Your least favourite marque?

[carlo]

Thought I’d start a thread on this; what is your least favourite marque?There are a few I’ve never got on with. Most Vauxhalls seem like dogs to me but at least they’re fairly honest, VWs leave me cold but then what about all the K70s, 411s and Santanas? No, the marque that does it for me is Honda. I’ve never liked their slightly poseur image, or their engines devoid of any torque which need to be revved to 8,000 to get any power out of them. I don’t like the fact they seem to see themselves as a cut above other Japanese manufacturers, despite pushing out cars which are more expensive but no better to drive than your average Toyota or Nissan. All their cars seem to ride like carthorses and not many seem to handle particularly well either, except maybe the sports ones. And they even managed to make BL more boring than they were, which was some feat. The only Honda I’ve ever liked was the air cooled 1300, and that was only because it was a flop and so more interesting. I’ve had and enjoyed a few Toyotas, Nissans and Mazdas but I can’t ever see myself in a Honda.Rant over.

[dollywobbler]

Hmmm. This is a bit negative. Surely we love all things shite and often shit too?I love Hondas. My 1990 Civic was an absolute blast. No modern engine has torque at all and wringing the neck of the twin-carb 1.4 engine was nothing short of insane fun, so it was all win. The low driving position was more sportscar than hatchback too. Bought it for £195 too. Excellent.I don't like Fords though. I fail to see why people get so excited about them. Ford never once built a car with passion or enthusiasm - they were only interested in pleasing the accountants, even with the performance models. It took companies like Lotus to breath anything like fun into them, and that just lead to a halo effect on lesser models that was thoroughly undeserved. A Mk1 Escort? I'd rather have an Avenger.

[Father Ted]

I cant say there is anything I would genuinly not drive, or dislike so much I would go out of my way not to buy one - except possibly a Pug 206.

[Rocket88]

Fords [british ones, anyway] don't do it for me either.Had a few American Fords, which I liked, and 4 Ford Tuanus's [Tauni?] When I was in Germany in the seveties, all of which were great, since then I've had a Mk4 Zodiac Estate[nice looking car, but an mpg nightmare] and a Mk3 Cortina[f*cked void bushes etc etc] I'd still fancy a 2.8 Capri though.

[VWPowered]

to be honest its nt really marues i'll drive anything me, more anything after 1991

[Mr Lobster]

Don't think there is any marque that I really don't like. Not a big Vauxhall fan but there are certainly some Vauxhalls that appeal although not any of the current range. I've surprised myself a bit this week as I'm currently driving a new Kia Rio and am actually quite liking it!Actually, can't say I've got much love for anything ever produced by SsangYong.

[Guest]

Hang on, Honda have a slightly poseur image? When did that happen? I thought it was for old biddies, which suited me. And my 1981 Accord has lovely torque and rides great to be honest, soz! I'm delighted with it.I can't really say I hate any marque, because I like crap cars. However, if I had to pick a least favourite at the moment, it would be Ferrari - their current range seems to be produced entirely for rat-faced drug dealers, but I also hate all their tacky licensed tat. Can't afford a Ferrari? Buy a Ferrari jacket. I know the other makes knock up licensed crap (the best I've ever seen was a Proton Jumbuck baseball cap), but the Ferrari stuff is taken seriously. Imagine cruising around in your super-cool Ferrari 400 and seeing some bulbous knuckledragger kitted out in his "Ferrari outfit" plodding down the street. Horrendous.

[reallyloud]

Every marque has something going for it, and I don't think I would discount a car because it has the wrong badge - after all there's nothing in a VW, Skoda or Seat these days. I know people who would refuse to drive a Skoda, simply due to the past reputation - but they generally tend to be people who know nothing about cars (or think they do) I would however avoid specific models - as mentioned before the Peugeot 206 is one - only some of the engines have any merit, the rest is of the car leaves me cold. Kia picanto and Daewoo Matiz (usual hire car fodder) are gutless and without charm. The Volvo 440 is a dreary unrewarding experience. I have been surprised by some cars, which I never thought I would like - the 90's Metro was quite good fun to drive, a vauxhall belmont with a 1600 was hoot and the bottom of the range basic spec Peugeot 106 1.1 proved to be one of the most entertaining cars I've ever had. A friend had a Rover 600 for a bit and that was quite refined. I'm also very impressed with the current Panda.

[pogweasel]

Agreed. Most manufacturers tend to have periods when they produce good stuff and then descent into dross nailed together by apes, or vice versa, so it's hard to dicsount brands as a whole. I find Hirsts synopsis of Ferrari as a brand quite apt though, brilliant cars driven by cretins and worshipped by mongs - unfortunatley Aston has been headed in the same direction for a few years.

