What is the most overrated car manufacturer?
Discussion
VAG. People rave about how they're so reliable and look so good when the only VW's I like are the Scirocco and the Phaeton. Audi, I don't actually like any of their cars and they're all so well marketed it makes people believe they're the muts nuts. I'd rather save 5k, get a ford with just as much power and equipment and have a nice holiday.
I think that Fiat/Alfa are always branded as unreliable, even their newer stuff and most of the people who claim they're rot boxes that always break down have never sat in one let alone owned one; and are the sort of people who get a VAG car for the badge.
Over-rated is also Ferrari, they're all vulgar and ostentatious and people think they're beautiful when they're not. I'd rather own a Dacia than a Ferrari.
Aston being over-rated is utter balls IMO.
I think that Fiat/Alfa are always branded as unreliable, even their newer stuff and most of the people who claim they're rot boxes that always break down have never sat in one let alone owned one; and are the sort of people who get a VAG car for the badge.
Over-rated is also Ferrari, they're all vulgar and ostentatious and people think they're beautiful when they're not. I'd rather own a Dacia than a Ferrari.
Aston being over-rated is utter balls IMO.
Mercs. I just don't get it. They can't make a manual gearbox, the big saloons look as though they are designed for chauffeurs and the 2 seaters are the sort of soft wallowy nonsense your hairdresser would drive. Yes I like a black edition but then that's taking it to the very extreme. And have you wandered around a merc dealership? I've never seen so much money being asked for anything less desirable.
900T-R said:
Overrated by the general public - Audi, by a country mile. Very average dynamics and very average quality, too, if you look past the thin veneer of its interior appointments. Built from generic VAG Lego blocks, no bespoke engineering going on whatesoever until you reach the highest echelons in the range. The vast majority is being powered by rather undistinghuished and unrefined four banger diesels from the Volkswagen parts bin. Eight or nine out of ten they are being specced with the 'S-Line' bling package containing huge gangstarapper wheels that downgrade the already rather average ride and handling qualities to diabolical. The few models that aren't being wholly outclassed by their BMW and Mercedes counterparts, are still devoid of character or interest.
Yet the public at large seems to think Audis are at the zenith of automotive sophistication...
100% this in my opinion, I have looked at Audi twice over the space of six years and felt dissapointed both times, I certainly didn't seem like they were worth the asking price when the numbers were crunched, one was an A3 petrol back in 2008 and I looked at an A3 diesel Sportback (sport, lol) and an A5 diesel (a bit left field agaisnt what I wanted but I thought it'd be worth a look)in 2013.Yet the public at large seems to think Audis are at the zenith of automotive sophistication...
The fit and finish seemed good (but not excellent), they weren't any better to drive than their market rivals and I now simply don't see the point over say, a Skoda. Audis marketing team must be the best in the business though because here in Aberdeen you can't move for 'em.
As an aside, in both cases, I bought a Volvo instead, both based on the humble previous generation Ford Focus, a C30 first, which over five years and 80,000 miles never missed a beat, it was reliable, well built, had superb seats, an excellent stereo and it looked fantastic - I now have a diesel V40 and that too is excellent, in my opinion it was better than the Audi I squared it up against in every way, including the cost. The whol experience, twice, left meh with a feeling of "well, what is the fuss", basically.
shoestring7 said:
dme123 said:
[ VW have been trying to crack the US market for decades with occasional breakthroughs in sales let down by s
t quality very quickly becoming apparent .
So 5.5m Beetles sold in the US over nearly four decades was a failed attempt to crack the US market then?t quality very quickly becoming apparent .SS7
VW has struggled in the US since the '80s. Even now and with the benefit of new, non-unionised factories in the South the VW brand still loses money. VAG only manages to make money in the US thanks to Audi. Overall their operating profit margin there is 2%, compared to the >10% made by Toyota.
chrispmartha said:
Not sure why there is so much BMW 'hate' on this site,
Errrrm, because they're overrated maybe? And every a****le in a one series or 3 and 5 series X20d thinks they're in an //M (seriously, wtf is the "//" in type all about???) car. As mentioned before, I was unfortunate enough to have a 320d dumped upon me as a
As for the "i" cars, now if they're not overrated then I don't know WTF is.
Axionknight said:
100% this in my opinion, I have looked at Audi twice over the space of six years and felt dissapointed both times, I certainly didn't seem like they were worth the asking price when the numbers were crunched, one was an A3 petrol back in 2008 and I looked at an A3 diesel Sportback (sport, lol) and an A5 diesel (a bit left field agaisnt what I wanted but I thought it'd be worth a look)in 2013.
