Is there any main brand of car you simply won't buy?

road_high

Export wrote: »

Incidentally, I never knew Opel was German manufactured until I saw the ads 'Wier lieben Autos'. lol. Always thought they were French for some reason! I knew they were owned by GM (US co.) but have they always been manufactured in Germany?

They try to claim they are for marketing purposes andn GM Europe HQ is in Germany and they make a few models there like the Insignia, Adam and Zafira. The rest re built in England, Spain, Korea or Poland. Bit like VW's.

dr.fuzzenstein

filbert the fox wrote: »

with that sexy french one on the Citroen ad and the vorgsprungs and the vier lebens' I just wondered what an Irish manufactured car might have as a handle?

- mighty?

-bleedin' deadly(literally)

-lethal..see above

-get up the yard.

- now you're suckin' diesel (petrol variants available).

- grand

- not too bad...

- could be worse

- go hana mhaith...ar fad:o

2 ton, 7 seater, 1 liter petrol or 1.3 diesel with non-metallic paint, keep fit windows, steel wheels with ALDI hubcaps, CD player and even a heater thrown in for free!
56 bhp and 0-100 23 seconds, based on a 90's Hyundai. Sell it for €23k with €1k scrappage thrown in and there would be riots as people would fight each other to put a deposit down because of the chaaaaeeeep tax.
Put "Guaranteed Irish" stickers on it and you can't lose.

dr.fuzzenstein

road_high wrote: »

They try to claim they are for marketing purposes andn GM Europe HQ is in Germany and they make a few models there like the Insignia, Adam and Zafira. The rest re built in England, Spain, Korea or Poland. Bit like VW's.

So Ford is actually more German than Opel.

Hachiko

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Absolutely, its the owner, not just the car.
It is possible to own a 90's diesel Jetta and be a true car nut and own a Ferrari and have no appreciation of it whatsoever, overpaid, spoilt soccer player moneybags and primadonnas prove this every day.

like that gold ferrari idiot outside Harrods, i doubt if he had a clue about the tech specification of that car.

he got a brand new red ferrari and went to a bling shop and said i want in gold, how much

450,000...?

ok, that is ok, do it, thank you sir.

porsche959

Hachiko wrote: »

he got a brand new red ferrari and went to a bling shop and said i want in gold, how much

450,000...?

ok, that is ok, do it, thank you sir.

"I buy it!"

Joe 90

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

2 ton, 7 seater, 1 liter petrol or 1.3 diesel with non-metallic paint, keep fit windows, steel wheels with ALDI hubcaps, CD player and even a heater thrown in for free!
56 bhp and 0-100 23 seconds, based on a 90's Hyundai. Sell it for €23k with €1k scrappage thrown in and there would be riots as people would fight each other to put a deposit down because of the chaaaaeeeep tax.
Put "Guaranteed Irish" stickers on it and you can't lose.

Those numbers look very like the old Austen A60/Morris Oxford which were considered very desirable cars in the 60s. 60 bhp calimed and 0 to 60 mph in something over 20 seconds. Probably only a ton or so though and not officialy a 7 seater.

dr.fuzzenstein

Joe 90 wrote: »

Those numbers look very like the old Austen A60/Morris Oxford which were considered very desirable cars in the 60s. 60 bhp calimed and 0 to 60 mph in something over 20 seconds. Probably only a ton or so though and not officialy a 7 seater.

It's actually been tried before, it was called the Shamrock:

Although the car was big and heavy, it used a relatively smallAustin A55 1.5 litre engine, which limited performance

So basically the recipe was to use a big, heavy body from a US car and power it with a small, wheezy engine from the UK.
Think inverse AC Cobra. If they did it now, they could sell 3 million overnight.

JohnBoy26

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Absolutely, its the owner, not just the car.
It is possible to own a 90's diesel Jetta and be a true car nut and own a Ferrari and have no appreciation of it whatsoever, overpaid, spoilt soccer player moneybags and primadonnas prove this every day.

The diesel jetta of that time was actually a decent car, it might of been rough and unrefined, especially at idle but it was tough and very reliable.

Ralphdejones

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

The diesel jetta of that time was actually a decent car, it might of been rough and unrefined, especially at idle but it was tough and very reliable.

I think that's his point

wendell borton

Not a lot of love for French marques here, have always found them comfortable and economical to run. Ive had plenty of peugeots and the odd Renault and citroen with mileage over 150k with no serious problems except minor electrical niggles.

Jawgap

Picking up a new 508 on Friday - I think it's a great car. Stacks up well against the others in its class.

Ed Winchester

Jawgap wrote: »

Picking up a new 508 on Friday - I think it's a great car. Stacks up well against the others in its class.

