Spoke to someone the other day who claimed that the most significant factor in car choice is brand loyalty. This prompted me to list all the cars we have owned (excluding company cars), because I couldn't think of an occasion when we have replaced one car with another of the same brand.
Am I some kind of brand 'tart' or did this guy not know what he was talking about?
The actual score of the 25 cars we have owned is:
Mini 2
Triumph 1
Fiat 4
Vauxhall 8
Audi 2
BMW 1
Subaru 1
Citroen 1
Volvo 2
Renault 2
Peugeot 1
So all you profilers out there, what does that say about me?
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I would say you are about normal, however, the transition from Volvo's to Renault's and Peugeot's is slightly worrying.
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Mine goes something like this :-
BMW 4 (all Company owned)
Land Rover ( 3 Two Discos and a Defender)
Mini (1 ok you could bundle it in as a BMW)
Peugeots ( 4 SWMBO's)
I would never buy another Pug. and unlikely to buy another DIsco.
but keep the BMs coming.
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VW 3
Vauxhall 4
Ford 1
Nissan 1
Mercedes 1
BMW 2
Audi 1
I now only buy German cars because I prefer the style and quality (and no I'm not loaded!)
Regards
Pat
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Company Cars
Mini
Allegro:-(((
Ford x2
Volvo
BL Montego:-:((((((
Mercedes (boring)
Ford
Rover 800 x3 (no choice):-((((((
BMW x2 :-)
Owned
Riley (1929)
Austin x2
Rover
Rover (1946 16):-)
Wolseley !
Mini
Jaguar
Mini x2 SWMBO
GTM
Peugeot SWMBO :-))
Lotus :-)))))) funfactor
Audi
Ford :-)
madf
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Just 5 cars owned I'm afraid as follows:
Renault 20tl :-(((
Toyota Corolla auto :-I
Nissan Cherry :-)
Rover 820e :-(((
Volvo 940 se turbo :-)))
Also driven regularly
Golf GTi - :-))
Nissan 200sx - :-))
No brand loyalty factor at all but next car likely to be Volvo 940/960 'cos I need a big and reliable estate.
Alternatively, I keep the old Volvo, spend some cash and go for a 1 or 2 year old Toyota Celica to keep my wife happy (jury still out on that though !).
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Also the transition to Volvo in the first place ;-)
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Paul,
I am no "profiler" but, your list tells me that you have experienced the bad, the mediocre, and the ordinary, in your list of vehicle choices. Get a Toyota onto that list and you can then add the "Superb"
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Took my test in Dad's brand new Volvo 244DL, and then owned:
Mitsubishi Colt 1400GLX - Abroad, ex rental car, good VFM.
Austin Aggro 1750 twin carb - Now back in Blighty, purchased from family member. Horrid device.
MG Metro - Purchased new, & then run for eight years until tin worm took hold. Great fun to drive, quick after extensive engine, suspension, and brake mods. Excellent VFM motoring over the period I kept it.
Ford Sierra 2.0 GL - Father's ex company car. One of the first DOHC examples. Nice & torquey, smooth when cruising, but horribly vague handlng when pressing on.
Ford Mundano 1.8 GLX - First company car, of which I had no choice. A big step forward from the Sierra, but I never really warmed to it.
Rover 420 GSi - First company car that I chose. One of the last of the original Honda shape. Noisy at speed, but deceptively quick, fun to drive, and reliable. I missed it when the lease company took it away.
Fiesta 1.25 base - Medium term rental car whilst helping set up a new company. Amazing how you can trim your needs when money is tight! Nippy and agile, but only a roller skate, err toy, really.
Vectra 2.5 V6 SRi Estate - One of the early examples. Totally reliable, very capable, and quite a Q-car. Too much understeer when pressing on was the only thing I really didn't like.
Vectra 2.5 V6 Gsi Estate - Fantastic piece of kit. Only case of brand loyalty so far in my motoring career, having been so pleased with the previous car. Why Vauxhall only sold a few hundred I'll never know. Far more fun to drive, and far more individual than the lemming equivalent Audi, Beemer, or Merc that I could have had for the same money. Nothing has gone wrong, grunty V6 and good grip & handling is great on A and B road, and as a fully laden autobahn stormer, it is amazing. I will really miss it, and came within a whisker of asking the leasing company to buy it. The only reason I didn't was after six years of Vectra estates, a burning desire to replace it with...
