Art Vandalay

When I bought my 2007 550 a few years ago, I stacked 60k on the odometer in 18 months. The car didn't blink and ran like a champ. Just after thanksgiving my wife decided to swap her G35 for a Lexus RX350. After signing off on that, I was cruising through the auto mall with the intent of making my way home and long story short, I traded in my 2007 550 for a 2009 550i. Great car, very happy. 50k on the odometer and cpo'd to 100k or late 2014. One day, I'll post pics on my profile lol.

Anyway, I've made some career changes, for the better and no longer have a commute that stacks miles like I had in the past. I love everything about this car and intend to keep it. I'd thought about trading it in again for an X5 but I really love this car. Instead, I'm thinking about trading in my truck for a new daily driver - a used 99-03 Toyota 4runner. If I do this, I can see me driving the 4runner at least 3-4 days a week and garaging the 550i when not in use. Besides depriving myself of constant pleasure on the road, does anyone see a problem with garaging the 550 for up to 4 days per week? Battery issues? Fluid issues? Again, the idea behind this is two fold - maybe three:
1. Make the 550 last (I'm envisioning up to 10 years, I hope).
2. Get a car I've always admired and lusted after (4runner)
3. Having a vehicle I get rough in (snow trips, mountain biking, etc.)

all at the expense of garaging the 550i 50% of the time.
Thoughts?

H F

I dont think u should have any issues garaging ur 550 4 days out of the week,,

I park my 545 in the garage sunday nite.. sits in the garage monday thru friday. Pull it out of the garage from friday after work use it all week end. Park it sunday nite.. starts right up no battery issues.. ive been doen that since i bought it,, been five years now.

west

my 550 sat for 6 months until i brought it out last week to start getting it ready for spring. i visited the car every month or so to start it up and let it run. usually if i let it go for 6+ weeks without starting it, you can hear the battery is a little weak, but whatever. it still starts.

Giowizzy

I parked my 525 since September and every Saturday I warm it up for about 20 minutes. I kept the garage for the whole winter and planning to pull it out in March to get it ready as well for the Spring til next September. As West said, I can feel the battery getting weak but it still kicks in.

luigi524td

I have a garage queen that only comes out on nice days. I keep it battery-tendered and covered. I do not agree with those who occassionally start their cars and let them idle for 20 minutes - that may actually do more harm than good. If you can start your car - drive it for the 20 minutes. That allows all systems to get a work-out. If you can't drive it at that time - wait until you can!

miii

I'm in the same boat and bought my first CPO 2010 528i xdrive earlier this month with 15K miles. My intention is to keep it in the garage and drive it on nice days (may be twice a week - on average)

I would also love to DD a 4-runner but currently I have a great e34 touring as a daily driver so I can't complain.

BTW, I recently joined the forum - will formally introduce with pictures.

MP1472

have you driven a 99-02 4runner? id advise you to get the newer body 03 and up. Ive owned 2 4runners a 96 and an 02.. while they are great suvs they are ridiculously underpowered 185hp if i recall.. anyway so if u have to get an suv and 4runner is your flavor get 03 and up.

seriously though i could barely stand to drive my 4runner after geting the 550i, i wound up geting rid of it.

Art Vandalay

never driven a 4runner lol. i think they look great though. I'm not looking to tear it up with one either. Mostly looking for a vehicle to take up to Tahoe or mountain biking or fishing, etc. Yes the wife has an RX 350 but if I take her car, I don't necessarily want her to drive the 550. She simply doesn't understand concepts like when you park, you can stop BEFORE hitting the curb! She literally dislodged the engine splash shield under the bumper on her G35, constantly. Whenever she pulls into the drive way, she's coming in so damn hot that the under bell of the bumper would always scrape. I'd cry if she did that to my car.

I'm planning on making a purchase maybe next month. I have a couple projects around the house I'm going to keep the truck for then I plan to get rid of it. In the meantime I'll make time to test drive a 4runner. The reason I don't want to go with a 2003 or newer is because it's probably over my budget and I really want to respect the budget, especially since I didn't really need to trade in my 2007 550 for this 2009.

Any suggestions on something other than a 4runner? Maybe a pathfinder?

MP1472

nah u should try and find a 03 -04 runner the 02 and under is so underpowered especially if youre considering mountain driving.. i drove mine up to vail and aspen in colorado virtually flored just to keep up with traffic.

try for 03-04 in your price range i promise you you wont be able to tolerate an 02 or under lol ... pathfinders meh

roskinc

i owned a 00 sr5 4runner and my brother had an 97 limited, and man do i miss that truck! absolutely no problems. i had it lifted with 33" mud tires. it is a little under powered, but still enough power to take me snowboarding or any trails. when i sold it to get the e60 i always used my brothers limited to go camping and whatnot. i still plan to buy another toyota as a daily, maybe a 01-03 tacoma. from all the suvs ive driven, the 3rd gen 4runners always handled the best and even looked the best IMO. take a few test drives, im sure itll make the best DD