Best of luck with it. I drove one for a while. Lovely, comfortable car.

Jawgap

Ed Winchester wrote: »

Best of luck with it. I drove one for a while. Lovely, comfortable car.

Had one for a 48 hr test drive and just thought it was lovely to drive.

As for the mechanicals, I didn't have to factor that in as it's being leased in.

But to be honest, even if it was my money, I think I'd still go with the 508 - I'm not sure why there's so much resistance against Peugeots?

Ed Winchester

Jawgap wrote: »

Had one for a 48 hr test drive and just thought it was lovely to drive.

As for the mechanicals, I didn't have to factor that in as it's being leased in.

But to be honest, even if it was my money, I think I'd still go with the 508 - I'm not sure why there's so much resistance against Peugeots?

Mechanically, in my experience, there's no issue whatsoever. Very well built car IMO.

rowanh

Might be limiting myself a bit too much but i wouldnt buy the following,

Alfa Romeo - reliability issues, ive had too much bad luck with cars.
Aston Martin - too expensive
Audi - i only like ones i couldnt afford
Chevrolet - meh
Chrysler - meh
Citroen - meh
Daewoo - meh
Fiat - meh
Ford - meh
Hyundai - meh
Isuzu - dont like jeeps
Jeep - jeeps
KIA - meh
Land Rover - jeeps
Lexus - seem plasticy and crap
Mazda - had an rx7 and an mx5, not interested in others.
Mercedes-Benz - i dont like their seats and i dont like ratio of engine size to power.
Mini - girls cars
Opel - meh
Peugeot - too french
Renault - also too french
Saab - ugly
Skoda - if i had to buy a practical car id consider one.
Smart - meh
SsangYong - jeeps
Subaru - had a couple
Suzuki - meh
Toyota - Id prefer something else.
Vauxhall - meh
Volkswagen - had a couple, dont like them.


I would buy

A nice bmw from an owners club in mint condition like an e36 or e34
Id like a daihatsu mira trxxx as a runaround.
Honda - if i was buying something practical there are a few id consider, id like my next bike to be a cbr.
Lotus - not really a main brand but id like one.
Mitsubishi - my 2nd car was a 1.3 lancer and i really hated it, id like an evo to make up for it.
Nissan - i always wanted to buy a 200sx or 180sx, almost did a couple times, id like to get an r32 or r33 gtr someday.
Volvo - i had a 940 and loved it, id like to buy one, restore it and heavly tune it.
Jaguar - ive never driven one, id like one.
Porsche - ive never driven one, id like to own one.

Hachiko

rowanh wrote: »

Might be limiting myself a bit too much but i wouldnt buy the following,

Alfa Romeo - reliability issues, ive had too much bad luck with cars.
Aston Martin - too expensive
Audi - i only like ones i couldnt afford
Chevrolet - meh
Chrysler - meh
Citroen - meh
Daewoo - meh
Fiat - meh
Ford - meh
Hyundai - meh
Isuzu - dont like jeeps
Jeep - jeeps
KIA - meh
Land Rover - jeeps
Lexus - seem plasticy and crap
Mazda - had an rx7 and an mx5, not interested in others.
Mercedes-Benz - i dont like their seats and i dont like ratio of engine size to power.
Mini - girls cars
Opel - meh
Peugeot - too french
Renault - also too french
Saab - ugly
Skoda - if i had to buy a practical car id consider one.
Smart - meh
SsangYong - jeeps
Subaru - had a couple
Suzuki - meh
Toyota - Id prefer something else.
Vauxhall - meh
Volkswagen - had a couple, dont like them.


I would buy

A nice bmw from an owners club in mint condition like an e36 or e34
Id like a daihatsu mira trxxx as a runaround.
Honda - if i was buying something practical there are a few id consider, id like my next bike to be a cbr.
Lotus - not really a main brand but id like one.
Mitsubishi - my 2nd car was a 1.3 lancer and i really hated it, id like an evo to make up for it.
Nissan - i always wanted to buy a 200sx or 180sx, almost did a couple times, id like to get an r32 or r33 gtr someday.
Volvo - i had a 940 and loved it, id like to buy one, restore it and heavly tune it.
Jaguar - ive never driven one, id like one.
Porsche - ive never driven one, id like to own one.

what do you actually drive?

Wailin

From past experience I would never buy a Saab (9-5) or Daewoo (who would) again. Had two VW's (Golf and Passat) which I loved and would definitely buy again and a Toyota Avensis which I never really liked after the Passat.

djimi

rowanh wrote: »

Suzuki - meh

Depends what you want from a car but my gf has a 08 Swift and its far from meh to drive. Great fun little yolk.

Tea 1000

Hachiko wrote: »

what do you actually drive?

