Is badge snobbery still justified?
Discussion
Growing up through the 70's and 80's I was a aware of the vast difference in quality between the premium brands (BMW, Audi, Merc) vs the blue collar brands (Ford, Vauxhall, Rover). However, it seems the gap has shrunk considerably and there's no such thing as a truly terrible car sold in Europe now.
In many cases, the premium brands are arguably less interesting than the cheaper ones and I would for example be more interested by a Insignia VXR than an Audi S4.
So my question is, is badge snobbery still justified for anything other the most exotic cars?
In many cases, the premium brands are arguably less interesting than the cheaper ones and I would for example be more interested by a Insignia VXR than an Audi S4.
So my question is, is badge snobbery still justified for anything other the most exotic cars?
I think these days it is less how good a car is, as realistically an Insignia or Mondeo isnt a million miles off an A4, there is however a huge swathe of the population that just use cars as a pecking order, we all do it to a greater or lesser extent, like you say you cant get a truly terrible car, progress, regulations and people not putting up with crap Eastern Bloc type stuff any more.
People will pay a lot of money for status, the right badge and a nice interior, Audis make people feel good, worthy and important, Vauxhalls and Fords generally dont even though they do the same job. It does get silly, on our car list, those on lower grades can get a High spec Fiesta diesel, middling diesel Focus, an low end but 150 bhp diesel Insignia or the most basic diesel Audi A1 with not an option in sight, there are a few A1's appearing in the car park, our office brand fan has one, I suppose tax comes into it but I get the impression no others were considered, it had to be the Audi.
People will pay a lot of money for status, the right badge and a nice interior, Audis make people feel good, worthy and important, Vauxhalls and Fords generally dont even though they do the same job. It does get silly, on our car list, those on lower grades can get a High spec Fiesta diesel, middling diesel Focus, an low end but 150 bhp diesel Insignia or the most basic diesel Audi A1 with not an option in sight, there are a few A1's appearing in the car park, our office brand fan has one, I suppose tax comes into it but I get the impression no others were considered, it had to be the Audi.
Yes. I'd rather eat my child's poo straight from the nappy than own or drive a Kia or any "I can't afford a real 4x4 so I've bought this Kia and stuck a £400 private plate on it" type mobile.
Incidentally, my mate got an new Insignia diesel as a rental and it was really rather horrid. He took it back and got an Audi.
I can't see the VXR being any better quality wise.
Audi, Merc and BMW are a lot better quality wise than the run of the mill motors.
Those cars can easily do 200k without ageing,
Incidentally, my mate got an new Insignia diesel as a rental and it was really rather horrid. He took it back and got an Audi.
I can't see the VXR being any better quality wise.
Audi, Merc and BMW are a lot better quality wise than the run of the mill motors.
Those cars can easily do 200k without ageing,
wormus said:
Growing up through the 70's and 80's I was a aware of the vast difference in quality between the premium brands (BMW, Audi, Merc) vs the blue collar brands (Ford, Vauxhall, Rover).
Rover a 'blue collar' brand in the 70s? Or are you just one of these people who cannot identify individual marques such as Austin and Morris?I find badge snobbery has turned around, people going on about how boring the German cars are whereas the cars that used to be laughed at (Skoda, Hyundai, Kia) are really getting bloody good and getting complimented.
I was very surprised by the quality of an I40 recently, certainty no BMW but everything seemed well put together and it had a nice soft touch dash and it looks great.
I was very surprised by the quality of an I40 recently, certainty no BMW but everything seemed well put together and it had a nice soft touch dash and it looks great.
You can say the same with designer clothes etc you can buy cheap stuff that is just as good quality that is cheaper etc you pay extra for the design and the name. Not everybody that wants nice things is a snob or arrogant there is nothing wrong with enjoying the finer things in life, not everybody wants to drive mondeos and shop in primark. The true snobs are no better than the judgmental people who think everybody with designer clothes or premium brand cars are snobs.
I don't think most badge snobbery was ever justified either. But on a side note I think the way the mass public look at cars has changed drastically and only really recently it's taken a sharp change, I'm only young, but I have an idea that a good few years ago cars were few and far between, there wasn't such things as two and three car households, now it's commonplace, owning a car, any car would have been a big deal to most working families. There was the sliding scale of how desireable a car was, or how well it rated which still exists today, yes.
Nowadays I think alot of the public would care less that it has a kia badge on the front and feels like sitting in one of those little tykes cars, and more be interested that it has a 7 year warranty, and costs £30 VED a year, and that it gets them from A to B, alot of the public have no interest whatsoever in driving, partially why I think driving standards are so poor in this country (but that's a subject for another debate). Cars are white goods now, there to be used till they break then replaced like for like, which is probabley the reason for the nigh on death of most badge snobbery.
Don't make the msitake that badge snobs don't exist though, they do still exist, you seem them every day, in their poverty spec Audi or BMW crusing down the outside lane, when they could have a got a well specced alternative car which didn't have either of those badges on the front, but couldn't draw themselves to do that.