The fit and finish seemed good (but not excellent), they weren't any better to drive than their market rivals and I now simply don't see the point over say, a Skoda. Audis marketing team must be the best in the business though because here in Aberdeen you can't move for 'em.
As an aside, in both cases, I bought a Volvo instead, both based on the humble previous generation Ford Focus, a C30 first, which over five years and 80,000 miles never missed a beat, it was reliable, well built, had superb seats, an excellent stereo and it looked fantastic - I now have a diesel V40 and that too is excellent, in my opinion it was better than the Audi I squared it up against in every way, including the cost. The whol experience, twice, left meh with a feeling of "well, what is the fuss", basically.
I'll join the fray and stick the boot into Audi. That was the first manufacturer I thought of when I saw the thread title. A triumph of marketing over substance if ever there was one. At least Skoda have a sense of honesty about them. In my business I have a lot of friends that work with Audi engineers and they don't rate the quality of their engineering at all. The fit and finish seemed good (but not excellent), they weren't any better to drive than their market rivals and I now simply don't see the point over say, a Skoda. Audis marketing team must be the best in the business though because here in Aberdeen you can't move for 'em.
As an aside, in both cases, I bought a Volvo instead, both based on the humble previous generation Ford Focus, a C30 first, which over five years and 80,000 miles never missed a beat, it was reliable, well built, had superb seats, an excellent stereo and it looked fantastic - I now have a diesel V40 and that too is excellent, in my opinion it was better than the Audi I squared it up against in every way, including the cost. The whol experience, twice, left meh with a feeling of "well, what is the fuss", basically.
kambites said:
On Pistonheads, I think I'd put Porsche and BMW equal first. Not because I think they make bad cars, on the contrary they tend to make the best cars in their respective sectors by some margin. However, the gap to their competitors is nowhere near as wide as many people make out.
The best manufacturers/cars almost always tend to be the most overrated, in my experience; and the worst often the most underrated.
I agree. In which case...The best manufacturers/cars almost always tend to be the most overrated, in my experience; and the worst often the most underrated.
Edited by kambites on Wednesday 29th October 10:05
Most over-rated: Ferrari
Most under-rated: Ssangyong
Beer Man said:
Errrrm, because they're overrated maybe? And every a****le in a one series or 3 and 5 series X20d thinks they're in an //M (seriously, wtf is the "//" in type all about???) car.
As mentioned before, I was unfortunate enough to have a 320d dumped upon me as apunishment company car and it was utterly dreadful. My old man has an X3 which is, quite probably, THE worst car in the world. My younger bro bought a 2005 M3, new, which spent more than two thirds of its short life at the local rip off merchants (dealer) and over the last few years travelling over 100k miles per year I saw more broken down BMs on the hard shoulders of our motorway network than ANY other make of car. Reliable? Well built? Well engineered? My arse.
As for the "i" cars, now if they're not overrated then I don't know WTF is.
You seem rather angry, over a car manufacturer, why?As mentioned before, I was unfortunate enough to have a 320d dumped upon me as a
As for the "i" cars, now if they're not overrated then I don't know WTF is.
the i cars may be over rated, although I would imagine you haven't driven them so not sure how you're making that statement, but they aren't bland are they.
chrispmartha said:
You seem rather angry, over a car manufacturer, why?
the i cars may be over rated, although I would imagine you haven't driven them so not sure how you're making that statement, but they aren't bland are they.
because they're sthe i cars may be over rated, although I would imagine you haven't driven them so not sure how you're making that statement, but they aren't bland are they.
te and overrated. Are you not getting the point of this thread????And no, I have absolutely no wish to drive either of the i cars.
Beer Man said:
because they're ste and overrated. Are you not getting the point of this thread????
And no, I have absolutely no wish to drive either of the i cars.
Again not sure why you're so angry, and of course I'm getting the point of the thread. An the thread is so predictable i the responses, so I'm just questioning them. And overrated doesn't automatically mean its crap.te and overrated. Are you not getting the point of this thread????And no, I have absolutely no wish to drive either of the i cars.
Whether you have a wish to drive an i3 or i8 is totally irrelevant to the fact that they are not bland.
Reading through this thread make me wonder how out of touch a lot of people are.
Let's take Audi and BMW as an example, as they seem to be catching a lot of flack here.
They sell a lot of cars. They do this because they make cars that a lot of people want to buy. These cars may not be the last word in dynamics or build quality, but ask yourself who is buying the cars and what they will be used for?