...a Volvo S60 2.4T, which will shortly be ordered.
/Steve
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Austin Mini
Vauxhall Cavalier (CC)
Austin Montego (CC)
Vauxhall Cavalier (CC)
Ford Mondeo (CC)
Ford Fiesta
Ford Granada
Vauxhall Cavalier
Ford Mondeo
Ford Fiesta
Mazda 626
Vauxhall Omega
So, I've been pretty much split between Ford and Vauxhall.
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I think you'll find that most people will have owned a range of makes, probably reflects our changing social/economic conditions - ie. when your a student you can barely afford to run a £25 banger but when you become the CEO you might be tempted by a £100k luxo-barge....I've got a long way to go! :-)
My list...
Nissan (1)
Vw (1)
BMW (2)
Toyota (1)
Citroen (1)
Vauxhall (1)
SWMBO's
Mini (1)
Rover (1)
Fiat (1)
Chad.R
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Merc 2
Volvo 2
Land Rover 2
VW 4
Saab 1
BMW 1
Vauxhall 2
Porsche 1
Nearest I came to slavish brand loyalty was VW until they went downhill with the Mk 3 Golf GTI and became arrogant at dealerships. I need a lot of convincing to go back now.
Otherwise it's been very much model led. Currently well disposed to Volvo, a very good dealer experience helps.
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Interesting. I must be pretty brand loyal - but loyalty is a 2-way thing so has its limits.
I had 5 Fords until my Mk III 2000E Cortina estate rusted away almost overnight.
Then 3 Golfs until they became overpriced for what you got.
Then 8 Citroens between us - I stopped because the depreciation on the big ones scared the willies out of me. SWMBO still has one and they're still good value (at least the smaller ones).
Now the Jeep does sterling tugging duties through any sort of field and unless it really blots its copybook is likely to be the first of another dynasty
The only interlopers in 35 years of motoring are SWMBO's original Morris 8 drop-top, 2 Hillman Imps (SWMBO's before we married), a Morris 1100 Traveller (£45 at auction, sold minus windscreen and working water pump six months later for £40) and a Triumph Herald - sold at a car boot auction!
Terry
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Austin Allagro x 1
Vaux Astra Mk1 x 1
V. Cavalier Mk2 x 2
V. Cavalier Mk3 x 2
V. Vectra x 1
Er, I guess I'm a brand 'tart'
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Dave, I can reassure you, tarts go with anyone they get a good offer from. As a loyal Vauvhall owner you don't qualify!
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IMHO brand loyalty died when car manufacturers went global.
You used to be able to buy a Ford and be certain it was made in dagenham or Halewood.
Nowdays it could be Cologne, Valencia or Timbuctoo.
If you bought a BLMC you could be certain it came from Coventry or Oxford.
If you bought a Honda you knew you were buying an import from Japan. Likewise Peugeot were made in France, VW in Germany, Nissan in Japan.
And so on.
Not any more.
Ok, car buffs can look at the VIN and say "Ah, made in such and such a plant", but to Joe Public it's a closed book.
So there is little point in saying "I'll support UK industry by sticking to Ford" because the car could have been assembled almost anywhere and the components probably come from ten different countries anyway.
So brand loyalty now comes down to performance and value for money. Pure and simple.
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3 Citroens (1 BX, 1 Xantia, 1 XM)
3 Lexus (3 x LS400)
2 Toyota (1 Yaris, 1 Corolla (Corolla wasn't mine but drove it a lot))
1 Merc (SLK)
1 Vauxhall (aged Cavalier)
1 Porsche (Boxster S)
I wouldn't rule out having any of the marques again. By far the best, overall, have been Lexus and Toyota and I'd buy another of either without hesitation.
The Corolla was an E-Reg GTi and is still in the family and despte having not been looked after at all still starts first time and drives well.
The first LS400 has a few things wrong with it but the next two (the latter of which I still have) were perfect. Both the BX and Xantia leaked and the dealer could never fix it. Surprisingly, the XM had few problems although I only had it a year. The Merc was OK but not perfect and had some cheap bits in it. The Porsche is too new to tell.
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Oops I forgot the FIAT Barchetta. Sorry FIAT. Not sure I'd have another FIAT although I did enjoy the barchetta a lot when it worked.
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Brand loyalty starts at dealer, for me first impressions count. We now own 2 BMs (5 yr 528 SE, 6 month 318SE) and looking at Compact for daughter, I wish Jag salesman could see what he missed. If more of us walked away we would get better service from the people who take our money.
