How much is a badge worth

[obi_waynne]

I had a Ferrari following me yesterday, I caught a glimpse in the mirror of the front and thought. What a nice car.

Then I got thinking, it actually wasn't stunningly nice. In fact it looked a bit wacky if I'm honest.

If the car had been a Hyundai or Kia with the same styling I would have dismissed it completely and never given it a second thought.

Is it the badge and prestige that does this? Does the build quality and performance reputation of Ferrari count for more than a badge?

Does this mean that there are great cars out there that are ignored because they have the wrong badge?

 

[bigbadjoe]

To a point yes. But don't forget, supercars have built up there reputation over many years and Ferrari for example, have never made a budget car. Never. All there cars have been stupidly priced as you as the buyer knows, you are getting the best car at the time it was made. So, when you see one in your mirror, you automatically think, wow, nice car, because when it was made, it was the best.

I don't listen to what people say about the 'cheap' cars made today. I know kia offer a 7 year warranty (on certain parts of the car) but this will not, EVER, tempt me to buy one. Even if it was as fast as an Enzo and as reliable as a Golf, I still wouldn't have one. I have heard people rave about them Octavia Skoda things about 5 years ago. I dismissed them and said they are a pile of rubbish. Now the poor sods who got them are now wishing they had listened to me as after 60K the fly wheels go, the door interior drops off, they rattle like hell and the dash's are lose, the clutch's go and the gearbox has gone. HAHAHA buy cheep, buy twice!

 

[thexav]

I guess its like designer clothes, usually you get good quality stuff that lasts. So you are paying for the product associated with the name.

Looks are only a small part of a car it needs to be fun and rewarding to drive.

 

[lutonmatt]

way i see it is there are only a few badges that are left now that you can say yep has to much money

people used to say oh i would like a bmw or merc now there are less mondeos on the road then bmw's and mercs
plus the fords are better made

only badge that i look at and think mmmm would like one are lexus and rollers and some yanks

 

[indiaman]

Badges used to count for something in the old days, a car was classified as good, reliable, dependable,sporty,expensive, solid build quality etc, by the badge. But alas, no longer, If you own a new Ferrari or any of the other exotica, they are just that, it only tells others that you have the money to possess one!that's all, all these new exotics are engineered such that you are at the mercies of the manufacturer/dealer for even minor repairs, it is as if the car was on loan to you!Pride of ownership like in the old days, is missing, Just my two bits worth, I know a lot of folks will disagree.

 

[MasterAuron]

Badges used to count for something in the old days, a car was classified as good, reliable, dependable,sporty,expensive, solid build quality etc, by the badge. But alas, no longer, If you own a new Ferrari or any of the other exotica, they are just that, it only tells others that you have the money to possess one!that's all, all these new exotics are engineered such that you are at the mercies of the manufacturer/dealer for even minor repairs, it is as if the car was on loan to you!Pride of ownership like in the old days, is missing, Just my two bits worth, I know a lot of folks will disagree.

Agree completely. Good to see some people still have their heads screwed on. The days of only German and Japanese cars being reliable and having excellent build quality have long gone. Just look at Audi vs. Seat or VW...you're looking at essentially the same cars, on the same platform, with a different body and badge, yet you'll pay more for the four rings, and the madness is...people still do! I would too probably but the difference is you can see the ones that buy it for the badge a mile off.

Matt is also absolutely correct, Ford's build quality lately is top notch and much better than the newer Beemers. Can't speak for Mercs as I avoid them like the plague.

 

[WLBjork]

I have heard people rave about them Octavia Skoda things about 5 years ago. I dismissed them and said they are a pile of rubbish. Now the poor sods who got them are now wishing they had listened to me as after 60K the fly wheels go, the door interior drops off, they rattle like hell and the dash's are lose, the clutch's go and the gearbox has gone. HAHAHA buy cheep, buy twice!

Why do they rave?

Because the Octavia is a VAG car. It's a Jetta (Golf) with a different badge.

It's more reliable than the other VAG models. Says so in a whole slew of Driver Satisfaction surveys. Auto Express, JD Power, Top Gear...

The flywheel you heard about? 10-1 that was a diesel. Do me a favour and investigate the lifetime of any dual-mass flywheel on a diesel - or ask HDi. Ditto the clutch - modern diesels will eat clutches if they aren't treated with respect due to the sheer quantity of torque they push out.