Nowadays I think alot of the public would care less that it has a kia badge on the front and feels like sitting in one of those little tykes cars, and more be interested that it has a 7 year warranty, and costs £30 VED a year, and that it gets them from A to B, alot of the public have no interest whatsoever in driving, partially why I think driving standards are so poor in this country (but that's a subject for another debate). Cars are white goods now, there to be used till they break then replaced like for like, which is probabley the reason for the nigh on death of most badge snobbery.
Don't make the msitake that badge snobs don't exist though, they do still exist, you seem them every day, in their poverty spec Audi or BMW crusing down the outside lane, when they could have a got a well specced alternative car which didn't have either of those badges on the front, but couldn't draw themselves to do that.
Edited by KingNothing on Tuesday 4th December 21:49
GTIR said:
Yes. I'd rather eat my child's poo straight from the nappy than own or drive a Kia or any "I can't afford a real 4x4 so I've bought this Kia and stuck a £400 private plate on it" type mobile.
Incidentally, my mate got an new Insignia diesel as a rental and it was really rather horrid. He took it back and got an Audi.
I can't see the VXR being any better quality wise.
Audi, Merc and BMW are a lot better quality wise than the run of the mill motors.
Those cars can easily do 200k without ageing,
So in answer to the OP's question, badge snobbery is alive and well.Incidentally, my mate got an new Insignia diesel as a rental and it was really rather horrid. He took it back and got an Audi.
I can't see the VXR being any better quality wise.
Audi, Merc and BMW are a lot better quality wise than the run of the mill motors.
Those cars can easily do 200k without ageing,
mph said:
GTIR said:
Yes. I'd rather eat my child's poo straight from the nappy than own or drive a Kia or any "I can't afford a real 4x4 so I've bought this Kia and stuck a £400 private plate on it" type mobile.
Incidentally, my mate got an new Insignia diesel as a rental and it was really rather horrid. He took it back and got an Audi.
I can't see the VXR being any better quality wise.
Audi, Merc and BMW are a lot better quality wise than the run of the mill motors.
Those cars can easily do 200k without ageing,
So in answer to the OP's question, badge snobbery is alive and well.Incidentally, my mate got an new Insignia diesel as a rental and it was really rather horrid. He took it back and got an Audi.
I can't see the VXR being any better quality wise.
Audi, Merc and BMW are a lot better quality wise than the run of the mill motors.
Those cars can easily do 200k without ageing,
Edited by Alucidnation on Tuesday 4th December 22:01
GTIR said:
Yes. I'd rather eat my child's poo straight from the nappy than own or drive a Kia or any "I can't afford a real 4x4 so I've bought this Kia and stuck a £400 private plate on it" type mobile.
Incidentally, my mate got an new Insignia diesel as a rental and it was really rather horrid. He took it back and got an Audi.
I can't see the VXR being any better quality wise.
Audi, Merc and BMW are a lot better quality wise than the run of the mill motors.
Those cars can easily do 200k without ageing,
You forgot to end with 'if looked after by Audi at a premium price throughout those 200k" inc same parts that fit Skoda/VW costing more in the Audi dealership to buy and probabably fit.Incidentally, my mate got an new Insignia diesel as a rental and it was really rather horrid. He took it back and got an Audi.
I can't see the VXR being any better quality wise.
Audi, Merc and BMW are a lot better quality wise than the run of the mill motors.
Those cars can easily do 200k without ageing,
GTIR said:
Yes. I'd rather eat my child's poo straight from the nappy than own or drive a Kia or any "I can't afford a real 4x4 so I've bought this Kia and stuck a £400 private plate on it" type mobile.
Incidentally, my mate got an new Insignia diesel as a rental and it was really rather horrid. He took it back and got an Audi.
I can't see the VXR being any better quality wise.
Audi, Merc and BMW are a lot better quality wise than the run of the mill motors.
Those cars can easily do 200k without ageing,
"Really Rather Horrid", but if it had an Audi badge on it would have been magnificent and wonderful ?Incidentally, my mate got an new Insignia diesel as a rental and it was really rather horrid. He took it back and got an Audi.
I can't see the VXR being any better quality wise.
Audi, Merc and BMW are a lot better quality wise than the run of the mill motors.
Those cars can easily do 200k without ageing,
What about Mercs from ten years ago, they dont do 200k, they rot well before then and they dotn exactly cover themselves in glory in the reliability indexes, Japanese cars are where it is at for reliability. I think a lot of the quality with German cars is perceieved rather than actually being streets ahead of anything else, people seem to brush it under the carpet if something desirable blots its copybook but if it is something more mundane they shout it from the rooftops, think this was part of Rovers problem, people bought them but liked to distance themselves to a certain extent, they liked to point out how they were worthy of something much much better than a mere Rover.
I'd say the clustering of performance of many modern diesels has taken the shine off some of the premium brands. Less than 10 years ago if you wanted to get to 60 in 8 seconds you needed something with a premium badge, now an Astra diesel can do that.
'Good enough' performance has become much more attainable, not the same need to look at a German badge as their once was.
'Good enough' performance has become much more attainable, not the same need to look at a German badge as their once was.
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