Why make an A4 handle like an elise when it will spend 99% of its time trudging up the motorway? Why give a 1 series an advanced, high revving petrol masterpiece, when most of its buyers want to surf round on a surge of diesel torque and get reasonably high MPG?
These cars may not be what you or I want, but evidently they are what most people want, and to that end, from a business point of view, I think Audi and BMW are doing an excellent job.
When I read comments that Audi are a marketing company who happen to make cars, I think that is a massive compliment to how they have evolved their business in the last 15 or so years.
Let's take Audi and BMW as an example, as they seem to be catching a lot of flack here.
They sell a lot of cars. They do this because they make cars that a lot of people want to buy. These cars may not be the last word in dynamics or build quality, but ask yourself who is buying the cars and what they will be used for?
Why make an A4 handle like an elise when it will spend 99% of its time trudging up the motorway? Why give a 1 series an advanced, high revving petrol masterpiece, when most of its buyers want to surf round on a surge of diesel torque and get reasonably high MPG?
These cars may not be what you or I want, but evidently they are what most people want, and to that end, from a business point of view, I think Audi and BMW are doing an excellent job.
When I read comments that Audi are a marketing company who happen to make cars, I think that is a massive compliment to how they have evolved their business in the last 15 or so years.
f1nn said:
Reading through this thread make me wonder how out of touch a lot of people are.
Let's take Audi and BMW as an example, as they seem to be catching a lot of flack here.
They sell a lot of cars. They do this because they make cars that a lot of people want to buy. These cars may not be the last word in dynamics or build quality, but ask yourself who is buying the cars and what they will be used for?
Why make an A4 handle like an elise when it will spend 99% of its time trudging up the motorway? Why give a 1 series an advanced, high revving petrol masterpiece, when most of its buyers want to surf round on a surge of diesel torque and get reasonably high MPG?
These cars may not be what you or I want, but evidently they are what most people want, and to that end, from a business point of view, I think Audi and BMW are doing an excellent job.
When I read comments that Audi are a marketing company who happen to make cars, I think that is a massive compliment to how they have evolved their business in the last 15 or so years.
Agreed.Let's take Audi and BMW as an example, as they seem to be catching a lot of flack here.
They sell a lot of cars. They do this because they make cars that a lot of people want to buy. These cars may not be the last word in dynamics or build quality, but ask yourself who is buying the cars and what they will be used for?
Why make an A4 handle like an elise when it will spend 99% of its time trudging up the motorway? Why give a 1 series an advanced, high revving petrol masterpiece, when most of its buyers want to surf round on a surge of diesel torque and get reasonably high MPG?
These cars may not be what you or I want, but evidently they are what most people want, and to that end, from a business point of view, I think Audi and BMW are doing an excellent job.
When I read comments that Audi are a marketing company who happen to make cars, I think that is a massive compliment to how they have evolved their business in the last 15 or so years.
Well, apart from your point about the 1 series, they have done exactly what you said.
f1nn said:
Reading through this thread make me wonder how out of touch a lot of people are.
Let's take Audi and BMW as an example, as they seem to be catching a lot of flack here.
They sell a lot of cars. They do this because they make cars that a lot of people want to buy. These cars may not be the last word in dynamics or build quality, but ask yourself who is buying the cars and what they will be used for?
Why make an A4 handle like an elise when it will spend 99% of its time trudging up the motorway? Why give a 1 series an advanced, high revving petrol masterpiece, when most of its buyers want to surf round on a surge of diesel torque and get reasonably high MPG?
These cars may not be what you or I want, but evidently they are what most people want, and to that end, from a business point of view, I think Audi and BMW are doing an excellent job.
You know the meaning of 'overrated'? Like in 'providing a perfectly adequate, but undistinghuished product at a healthy premium compared to the just-as-adequate competitors and succeed in having people believe it's actually worth the premium'? Let's take Audi and BMW as an example, as they seem to be catching a lot of flack here.
They sell a lot of cars. They do this because they make cars that a lot of people want to buy. These cars may not be the last word in dynamics or build quality, but ask yourself who is buying the cars and what they will be used for?
Why make an A4 handle like an elise when it will spend 99% of its time trudging up the motorway? Why give a 1 series an advanced, high revving petrol masterpiece, when most of its buyers want to surf round on a surge of diesel torque and get reasonably high MPG?
These cars may not be what you or I want, but evidently they are what most people want, and to that end, from a business point of view, I think Audi and BMW are doing an excellent job.
Yes, it's a perfectly viable business case - at least until people twig that they're looking at the emperor's new clothes. But there's still nothing wrong or contrary about calling out the product as 'overrated' - which it patently is.
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