By the looks of that list, he walks.

bladespin

djimi wrote: »

Depends what you want from a car but my gf has a 08 Swift and its far from meh to drive. Great fun little yolk.

Unlikely to ever had the b*lls to touch a GSXR either

rowanh

Hachiko wrote: »

what do you actually drive?

I have a ninja 250 and i drive a bmw 325 i own with my girlfriend.

rowanh

djimi wrote: »

Depends what you want from a car but my gf has a 08 Swift and its far from meh to drive. Great fun little yolk.

Yes, very true. I did actually drive one briefly a few years ago, was a bit of fun but if i was going to get something like that id prefer something like the Daihatsu i mentioned.

I do like suzuki motorbkes, I was going to buy a Suzuki sv650 but went for a ninja 250 as i thought it was a better bike to start on, id like to get a gsxr as maybe my third or fourth bike, it would depend on how i feel about sports bikes for commuting.

Autosport

3 cars I never liked so would never buy are the Nissan Micra, VW Beetle and a Mini.

Joe Doe

Wouldn't buy:

Anything that isn't Japenese (or hasn't been built precisely by robots you 20+yrs, to within a whisker's whisker of accuracy and application of Kaizen process efficency methodologies). All my Previous UK {Fords/MG's/Vauxhalls} all fell apart at the seams <80k, wouldn't even glance at a French car unless Nichole from the ads was driving it topless.

I would buy:

1. Toyota: They only start to get run-in after 120,000 miles.
2. Honda: Their wee 2 stroke 50cc motorbikes from the '70's are still buzzing about the place, no bother.
3. Mitsubishi/Subaru - performance all the way.

ah if only Yamaha made cars too...

Time for Irish car manufacturing? If the Swedes (only 9 mill population) can do it, can 't be that hard n' sufficient demand.

JohnBoy26

Joe Doe wrote: »

Wouldn't buy:

Anything that isn't Japenese (or hasn't been built precisely by robots you 20+yrs, to within a whisker's whisker of accuracy and application of Kaizen process efficency methodologies). All my Previous UK {Fords/MG's/Vauxhalls} all fell apart at the seams <80k, wouldn't even glance at a French car unless Nichole from the ads was driving it topless.

I would buy:

1. Toyota: They only start to get run-in after 120,000 miles.
2. Honda: Their wee 2 stroke 50cc motorbikes from the '70's are still buzzing about the place, no bother.
3. Mitsubishi/Subaru - performance all the way.

ah if only Yamaha made cars too...

Time for Irish car manufacturing? If the Swedes (only 9 mill population) can do it, can 't be that hard n' sufficient demand.

Loads of Japanese cars are built overseas these days though, including models from Toyota and Honda and Mitsubishi. Many Japanese carmakers are also entering into collaborations with EU manufacturers these days too, sharing technologies and engines.

I think Japanese Cars are overrated nowadays. Other car makers have come along way over the last 15-20 years while the japs have regressed since then imo. The gap in quality and reliability between Japanese cars and other cars that existed back in the day isn't really there anymore.

Joe Doe

True enough, for 2nd hand market Jap still the best, inc 10/20yr old models.

Those new S.Kor ones are good value and very tech driven, few brands from there do 7yrs/100,000 warranties, not bad...

visual

Joe Doe wrote: »

True enough, for 2nd hand market Jap still the best, inc 10/20yr old models.

Those new S.Kor ones are good value and very tech driven, few brands from there do 7yrs/100,000 warranties, not bad...

100,000 or 7 years doesn't cover the slow death the driver experience

JohnBoy26

visual wrote: »

100,000 or 7 years doesn't cover the slow death the driver experience

But it does cover mechanical items which is the main thing. A Kia is no worse to drive than most other mainstream brands nowadays.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Zubeneschamali

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

A Kia is no worse to drive than most other mainstream brands nowadays.

A Kia is no cheaper than most mainstream brands, either. An i30 or Ceed costs about the same as an Auris or Focus.

JohnBoy26

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

A Kia is no cheaper than most mainstream brands, either. An i30 or Ceed costs about the same as an Auris or Focus.

To be fair both the Cee'd and i30 are right up the Auris and the Focus though.

Zubeneschamali

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

To be fair both the Cee'd and i30 are right up the Auris and the Focus though.

I'd agree, in that the Auris and the current Focus are both fairly crap, too.

dr.fuzzenstein

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

I'd agree, in that the Auris and the current Focus are both fairly crap, too.

