Ioniq 5 starts at 54k after the government rebate here. We have this thing called VAT/sales tax which is not included in US prices usually, but is nearly always included in prices here.
German cars in the US aren’t actually too bad to own, FCPEuro gives you lifetime warranty on everything, including brake pads and engine oil. Yes, you can send them back your old oil after buying new oil and you get the money back. The catch is that it only works if the car hasn’t changed owners in the meantime. But you’ll need to do your own labor, otherwise it’s not going to be cost effective owning an older German car. The key is to buy a model that is known for its’ longevity and ease of repairs and a good healthy DIY community.
As for tech - sure, you won’t get Android Auto or Apple Carplay on most 10 year old cars. But all the latest and greatest safety systems started appearing in normal people cars around 10-15 years ago, and in heavily depreciated German nearly 20 years ago. Add the fact that crash safety pretty much linearly scales by the area under the car (literally width * length), an aging luxury car is actually about as safe as a new economy car, because while you’re more likely to get in an accident if you’re on your phone, you’re also more likely to survive an accident once you are in one.
Look at this data, both the newish models via the dropdowns, and the PDF for the models around 2008 model year. You’ll see that the 2006-2009 E-Class (really, it came out in 2002 or 2003) at least in its days was safer than most new mid-size vehicles are now. Usually you’ll never see any Mercedes or Volvo near the deadliest cars, but you’ll see some Hyundais, Kias, and of course smaller models from the American marques as well.
This is not safety ratings in the traditional sense, this is driver deaths per million miles driven. It’s great because it includes both the likelihood of crashing and the likelihood of surviving a crash combined into one number. Downside is that it does include driving habits as part of it too. BMWs naturally get more deaths than Mercs because the owners are more likely to drive like shitheads.
Ioniq 5 starts at 54k after the government rebate here. We have this thing called VAT/sales tax which is not included in US prices usually, but is nearly always included in prices here.
German cars in the US aren’t actually too bad to own, FCPEuro gives you lifetime warranty on everything, including brake pads and engine oil. Yes, you can send them back your old oil after buying new oil and you get the money back. The catch is that it only works if the car hasn’t changed owners in the meantime. But you’ll need to do your own labor, otherwise it’s not going to be cost effective owning an older German car. The key is to buy a model that is known for its’ longevity and ease of repairs and a good healthy DIY community.
As for tech - sure, you won’t get Android Auto or Apple Carplay on most 10 year old cars. But all the latest and greatest safety systems started appearing in normal people cars around 10-15 years ago, and in heavily depreciated German nearly 20 years ago. Add the fact that crash safety pretty much linearly scales by the area under the car (literally width * length), an aging luxury car is actually about as safe as a new economy car, because while you’re more likely to get in an accident if you’re on your phone, you’re also more likely to survive an accident once you are in one.
Look at this data, both the newish models via the dropdowns, and the PDF for the models around 2008 model year. You’ll see that the 2006-2009 E-Class (really, it came out in 2002 or 2003) at least in its days was safer than most new mid-size vehicles are now. Usually you’ll never see any Mercedes or Volvo near the deadliest cars, but you’ll see some Hyundais, Kias, and of course smaller models from the American marques as well.
This is not safety ratings in the traditional sense, this is driver deaths per million miles driven. It’s great because it includes both the likelihood of crashing and the likelihood of surviving a crash combined into one number. Downside is that it does include driving habits as part of it too. BMWs naturally get more deaths than Mercs because the owners are more likely to drive like shitheads.