[Justin Case]

Agreed. Most manufacturers tend to have periods when they produce good stuff and then descent into dross .

Saab?

[Torsten2001]

Anything German and newer than 2000On a personal note I would love to see BMW suffer most

[Guest]

Despite the fact that they will no doubt be considered solid gold shite in a few years' time, I wouldn't be too bothered if every last Perodua was slung in the crusher tomorrow.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Renault. 99% of modern French cars are junk, but Renault crap is just really offensive. Followed by Peugeot Citroen as horrid throw awy rubbish and way behind that is Voxhall.I'm not a Honda fan either. Civics are mainly driven by spotty little wankers and he rest......I couldn't even tell you what a current Accord looks like.For me, the manufacturer that can do no wrong is Ford. They're making a really excellent range of cars right now with build quality as good as you can reasonably expect, and they're so good to drive.

[fordpoplier]

I waited 45 minutes to sit in a Ferrari at a motor show in about 1990 and banged my head as I was getting in. Refused to buy one on principle ever since.

[dollywobbler]

Ford? Good to drive? The last Fiesta - dreadful. Biggest pile of poo even Ford have made. Current Focus - horrible. It's like driving around in a sofa that you've fallen down the back of. Previous Mundano was quite good, but a bit barge like and they don't age well. Even a mere 80k miles seems quite enough for them to feel like everything has worn out.Peugeot lost it after the 306, which was a cracking car. Citroen after the BX/XM went very wrong. I quite like Renaults though. Saw a stunning Mk1 Laguna in bright yellow the other day. Looked excellent. My Dad had one in black and, like his two Scenics, very little went wrong. They're not all bad.

[gallondrunk]

.

[Guest]

Ford? Good to drive? The last Fiesta - dreadful. Biggest pile of poo even Ford have made. Current Focus - horrible. It's like driving around in a sofa that you've fallen down the back of. Previous Mundano was quite good, but a bit barge like and they don't age well. Even a mere 80k miles seems quite enough for them to feel like everything has worn out.Peugeot lost it after the 306, which was a cracking car. Citroen after the BX/XM went very wrong. I quite like Renaults though. Saw a stunning Mk1 Laguna in bright yellow the other day. Looked excellent. My Dad had one in black and, like his two Scenics, very little went wrong. They're not all bad.

Er, I agree with all of that.I drove a new BINI when they came out. I really could not see what the fuss about. And this was before I developed my utter loathing of them due to Hale, Altrincham, Cheshire et al filling up with the fucking things.Problem #1. It's bigger than a Fiesta. So how the fuck is it a Mini?Problem #2. The interior looks a Fisher Price 'My First Injection Moulded Projectile Wank'Problem #3. Sorry, it's fucking how much? You want £16,000 for that piece of gaylord shite? Jesus! I could buy a proper car for that! (That's pretty much what I told the salesman, who had an E30 outside which I much preferred - he let me sit in it as well and we both agreed it was 'proper')I don't really like much of Volvo's output TBH, which surprises people.C30 - I like but I know the boot will be pish and it's too expensiveS\V40 - Dull.Other saloon thing - Dull.XC90 - Idiotic Chelsea Tractor. Dull.The Chevrolet Matiz I had as a courtesy car was fucking horrid as well. It had a 1 litre 4 pot which was the roughest engine I have ever heard. Yes, even coarser than a Pinto or any other piece of wheezy POS Ford engine (so most of them). They gave it to me filthy and covered in cig burns, with several no smoking signs inside.....which had burns in them.

[Torsten2001]

Ford? Good to drive? The last Fiesta - dreadful. Biggest pile of poo even Ford have made. Current Focus - horrible

Agreed, we've got three Focus' at work, unreliable shit, slow and crap to drive with woeful aftersales service, total bollox!

[seth]

From "my era" of cars its Fords that I least desire to own. I just don't understand the seemingly unnatural, god-like way in which a whole slice of the classic car world seem to regard them. Like there's nothing else of any worth in the world. I feel there's a large slice of sheep mentality surrounding them and I've always run the other way from sheep.

[Guest]

To be fair on the MINI, I'm not a big fan of them as they're not my sort of thing, but I drove a diesel one to London at 4am and I thought it was a superb motorway cruiser. If they'd called it something else it wouldn't be a problem really.