As opposed to what? If there was a car in that class that cost 20% less, has lower depreciation, cool factor, rock-solid reliability, does 60 mpg and is faster than anything else, we would all buy it. Or most of us, there are some who would not be seen dead in something that is perceived to be cheap, as showing off is, of course, a very important part of owning a car to some people.
You can never have it all, so the right car is the one that does what the owner wants it to do at the right price.
To some a Cooper S is the perfect car, for those of us who actually want to arrive at our destination there is no substitute for Toyota and if you want to be somewhere inbetween, most of anything else.

Zubeneschamali

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

As opposed to what?

In that class, I'd prefer a Giulietta, Civic, Mazda 3, Leon, or Golf. Price/value vary a lot in that list, but all of those are better than the soul-sucking Auris.

The Focus is OK in a kind of Opel Astra way, but it's uglier and has less choices than the model it replaced, which is disappointing.

dr.fuzzenstein

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

In that class, I'd prefer a Giulietta, Civic, Mazda 3, Leon, or Golf. Price/value vary a lot in that list, but all of those are better than the soul-sucking Auris.

The Focus is OK in a kind of Opel Astra way, but it's uglier and has less choices than the model it replaced, which is disappointing.

I think Golf is overrated and overpriced and people buy it because it is a Golf, even despite (or because) of the higher price for which they think they will get a car that is better built. Which it isn't.
Focus, well I've had a few and it suffers mostly from the fact that people think "Oh, it's a Ford, they're shoite!", which they're not. So they're the car for the smart consumer. :cool::P:D
Opel, can't see anything they have going for them. Would not have them compared to Fords. They may even be the brand I wouldn't buy. Had two, a 1983 Kadett (OK, I guess) and a 1993 Corsa (Fcuking dire!)
And Ford being more of a German car now than Opels.
Don't know about the rest, will have to take your word for it.
My point is, there are some differences, real or perceived, but I don't think that there is any car in this segment (just for example) that anyone can say is head and shoulders and a few country miles ahead of the rest.

JohnBoy26

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

I'd agree, in that the Auris and the current Focus are both fairly crap, too.

All 4 cars are fine, the i30 and cee'd are far from "crap" tbh.

Zubeneschamali

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

All 4 cars are fine

Each one is just 4 meters of generic car. I'd really rather go back a few years and get something that I could actually like, even if the sticker price new is higher.

JohnBoy26

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

In that class, I'd prefer a Giulietta, Civic, Mazda 3, Leon, or Golf. Price/value vary a lot in that list, but all of those are better than the soul-sucking Auris.

The Focus is OK in a kind of Opel Astra way, but it's uglier and has less choices than the model it replaced, which is disappointing.

Just because you prefer those cars it doesn't mean that others do or that the alternative Focus, Auris, Cee'd, and i30 are "crap" or any worse than the cars mentioned by you in the above.

JohnBoy26

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Each one is just 4 meters of generic car. I'd really rather go back a few years and get something that I could actually like, even if the sticker price new is higher.

And the Golf, Civic, Leon, Guiletta, and Mazda 3 aren't "generic"? :pac: :rolleyes:

Zubeneschamali

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

And the Golf, Civic, Leon, Guiletta, and Mazda 3 aren't "generic"? :pac: :rolleyes:

Yes, I think each of those has a bit more character than the Auris, Koreans, Astra and other "it's just a car" cars.

JohnBoy26

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Yes, I think each of those has a bit more character than the Auris, Koreans, Astra and other "it's just a car" cars.

Guess what, they don't! I guess there's no point explaining that to someone who can't past the badge on the bonnet though.

Toyotafanboi

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Yes, I think each of those has a bit more character than the Auris, Koreans, Astra and other "it's just a car" cars.

coming from someone who has test driven a lot of those earlier this year, i found the astra j to have the best driving character, which is why we bought it :pac:. a dark horse it is though, nobody every considers them.

it was on a whole other level to the likes of a golf mk6 or a3 in terms of being a pleasant place to be in, i mean people call the japs boring but to sit inside and mk6 golf is dicing with boredom induced death.

test drove kia pro ceed and it was nice, certainly no worse than a giulietta in terms of a place to be in if we are talking fit and finish. genuinely. it may no have the pedigree of the alfa but if you were given say 2 seats side by side or two door cards side by side not knowing what cars they were removed from you would struggle to call which was korean and which was italian.

i don't really enjoy most european cars so i think i can judge them on a pretty unbiased level.

what am i trying to say? i'm not sure. its like comparing a granny smith and a braeburn. one is red and one is green but they are both apples.

Zubeneschamali

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

I guess there's no point explaining that to someone who can't past the badge on the bonnet though.

You're not fooling me, I've actually driven an Auris.

If there is a more soulless machine on the planet, I don't want to drive it.

Tea 1000

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Guess what, they don't! I guess there's no point explaining that to someone who can't past the badge on the bonnet though.

This coming from a guy who writes off a handful of marques only a few posts ago!