Are German cars still cool?

[bloomen]

I have no feelings about German cars whatsoever. They're just an omnipresent appliance like a Ford Mondeo or dishwasher.

If you think you've 'arrived' climbing into your A4 that any can get for a few hundred quid a month then I applaud you. I would not feel that way.

[TheJimi]

I've never before drawn parallels with people and cars but the sheer amount of utter wkers I see in my gym who drive Audis & BMWs.

[foxbody-87]

German cars are cool if you’re a woman with an orange face who likes uploading pouty-face photos to Facebook, or a man with a transplanted neck beard, undersize t-shirt to show off guns, and also likes uploading pouty-face photos to Facebook. That is the new demographic for German cars I’m afraid.

[TooMany2cvs]

bloomen said:

I have no feelings about German cars whatsoever. They're just an omnipresent appliance like a Ford Mondeo

That's because a Mondeo is a German car.

[bloomen]

TooMany2cvs said:

That's because a Mondeo is a German car.

That'll do it then.

There's many a cool older German car. The modern stuff is an interchangeable blur for me. None of them grab my tits in the way an Alfa Quadrifoglio does.

[ericmcn]

German cars are too common now and seeing half a dozen of them at every second set of lights is not very cool at all, fantastic marketing however to brainwash so many people

http://www.jdpower.com/press-releases/2018-uk-vehi...

[V8RX7]

TheJimi said:

the sheer amount of utter wkers I see in my gym

EFA

You'll find more in a gym than in any make of car.

[Red 4]

Wiesmann.

German.

Cool.

Am I doing this wrong ?

[LuS1fer]

TooMany2cvs said:

That's because a Mondeo is a German car.

Built in Belgium, Russia or Spain.

[TheJimi]

V8RX7 said:

TheJimi said:

the sheer amount of utter wkers I see in my gym

EFA

You'll find more in a gym than in any make of car.

Nope, Audi & BMW are grossly over represented here, in the situation I refer.

By a long shot. Even if you narrow it down to the fkwits parking in the disabled bays, it's overwhelmingly Audis.

[LuS1fer]

Red 4 said:

Wiesmann.

German.

Cool.

Am I doing this wrong ?

Yes. Liquidated in 2014 and aping the design of 50s British sports cars.

[TooMany2cvs]

LuS1fer said:

TooMany2cvs said:

That's because a Mondeo is a German car.

Built in Belgium, Russia or Spain.

Yeh, and?

Many of the things Joe Public thinks are "German" cars sold in the UK are built in the US, South Africa, Hungary, Slovakia, Spain etc etc. Factory location has nowt to do with "car nationality" now.

Ford Europe are headquartered in Koln. Ford's European products are German cars, just as much as Mercs and BMWs and VWs and Audis and Opels (even when the badges are swapped to say Vauxhall) are.

And before you say "But parent company"... If you drive out of a UK Mini dealer in your new Countryman, are you driving a British, Dutch or German car? If you drive out of a LR dealer in a new Disco5 in a year or so's time, are you driving a British, Slovak or Indian car?

[C70R]

LuS1fer said:

C70R said:

German brands are still hugely aspirational for the masses, so that makes them "cool" by any definition you can think of...

They aspire to them to impress others although the sad truth is that most people are not impressed by the local "RentaWagen" fraternity. I suspoect more would nod approvingly at a Volvo.

A bit like a gold medallion or a signet ring and heavy jewellery. Never impresses anyone...

You're speaking on behalf of PH, who are a societal minority. German brands still attract a premium, are still viewed as 'expensive' and 'luxury', and are still considered aspirational as a result.
You can trot out as many "Rentawagon" cliches as it takes to convince yourself, but you're pretty much ignoring society in general...

[TheJimi]

Aye, this.

For me, and I suspect most of us on PH, an S-Line Audi or an AMG-line Merc wouldn't even register on the radar.

Yet, outside of full-on petrolhead circles, these cars are most definitely aspirational.

[C70R]

TheJimi said:

Aye, this.

For me, and I suspect most of us on PH, an S-Line Audi or an AMG-line Merc wouldn't even register on the radar.

Yet, outside of full-on petrolhead circles, these cars are most definitely aspirational.

And, if we're being honest with ourselves, your "full-on petrolhead circles" definition only represents a single-digit percentage of the population at most.
Nobody outside of PH sneers at people who lease or finance their cars. In fact, nobody outside of PH really gives a hoot how people pay for stuff - because they aren't a bunch of judgemental narcissists who can hide behind an anonymous username.

[TheJimi]

Yeah, I don't get the whole sneering at whatever payment option someone has chosen.

Who cares?

That said, I'm totally happy sneering at the swinging dicks parking their German Whips in the disabled spaces at the gym.

Edited by TheJimi on Wednesday 1st August 11:29

[Ilovejapcrap]

Haltamer said:

https://youtu.be/YQziAomUCT4

Need I say more?

WTF !!! jeeze

[Red 4]

LuS1fer said:

Red 4 said:

Wiesmann.

German.

Cool.

Am I doing this wrong ?

Yes. Liquidated in 2014 and aping the design of 50s British sports cars.

Ah, but Wiesmann are making a comeback.

https://jalopnik.com/wiesmann-remember-wiesmann-no...

Aping 50's car design ? On the outside, maybe.
The rest is very modern.

Is an Eagle E-type uncool ?

[C70R]

TheJimi said:

Yeah, I don't get the whole sneering at whatever payment option someone has chosen.

It's a PH thing. I don't think I've ever asked a friend how they paid for their car, let alone passed judgement on them.

[anonymous-user]

TheJimi said:

Yeah, I don't get the whole sneering at whatever payment option someone has chosen.

Edited by TheJimi on Wednesday 1st August 11:29

I actually look up to those who take out PCPs, as clearly they are far richer than I am as most of these are a far more expensive way of purchasing.

Whatever happened to buying older used ? Well, looking at the JD Power survey you don't want to be stuck with a German car out of warranty. I think I'd probably buy something used like an old Lexus, "premium" badge but actually might be reliable.