Ford Or Vauxhall? Which Is Worse

[coppice]

donkmeister said:

But OP... you like the Mk1 Focus? Looks are subjective, but I'd say it is the ugliest Ford of all time, and I always thought the handling was a bit suspect. Yes, yes, lots of motoring journos raved about it but I never thought it felt any better than the other budget shopping cars.

I liked the looks but they aren't the signature of the Focus to me;I remember driving a Mk 1 and being utterly gobsmacked how good it was. No bad points - great steering , terrific ride,spot on driving position , control weighting sublime and absolutely no shortage of grip . The mediocrity , as with many Fords , came with the engines, which were fit for purpose but unremarkable - that and the fact that, like every Ford which preceded it and followed it, the cabin felt cheap and breakable - unlike VAG stuff which feels hewn from solid. Thing is the Ford stuff never lets you down but from my experience the VAG stuff can do .

[jamei303]

I've never gone out of my way to drive bad cars but of the three worst post-2005 cars I've driven, two have been Vauxhalls (the other was a Fiat).

[sorin1987]

I owned a 2009 Focus for about 3 years. Seemed a very solid car. Never had a problem with it but it was quite noisy at high speeds.
A friend had an Astra and it was clearly worse.
However this year I had a 2015 Opel Corsa 1.4 (which I believe is the same as Vauxhal Corsa) as a rental for 7 days while on holiday in Spain and I must say that it was not that bad.
If I would be forced to buy one or the other, with my money, I would go Ford though..

[chrisb92]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

That's a great story, but unfortunately for you I couldn't care less about the opinion of VAG in other countries, nor the opinion of it in this one to be honest.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, all the views I have on the A3 are personal and ones I have through actually driving the cars and owning them. How you can argue that is beyond me! I prefer the A3 to the Focus, you cannot in any way tell me I am wrong as it's as opinion.

[chrisb92]

Jag_NE said:

cheeky nandos tattoo sporting A3 diesel driving weekend millionaires, everything that is wrong with this country right now.

I think you need to get out more mate.

Not sure why, if true, you'd think that was what was wrong with this country? It sounds like you have a problem with people going to work and spending the money they earn on what they want? Very odd.

[donkmeister]

pablo said:

riiiiiight, Vauxhall "built" that did they?!? Sure its quite impressive at going very fast in a straight line for 440 yards but its hardly a Le Mans winning sports car is it!?

My tongue was firmly in my cheek of course! The GT40 is a legend as well as a big "eff you" to the establishment. But it's an unattainable halo car, not in the same ballpark as any other Ford. 107 GT40s, 106 Mclaren F1s. So very rare and expensive!

[Loyly]

Both Ford and Vauxhall make good cars. They also make some st ones. They've both made amazing cars in the past, though overall I reckon Ford have made the better cars and have the better history.

I prefer Ford's range at the moment but Vauxhall have made such great strides since the dark days of the Astra H and the Vectra C. They've sharpened their image and improved quality in all sectors. The Astra is now as good as the Golf and Focus again and it's not miles off being as good as a Civic either. FWIW, the cars and vans I drive at work are usually Ford and Vauxhall, I've done thousands of miles in both.

[iSore]

Loyly said:

Both Ford and Vauxhall make good cars. They also make some st ones. They've both made amazing cars in the past, though overall I reckon Ford have made the better cars and have the better history.

I prefer Ford's range at the moment but Vauxhall have made such great strides since the dark days of the Astra H and the Vectra C. They've sharpened their image and improved quality in all sectors. The Astra is now as good as the Golf and Focus again and it's not miles off being as good as a Civic either. FWIW, the cars and vans I drive at work are usually Ford and Vauxhall, I've done thousands of miles in both.

Yup. I thought the outgoing 2011 onwards Astra was a good car too - a bit over geared, but every bit as good as a Golf or Focus.

[s m]

Is this one in a series with BMW vs Mercedes, Porsche vs Ferrari and Toyota vs Honda all to come?

[Morningside]

I think Vauxhall certainly took Rovers crown.

Every Vauxhall I have owned or driven either stinks of oil or that classic overheating smell.

[willmagrath]

Vauxhall in my opinion are dog doo doo. My family have owned many and i've driven many. They are merely machines and unreliable ones at that.

Ford do have some build quality issues (I have recently bought a fiesta st), but the way they drive and look is 2nd to none.

[caelite]

They both sell a lot of white goods which Im sure not many of us here are fans of but both Vauxhall and Ford have performance brands which have residual values which far surpass those of many more 'Pistonheads' brands. VXR/SRi & ST/RS all sell very interesting, very capable models.

[coppice]

I wouldn't disparage the popular big sellers as 'white goods' but then praise the performance sub brand as though it's an entirely different car. The Fiesta ST is so good primarily because the raw material (90% of the original or more)is so good. Same with everything from an original Mini and its Cooper derivatives to Golf Gtis of every iteration- Mk 2 was a cracking car in any spec and Mk 3 not.

[skyrover]

Vauxhall/GM









Not counting SUV's/pickup trucks, all of which are the best performing/value for money products on the market and the largest aftermarket support.

Ford

[Monkeylegend]

willmagrath said:

Vauxhall in my opinion are dog doo doo. My family have owned many and i've driven many. They are merely machines and unreliable ones at that.

`

Genuine question, why did /does your family continue to buy them then if they are that bad to drive and so unreliable?

[stumpage]

SWoll said:

For a weekend toy absolutely, but a daily hack? Give me comfy seats, a good auto box, a good stereo/sat nav system and no rattles and I'm a happy man. My current hire Insignia offers non of these things, whereas my previous 5 series and soon to be delivered A6 do. Badges aren't always the reason.

However to get a decent stereo/ Nav in the 5 series you would have had to tick some costly option boxes. At least all the 5 series rattles come for free (well they do in my car). Also what is the list price of your hire Insignia compared to your soon to be delivered A6?

[ED209]

HedgeyGedgey said:

I've got vauxhall in my blood so I'm a tad biased, mainly the classics. All of the modern Ford dashboards look the same. You've got a brand new Focus that on the inside looks the same as a transit!

The transit i drive at works dash is nothing like the dash of my focus st.

[Alan_I_W]

As we know, Vauxhalls have the best heaters. Although when they burst into flames, I think it gets to intense.

[anonymous-user]

skyrover said:

Vauxhall/GM









Not counting SUV's/pickup trucks, all of which are the best performing/value for money products on the market and the largest aftermarket support.

Ford

Not really very relevant to the stuff they crimp off into the European market though really?

[Alan_I_W]

dme123 said:

Not really very relevant to the stuff they crimp off into the European market though really?

The only 2 cars from that list that are even sold here are the VXR8 and the Stang. No UK GM product is any good IMO. At least Ford appear to be made by car guys in some way.