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My mum's first car was a VDP1100, bought used from a VW Franchise. Then an Allegro, bought new.
Followed by an Escort Ghia (second hand, privately), Fiesta 950, Fiesta 1.3 and now a Focus, last 3 all new. All Fords but each of them was from a different local dealer.
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I notice theres no Fords in there, nice!
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So far...
Austin x1
MG x1
Ford x1
Renault x1
Triumph x1
Rover x1
Jaguar x1
VW x1
Audi x1
so much for loyalty!
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I put 4 in 20 years, actually.
I've only ever had one car myself though.
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You're not referring to "The Ford's Prayer" by any chance.
The one which begins:
The Ford is my car
I shall not want another
It maketh me to lay down in wet places
Its rods and ends discomfort me
etc., etc..
Anyone remember the rest?
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For the record
Ford X 1 (£50,100E, fun to drive)
BMC/Leyland X4 (permanently replacing parts end to end & fighting tinworm)
Renault X1 (18TL & very comfortable)
VW X 8 (currently a Passat Diesel)
Getting annoyed with the various re-organisations of the VW dealers , may go Toyota next time.
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GWS
I think we should form a former owners club for 100Es to swap reminiscences. Oh those wonderful vacuum driven windscreen wipers, the 3-speed box, the rheostat-driven heater fan.....
Terry
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Mini (2, you could watch the rust move down the sill!)
Pug 104ZS (went like s**t off a shovel but ate head gaskets)
Pug 205 XLD
Citroen BX (2, 1 petrol 1 diesel)
Citroen Xantia
Xant and BX Diesel still current
So apart from the minis thats total loyalty to PSA.
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In order
Austin x2
Renualt x1
Citroen x7
MINI x1
It's a bit sad to not continue with the Citroens, but maybe the Pluriel will change all that when it's time to replace the Clio...
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Terry,
Mine was a 1961 Popular , £50 with a MOT, TP,F&T another £32. Rheostat burst into flames one day, wipers stopped when overtaking ... sure you experienced it all.
Fitted with Blue Peter remoulds 560 section at rear and 520 at front enabled opposite lock drifting on roundabouts.A pair of nice Riley 1.5 seats and a 13" Mountney steering wheel made me feel like Gerry Birrell at Ingliston Circuit.
Mind you a passenger tried to climb out claiming I was going to kill them. After the engine started using oil at 30 miles per pint fitted new pistons and got the big ends remetalled. Scraping them to fit was tricky.
Only lasted about a year before engine and gearbox became very rattley after 'cruising 'down to Cornwall from Edinburgh.Limped home with STP in the engine.
Combined with chassis rust the situation was terminal.
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Sounds only too familiar.
100E was my first car. £70 IIRC from a backstreet trader (although I didn't realise that at the time).
Ran out of oil late at night on way back from Wales and stopped
at every garage and drained the dregs from the "empties" in their bins.
Fuel consumption diabolical, although petrol was cheap then.
Uphill in rain, lift off throttle every hundred yards to give the wipers a chance.
Foundry moth was rampant, fibreglass was essential, and when the cills gave out completely it was time for a final run to the scrappies.
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Mine was a 1961 Pop as well, but cost £150 in 1967.
Blew the big ends down the A1 coming home from the Lakes, old Bill pulled me in to warn me what the noise meant. Nursed it home and fitted a recon engine (cost £75 trade price IIRC). Then I hit a "no waiting" sign head on and had to straighten out the front end - my first experience of Plastic Padding. Lasted me until the shockers threatened to break through the bonnet in about 1972. Drove it to the council dump and handed them the log book - they thought Christmas had come early. The replacement 105E was older (1959 vintage) - one of the originals, no heater!
Some people put a cocoa tin in the line from the vacuum chamber to the wipers to form a "reserve" tank. As Brian says, lift off the htrottle occasionally uphill to give a quick wipe.
Petrol was 4/3d a gallon, oil 99p a gallon, but then I only earned £35 a month!
Terry
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.....and Big L or Caroline on the radio....
