Brand Loyalty Is Declining - Luxury Automakers

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Brian R Adams
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Re: Brand Loyalty Is Declining - Luxury Automakers

#31 Post by Brian R Adams »

WRT head gaskets, my sister had a 5-cyl Audi in the early '80s. On a trip from LA back home to Seattle, it lost the head gasket in Lone Pine on a 105-deg day. I borrowed a pickup and trailer to tow them to my home in Carson City. Sis and toddler flew home, brother-in-law and I tackled the repair. After getting the warped head milled, I went to the Audi dealer with a list of miscellany including a new thermostat. Presented with the OEM item I brought with me, the counterman raised an eyebrow and helpfully informed me "There was a factory recall on these". Oops.
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C J Murray
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Re: Brand Loyalty Is Declining - Luxury Automakers

#32 Post by C J Murray »

I Googled J D Power worst cars and read a few articles. The 3 year duration of the original owner records, if I read correctly, vary between 1.8 problems and 2.9 problems in the first 3 years of ownership. Modern cars are so reliable that to me it doesn't matter what you buy. Yes, Jaguar/Land Rover are poorly rated but maybe somebody who owns one will tell us if they like the experience anyway.
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Jon Schmid
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Re: Brand Loyalty Is Declining - Luxury Automakers

#33 Post by Jon Schmid »

Brian R Adams wrote: Sat Aug 20, 2022 6:10 pm I posted J.D. Power's dependability rankings (2021). Here are brand loyalty rankings:

Premium brands, top 6:

Lexus
Porsche
M-B
BMW
Audi
Acura

Mass Market, top 6:

Subaru
Toyota
Honda
RAM
Ford
Kia

So, Subarus may not be particularly dependable, but they certainly are well loved by their owners.
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FWIW my daughter's 2016 Subaru (or Suba-car as my 2 YO grandson calls it) Impreza just rolled over 100K miles--she drives it a lot. Basic maintenance is done per spec and no out of the ordinary (like head gaskets) problems whatsoever--yet... 8)

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C J Murray
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Re: Brand Loyalty Is Declining - Luxury Automakers

#34 Post by C J Murray »

The rating services are like the weather forecasters, "we're all gonna die"! To prove your value you must tell your customer that it's a dangerous world but "don't worry, we are here to help."

Actually, my first concern when buying a new car is the quality of the dealer. There are some very dishonest dealers out there. 1982 bought a new RX-7 and the dealer closed and kept everybody's tax money, except ours because I wrote a separate check to the state. 2000 I had an S2000 on order for months and when it came in the dealer hiked the price, I bought the Boxster S instead. Porsche dealer owner called me to bitch me out because I complained to Porsche that they should have top relays in their parts system for all the Boxster owners with their tops stuck half way open. Not a dealer problem and I didn't complain to Porsche about the dealer but I never bought another car from him. Bought a new Audi A6 and 3 dealer service departments were rude to my wife. She said let's try BMW. They were nice but I hated when I had to drive it. Subaru dealer was great so I bought 2 more cars from them. A good dealer makes all the difference.
'57 Speedster
'59 Sunroof
'60 Devin D Porsche Race Car
'63 Cabriolet "Norm"
'67 911 S Original Owner
'03 Ferrari 575M
'09 Smart Passion

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Brian R Adams
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Re: Brand Loyalty Is Declining - Luxury Automakers

#35 Post by Brian R Adams »

Called up and scolded by a car dealer. Now that's rich. They must have a line of wannabe customers snaking around the block - in the rain.
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C J Murray
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Re: Brand Loyalty Is Declining - Luxury Automakers

#36 Post by C J Murray »

Brian R Adams wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 6:41 pm Called up and scolded by a car dealer. Now that's rich. They must have a line of wannabe customers snaking around the block - in the rain.
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I actually knew the guy 20 years earlier when he was cheating with a woman that was a friend of a friend. He must have thought he could give me crap because he "knew" me.
'57 Speedster
'59 Sunroof
'60 Devin D Porsche Race Car
'63 Cabriolet "Norm"
'67 911 S Original Owner
'03 Ferrari 575M
'09 Smart Passion

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Brian R Adams
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Re: Brand Loyalty Is Declining - Luxury Automakers

#37 Post by Brian R Adams »

C J Murray wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 8:03 pm I actually knew the guy 20 years earlier when he was cheating with a woman that was a friend of a friend. He must have thought he could give me crap because he "knew" me.
Well, that puts a different spin on it, but it's still rich. I'll say this - car dealers, big and small, are a different breed. Most are what my Brit friends call "wide boys".
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Welcome to the era of policy-based evidence-making.

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Martin Benade
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Re: Brand Loyalty Is Declining - Luxury Automakers

#38 Post by Martin Benade »

Consumer Reports once a year publishes data by year on reliability and repairs of every car. That’s pretty real. I’ve also seen them rave about and highly recommend some cars, and mention that they are much less reliable than average (several VWs fell in that category) and I wondered why they’d recommend it.
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