of that song.)  So, we are back to that thing where the maintenance on imported cars is absolutely awful.  Whatever.. I'm over it.
Driving my super hot car is not even worth all that to me.  Seriously, at this point I'm considering trading her in on a Ford.  Ok.. not really a Ford, but something considerably more reasonable.  I'm actually thinking about this one.  It's a 2011 Hyundai Sonata and it gets really great reviews.  And there isn't a single word about how expensive it is to maintain.