Manufacturers who deserve our support

[Eugene]

Not living States side I can only refer to Euro and Jap autos.

These are the manufacturers who provide a good range , quality and who push the envelope as regards innovation and tech. I'm particularly drawn towards the performance end of the spectrum as a preference

Honda
BMW
Mercedes
Audi
Alfa Romeo
Renault
Toyota
Subaru
Mitsubishi
VW
Skoda
Seat
Opel/Vauxhall

[Xeon SX]

and?

[swek]

So every single car maker it is?

[ryosuke]

skoda? seat?? opel???

[geeman]

Point?

sorry

[wooflepoof]

Originally Posted by geeman

Point?

sorry

Persoanlly i support Ferrari.

[Momentum57]

POOP

[SL65]

Originally Posted by ryosuke

skoda? seat?? opel???

[KaJuN]

I'm nominating Cadillac as well. They're finally moving away from the old people image with some really mean looking, performance-oriented cars.

[jetsetter]

Originally Posted by KaJuN

I'm nominating Cadillac as well. They're finally moving away from the old people image with some really mean looking, performance-oriented cars.

I'd say most of GM. Their products are improving.

[BlaRo]

Originally Posted by jetsetter

I'd say most of GM. Their products are improving.

Gee that's a surprise coming from you.

[jetsetter]

Originally Posted by BlaRo

Gee that's a surprise coming from you.

I didn't say all of GM. But at the moment they are doing better than Ford or Chrysler.

[Jacobfox]

Not that that's really difficult... Ford's in the shits and DC is really regretting their ask dr z campaign.

[Eugene]

So every single car maker it is?

Well not really. I purposely didn't mention the likes of Ferrari , Porsche and Aston Martin etc as they're all at the top end of the market and always deserve our support and admiration , even if it just menas druling over pics in car mags I also didn't mention smaller cottage industry manufacturers like Lotus , Noble , AC etc as again they're the ones which we all should look up to if you have an ounce of adrenalin coursing through your veins

But other marques which don't rate IMO are :-

Anything Korean
Anything Indian
Ford although they have recently introduced the Focus ST but the cosworth is long since dead as is the Cougar , Puma or anything else vaguely sporting. Mustang is an exception though but I see other manufacturers doing it better.
Fiat
Citroen
Peugeot
Saab
Volvo

On re reading my initial post I forgot to mention Mazda Now there's a company who by their extensive product lineup and mix of style , innovation , safety , tech and reliability show a true commitment to their customers

[Eugene]

skoda? seat?? opel???

You bet With their association with VW they have access to the same engines and platforms. In fact you can get a Golf GTi all dressed up in Seat/Skoda clothes for way less money than the VW counterpart.

Opel/GM again score a direct hit with new models coming on line extending from people carriers throught to hot hatche VXR models to their raw sports roadster the turbo VXR

[Koenig]

No offense, but....

[jakifirbec]

Whats wrong with volvo?

On what basis are you writing this? It sounds something on th lines of "i've heard that fiats are unreliable. Franch cars are crap, at least JC told me to think soo. Koreans have no soul, I think. My neighbour had a saab and it looked crappy" If you never owned or driven these cars there is no need to praise them or put them down.
Besides the companys that you said were good have very crappy produtcs. For instance VW - first hand experience - their build qualitiy is deteriorating so fast you would not believe - my father had three passats in a row - 2000, 2004, 2005 and each one was worse than the other. They acctually swaped the 2004 one after 25.000 km for the new one becouse it had more then twenty major breakdowns in less then five months. The new one is leaking water, windshield wipers don't work, it overheated after 50 km from the shop, turbine doesn't work as it suppose to.....
I've had a golf IV and nothing but problems with it.

Audi - i've had an a4 - non stop troubles with suspension....my very good friend had an allroad and got rid of it as soon as possible. Another friend had an a8 and never finished a trip (except to the mechanic where he always arrived without problem)

Renaults except for clio basically don't work and are crappy to drive - had one, my brother had one and a couple of friends had renaults - same story.

On the other hand i've had a fiat and i loved it. It was strangly reliable and if it did break down it was very cheap to repair and the drive was very good.

I have a volvo now and beside the renault engine there is nothing wrong with it.

So when i look at your list i don't think you know what your talking about.
If its about character, you made a wrong list.
Achievement -wrong list.
Reliability - wrong list.


And Skoda is far better in every way except brand recognition and "character" than volkswagen.

[Loomy]

No offence, Eugene, but how many of these cars have you driven? Are you even old enough to drive? It just seems you've read a few reviews of a couple cars and made up your mind about whats good and whats not.

And how you can put Seat on the good-list and Volvo in the bad-list is beyond me. Volvo makes great cars and always have. I've had first hand experience with them from a mid-80s 240GL to todays S40s and V70s. The 240 is still running like a clock and goes like a rocket despite being 21 years old. My 940, 13 years old, is no different. The 240 has broke down once in its life (when I drove it through a puddle the size of the atlantic ocean at 50mph), and don't even get me startet on the 960 which was - and still is - one of the best looking cars in its class.

JC even has a Volvo - the XC90, and since he's your hero you might remember what he said after the road test: "If I were to put my children anywhere, I'd put them in one of these *points at the XC90*".

[MadCow809]

skoda???

[bone]

Originally Posted by Eugene

You bet With their association with VW they have access to the same engines and platforms. In fact you can get a Golf GTi all dressed up in Seat/Skoda clothes for way less money than the VW counterpart.

more like a polo GTI...