...but at least in those days you could fix cars yourself: I once had a Ford 100E van's engine out all on my own, fitted new crankshaft, mains and pistons, reground valves, reassembled it all on the kitchen table, started 6 p.m. and got it all back and running by 3 a.m. When your car reached 30k miles, you bought a set of Hepolite oil control pistons, new valve spings, some grinding paste, a tube of Hermatite Red, new Vandervell big-end shells and a Payken gasket set: they were sold as a kit for most models for about 20 quid. If you didn't have grease under your fingernails you weren't a proper motorist.
But brand loyalty: Ford (US for preference), Mazda, Mitsubishi and Toyota. Owned or had company vehicles upwards of 40 over the years, and none of the above have ever given me any trouble whatsoever. I wouldn't set foot anywhere near or in anything French or Italian, and while I grudgingly admire German engineering I still can't forget what my old man went through D-Day and after.
Jags, Rovers and all that stuff are to me like a Bee-Gees reunion concert, they should have retired and left us with the memory of how it used to be.
Now I'm looking at the Koreans, hellish good value, neat stuff, nice prices and red-hot service (wher I live anyway).
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Austin A40 ferina----(versatile and reliable)
Mk1 cortina 1200-----(modified to a 1600e, great car)
Mk4 cortina 1600-----(rubbish car after the Mk1 my last ford)
Honda Accord 1.6-----(brilliant car 10 years before its time)
Metro 1.3s-----------(unreliable a dustbin,my last brit car)
Astra 1.3------------(after the metro a good car, no problems)
cavalier 1.6---------(90bhp engine,but poor paint finnish)
Toyota carina2-------(first car with a perfect paint finnish)
Primera mk1 2sgs-----(top model first car with abs)
primera mk2 2slx-----(reliable drivers car first car with aircon)
Audi 1.8t Quattro Avant-------(high build quality, after 3 years still drives like new, headlight bulb replaced after 18 months (no charge)and window switch after 2 years.
Would buy another toyota,nissan,honda or Audi
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Lost count of the cars but you tend to know the ones you would never touch again....
BMW - had one, pile of junk once the mileage got over 70k, lying arrogant dealer, wouldn't go near one at any price
Mercedes - apalling reliability of SWMBOs C class would make me nervous
Audi - delighted with the cars but the dealer is going steadily downhill and I'll take a lot of convincing to buy another having be loaned a new A4 Avant 1.9 Diesel, how do these useless models ever get built?
Peugeot - my thoughts would get me banned from the forum for ever. Just nuke the dealer.
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Any good experiences to report Fergus?
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yep... Fords tend to do what they say on the tin and I've not had a bad experience with the local dealer. Volvos were fine but the local dealer closed down.
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Having just turned 22 I have yet to make most of my car buying decisions, however so far my loyalty has been firmly placed. Dont know why, we never had them in the family.
Vauxhall Cavalier 2.0
Vauxhall Carlton 2.0
Vauxhall Omega 2.5V6
Early next year should see me staying loyal to the letter V but probably lumping olvo and S60 next to it due to Vauxhalls inability to keep up the residuals on their top models.
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Well my history is as follows:
Mini 850 6months
Escort Mk 2 12 months
Mini 1275 based Pimlico Kit car (convertable mini shape ith T bar) 12 months
Renault 11 (swapped the kit car for it) 5 years - best car I've ever owned
Fiat Regretta estate (bought from relative, ugh!) 5 years
Peugeot 309 SRi 3 years (bought from Dad) 0 to mach 1 in nanosecs
Citroen Xantia bought Feb 01 at Auction and still have, even faster than the pug.
My choice of car depends on what is available at any one time. If you adopt this approach, I think you get far better value for money.
When I got the Xantia I went to the auction with a list of models that I would be happy with, short listed the cars I was interested in and bid for the ones that no one else was interested in.
Have to say, I quite like the idea of the new Suzuki Grand Vitara 5dr though. Just got to find £14,000!
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Hugo
You forgot the rusty Peugeot 104!!!!
Charles ;-)
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Always favoured the blue oval in early life, after finishing my motor bike days, traded in my Triumph T25 for an
Imp van (1966)- boy what a disaster, but you learned alot.
Ford Corsair- great car, loads of space, but peelability paint job (saluki bronze)
Ford Cortina 1600E, amber gold- fantastic, spent a fortune on it but it looked and drove great.
TR5- kept for 15 years; easy to work on; didn't appreciate its rarity value until after I'd bought it.
Ford Mondeo 2.0 glx estate; supermarket purchase 8 years ago; reliable, maily for SWMBO.
Would like a Mondeo Tdci estate.
Mark
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