Earlier this month I was test driving cars with my mom since her Mini's warranty is about to expire. The Mini has been reliable, but since my mom wants to upgrade anyway it makes sense to do it before the warranty expires.

Some interesting things I learned about free maintainance:

• Mercedes discontinued free maintainance in 2004
• Audi discontinued free maintainance in 2007
• Lexus never had free maintainance, but they are known for reliable cars and good service so that's ok
• Mini gives you 3 years of maintainance (along with the 4 year warranty, a bit confusing)
• BMW still gives you 4 years of maintainance, matching the 4 years of warranty

Free maintainance (at least with BMW) includes brake pads and rotors, so it can really save you a lot of money.

Some things I learned about Certified Pre Owned:

• Lexus doesn't add 2 years to the existing warranty like BMW does. They instead give you a new 3 year/100k mile warranty from the day you buy the car. This works out better if you buy an older car, but worse if you buy a newer car

So I still hold that the best way to buy a car is to get a 1 year old certified pre owned BMW. You get a car that's pretty much brand new, with a full 6 years of bumper to bumper warranty and 6 years of maintainance, longer than you would get on a new car. And you pay LESS than a new car.

This is exactly how I got my BMW. And just a few weeks ago a coworker purchased a 2006 325i for under $30k. Under $30k for a BMW 3 series luxury sedan? And you don't put a single dime into the car except gas and tires for 6 whole years. Why do people even shop the economy brands?

Update: I would also buy a car european delivery since you get a nice discount and can pay just over invoice price (it doesn't count against a dealer's allocation so you get a better price)