We have a fleet at work. They get abused regularly - usually 75+ miles a day on short journies. Usually have 3-4 passengers in, meaning high usage of rear doors. Probably don't get the high-quality synthetic oils they should do. Yet after at about 2 years of this, they are still in fine condition.

When I compare them to the Pug 406s that we used to have, there's no contest. At roughly the same age, the Pugs were in far worse interior condition.


Probably all an expensive car does is encourage you to drive more sensibly so that they seem to last longer, due to the lack of abuse that damages the components.

Kia's 7-year/100K warrenty is very good value, given that it covers pretty much everything other than the very quick to fail items. Other manufacturers could match this, but don't - which implies lack of confidence in the quality of their products.

 

[bigbadjoe]

Why do they rave?

Because the Octavia is a VAG car. It's a Jetta (Golf) with a different badge.QUOTE]


Have you seen that advert? Its just like a Golf! Lol. I know they are used as taxi cars, and I have not judged them on that. My old man is a Taxi driver. But at the end of the day, they are still a skoda, and they still break down, obviously if you own one, you will rave about it. I rave about my car, but I do know, that it will break down sometime. Im realistic. If you look at the older ones now, they all look dated and tired. Mind, this is just my opinion. They may verry well be grate cars, but I'll never find out.

 

[WLBjork]

I've owned 4 Skodas - the old Estelle, the Favorit and 2 Octavias.

In all that time I had 2 faults, both with the Estelle (which would have been about 15 years old at the time). First was the alternator was a bit naff, the second was that it had been modified to mount a competition carburettor and a fault with the modification meant that there was a serious oil leak, which eventually killed the engine. Sorry, I tell a lie. 3 problems - a plastic screw in the cooling system of the Favourite failed, causing a coolant leak.

I had as much trouble with the 405 and the Corolla that I had between the Favourit and the first Octavia. (405 had a fuel pump/injector component fail, Corolla had a wierd power/torque loss above a certain RPM range in second gear).

It can be as much luck as anything. Look at Toyota - couple of bad parts and they're looking a bit of a poor quality company at the moment.

 

[pikey motorsports]

I have heard people rave about them Octavia Skoda things about 5 years ago. I dismissed them and said they are a pile of rubbish. Now the poor sods who got them are now wishing they had listened to me as after 60K the fly wheels go, the door interior drops off, they rattle like hell and the dash's are lose, the clutch's go and the gearbox has gone. HAHAHA buy cheep, buy twice!

Not correct in my opinion/experience. I had an Octavia SDI followed by an Octavia TDI as taxis, the SDI had done 180k miles when i got it and over 240k miles by time i sold it, and in all that time all i had to replace was bottom arms ( couple thousand miles a week over speedbumps tends to do that though), and disposable items like pads and discs.

The TDI i bought with 150k on clock, and again had over 200k when i stopped taxi'ing, again, only needing general wear and tear items.

They are Fantastic cars, and are basically the same as VW Jetta/Audi A4, which are both very respected cars reliability wise.


As for Ferraris, some are just purely sold on the badge, others really are special.

 

[pgarner]

Not correct in my opinion/experience. I had an Octavia SDI followed by an Octavia TDI as taxis, the SDI had done 180k miles when i got it and over 240k miles by time i sold it, and in all that time all i had to replace was bottom arms ( couple thousand miles a week over speedbumps tends to do that though), and disposable items like pads and discs.

The TDI i bought with 150k on clock, and again had over 200k when i stopped taxi'ing, again, only needing general wear and tear items.

They are Fantastic cars, and are basically the same as VW Jetta/Audi A4, which are both very respected cars reliability wise.

have to agree but not on the a4 platform its more based towards the passat. but the octavia is the exact same as mine just slightly different body
flywheel goes along with the clutch - they are pretty good as long as you dont ride the clutch or up the torque by alot.
gearbox is only a problem on the 1.6 where it was riveted together rather than bolted
engines and gearboxes are the same right through the range - skoda, seat, vw and audi.

 

[Poddy]

I own a Kia as some of you may know and think is it a great wee car, i have the car remapped so there is extra stress on the engine, i have done over 30k miles on it since i got the car, the 1st 15k were very hard miles for the car, went through 3 sets of tyres to put a bit of perspective on it and the car hasn't skipped a beat, the only things other than the tyres that have been replaced are the pads, and three services (kia recomend 10k service intervals)