[Guest Tony Hayers]

You wont like this, so brace yourself!For me its anything Jap (puts tin hat on and ducks for cover). I've never owned a Japanese car, and never have or want to buy one.Don't get me wrong - when some 60's/70's/80's J tin is driving in the opposite direction to me it always makes me smile - someone out there is looking after them and is enjoying driving them. But nothing about them makes me want to say to myself - Hmmmm future purchase. When I was brought up my parents always bought Ford and BL/Rover tin so that has been drummed into me over the years and no matter what other cars I have I always go back to Ford & BL/ARG/Rover. Brand loyalty some may say Going deeper than marques people hate how about models? Ive had Volvo's that I have loved, my 940 TD for example and Volvos that I hate - my 760 Turbo Estate

[Guest]

When looking for a car on the net or in the paper I allways skip the Renault section.Renault apart from the fuego lost it for me as they went from numbers to names. Renault 19-great had one liked it on the other hand Megane/espace/safrane etc leave me cold. Allthough the exception is the Renault 25 which I never seem to have got good vibes for

[Cavcraft]

VAG and BMW. Can't get my head round them and their reputation. Owned various models of both over the years and never got on with them, especially the former and just found them no better than more humdrum marques, in fact quite a bit worse in some cases.A mate of mine is bang into Mk2 Golfs yet is always repairing them or breaking down and being frank I cannot abide the things and fail to see why they're supposedly better than most other makes. I also have to say the majority (but certainly not all) of the VAG and BMW owners I know or have met appear to badge snobs who think driving one of these makes them superior to everyone else.Rovers are pretty rubbish too in my experience. Badly nailed together, always felt like they were Friday afetrnoon cars and never really got their act together. It's one thing making a model or two that appeal to coffin dodgers and cheapskates. quite another to have an entire range built to that 'spec'. K-series rep also mostly deserved and they're pretty much hateful and undesirable things mostly driven by hateful and undesirable people it would seem. Aside from those I'll own or drive just about anything and can see good and bad in all marques. I actually like owning cars that the majority think are rubbish because these are the ones I find can surprise you in a nice way. Had a Cinquecento recently despite an aversion of Fiats and it was brilliant fun.

[Negative Creep]

Vauxhall. Painfully dull, default choice blandwagons that all go the hire car-repmobile-hpi special-backstreet banger-pikey wagon route. I've never driven a Corsa, Vectra or Astra which was interesting or fun in any way shape or form. The mk.3 Astra and mk.1 Vectra are well into banger territory now and the amount of mk.4 Astras with big exhausts and spoiler that have sprung up is amazing. I'd rather have a Mondeo, Focus or Fiesta any day of the week

[dollywobbler]

To be fair on the MINI, I'm not a big fan of them as they're not my sort of thing, but I drove a diesel one to London at 4am and I thought it was a superb motorway cruiser. If they'd called it something else it wouldn't be a problem really.

Yeah, I get regular use of a Cooper Diseasel (that must upset John Cooper as it sounds like a Transit van) and it's wonderful on the cruise - apart from the hideously uncomfortable seats. And complete lack of suspension (one thing that IS like the original!). Good fun to chuck about too - by modern standards - which means all the feedback of a corpse on a chat show.I drove a Cooper S Clubman last year though - far too much power, all at the top end of the rev range and in the spec I drove it, it was £24,000!!!

[wuvvum]

(that must upset John Cooper as it sounds like a Transit van)

He's dead now, isn't he?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Yeah, he won't mind.

[dollywobbler]

If I were him, I'd be rotating in my wooden box then!

[FredTransit]

It's easier for me to say I only really like Fords, but I am warming to Volvos. Well actaully I don't like anything much after 1990, even Fords. Sorry. Though after being on here and other sites, I can appreciate some of the early Japs, but I don't think I would have one.

[r.welfare]

Again, on the modern front, it's got to be Vauxhall I'm afraid, and the Zafira in particular. I get lumbered with one of these from the hire company every time I go "up north" for work, and while the concept is good (7 seats in a small-ish package), the execution is not. Handling, ride, noise supression, seat comfort, control intuition and quality all disappoint me greatly.Once upon a time Vauxhalls didn't handle well but the engines went like hell and superstellar gearing meant they were very restful - and economical - on the motorway; for example my 1800i Belmont in 5th would only be turning over 3000rpm at an indicated 90. So what's happened? Both the 1.6 and 1.8 Zafiras I've tried have both screamed away at between 3500 and 3800rpm at an indicated 70 Not restful, not economical either.That said I quite like the look of the Insignia, although I've not driven one and am unlikely to do so unless NCR give me an upgrade 'cos they've run out of Zafiras (Please God). I passed one on the M40 last week which, accordingly to the almost indechiperable badging, was a V6 SRI 4x4. So the driver was either a mentalist or dealer principal, but it made a change from the usual 2.0CDTI.