Buying a Badge

ugglasdav

Just thought i would start a thread and find out peoples opinions on people who buy cars based more on the badge then the actual car

Lets take an E46 3 series Coupe which is a fairly popular car for someone looking for a sporty looking coupe, seems to be quite popular on this forum, some buy it because it looks nice, some buy it mostly based on the badge at the front and the image it will give them if they had one.

So do you think if a 3 series wasn't a BMW, lets say a Opel or Toyota made it, would it be as popular as it is in ireland?

Supergurrier

Depends on the engine under the badge

Kenny Logins

Like a 3 series compact; looks like a regular BMW from the front, but has been chopped down to make it cheaper.

lookitsme

I like the look of the 3 series but because of the badge i wouldn't buy one.

The Bishop Basher

The cars with "better" badges tend to be better cars in my experience.

coylemj

I recall doing a test drive on a 318i on the 1990s and being astonished at the basic spec., clearly the Irish distributor had made the decision that the punters buying the car were doing so based on the badge on the bonnet so the car was stripped to the basics - no way would the folk in the UK have put up with wind-up front windows on a 'premium' marque.

CiniO

I do look at the badge when choosing a car to buy. It makes a difference for me what make car I'm driving.
However my criteria doesn't really go in line with posh and poor badges.

F.e I would never buy VW, Skoda, Seat, Rover, Mercedes.

While my favourit badges would be Fiat, Mazda, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Alfa Romeo, Mitusbishi.

It's just a personal preference, and it might change over the years as it already have.

When I'm buying a car, I'm mostly looking at badges which I like.

colm_mcm

While its easy to take the mick about 4 cylinder bmws, the fact is they're nice looking, drive well, have good seats, good stereos, lots of upgrade potential, and are perceived as classy when compared to something like a Japanese coupe.

ugglasdav

CiniO wrote: »

I do look at the badge when choosing a car to buy. It makes a difference for me what make car I'm driving.
However my criteria doesn't really go in line with posh and poor badges.

F.e I would never buy VW, Skoda, Seat, Rover, Mercedes.

While my favourit badges would be Fiat, Mazda, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Alfa Romeo, Mitusbishi.

It's just a personal preference, and it might change over the years as it already have.

When I'm buying a car, I'm mostly looking at badges which I like.

so the look of the car doesnt matter?, thats what i find really stupid, people basing the badge on what car they buy rather then how nice looking they are to them

colm_mcm

OSI wrote: »

I think the Hyundai Coupe kind of proved that it's not all about the badge, it's about the look.

The mk1 coupe facelift sort of debunks your theory. Some people also ave poor taste

Saw a 97 coupe on the way back from work today, hasn't seen one in yonks.

MuppetCheck

OSI wrote: »

I think the Hyundai Coupe kind of proved that it's not all about the badge, it's about the look.

Skoda Octavia did too!

Oh wait:pac:

ugglasdav

colm_mcm wrote: »

While its easy to take the mick about 4 cylinder bmws, the fact is they're nice looking, drive well, have good seats, good stereos, lots of upgrade potential, and are perceived as classy when compared to something like a Japanese coupe.

yea some of that does come into it, but you have to remember that this is ireland were you are buying the car, where 80% of the BM's going around are paddy spec which only have the basic's in the car, while for your money you could have gotten a different make with alot more spec than the BM and alot cheaper price.

But for most people the badge matters to much and they see past the poor spec and the high price and buy it anyway, just so they can think that people look at them and say ' look he's driving a BMW '

colm_mcm

An entry level premium car still shares a lot of the DNA of the nice versions though.

shinkansen

Swanner wrote: »

The cars with "better" badges tend to be better cars in my experience.

the only German marques which warrant that statement are high spec models, like msport BMWs with nice large 6 pot engines or Audi's with equally good spec.

anything else is just meh.

and in Ireland practically all the Germany cars fall into the last statement.

CiniO

ugglasdav wrote: »

so the look of the car doesnt matter?, thats what i find really stupid, people basing the badge on what car they buy rather then how nice looking they are to them

What matters for me the most is how the car drives. Handling. And generally how comfortable it is.
How the car looks obviously also matters, but priority is low.

I'd prefer ugly looking Honda with nice perfomance, than the most beautiful VW.

S28382

I drive a BMW when I sold my last car it didn't even enter my mind about buying a BMW as my next car, I was looking around and seen the BMW and bought it and I'm glad I did, my next car will be the same badge..... I'm going BMW all the way from now on

The Bishop Basher

ugglasdav wrote: »

But for most people the badge matters to much and they see past the poor spec and the high price and buy it anyway, just so they can think that people look at them and say ' look he's driving a BMW '

I agree with you on the paddy spec BMW's and its a shame but even a paddy spec beemer drives, feels and handles better then a well specd paddy marque.

Eric Cartman

the biggest 'bought for the badge' cars imo are toyotas, throw a toyota badge on anything and Irish people will buy it.

Kenny Logins

S28382 wrote: »

I drive a BMW when I sold my last car it didn't even enter my mind about buying a BMW as my next car, I was looking around and seen the BMW and bought it and I'm glad I did, my next car will be the same badge..... I'm going BMW all the way from now on

Same here. Have to admit, I never had any interest in them until I bought one. It made me realise what I might have missed out on all these years.

Eric Cartman

Kenny Logins wrote: »

Same here. Have to admit, I never had any interest in them until I bought one. It made me realise what I might have missed out on all these years.

+1 , I never realised a car could drive so well until I bought the 7 series, Ive driven a load of 'premium' cars (lexus rx's, passats etc..) and the main stay of the irish punter (avensis, santa fe, primera) and nothing comes close to the driving experience you get from the bavarian badge.

Kenny Logins

Ironically, it was the badge that put me off them.

The Bishop Basher

I drove a clapped out 316 many moons ago and hated it. To my detrement I didn't even consider BMW for years as a result. I wouldn't consider anything else now. There's just nothing else out there in the price range with that kind of handling, performance and comfort.

ugglasdav

Ok they might be great driving cars, but that's not to say there isnt others that are out there on the irish market that are a great driving car, but there isnt enough of them to catch on, two cars spring to mind, peugeot 406 coupe and the Opel astra Bertone which actually has a lotus tuned chassis, for every one of these cars you see you will see 100 BM's going around, Probably very good handling cars with good spec, but no one has the interest in them to buy them because they dont have the 'name'.

Kenny Logins

406 coupe looks nice, but I think I'd get tired pedalling one about.

colm_mcm

To be fair, protons and Isuzu troopers had lotus tuned chassis' too. Doesn't make them brilliant either.

ba_barabus

I'd have a Porsche Ibiza

166man

Thread about buying a badge.................Turns into a poverty spec BMW thread...











Classic.

colm_mcm

The original post mentions basic beemers to be fair.

ba_barabus

166man wrote: »

Thread about buying a badge.................Turns into a poverty spec BMW thread...

Could be worse, we could be talking about posh Fiats :pac:

Kenny Logins

colm_mcm wrote: »

The original post mentions basic beemers to be fair.

Isn't the thread about people buying for the badge regardless of spec?

shinkansen

166man wrote: »

Thread about buying a badge.................Turns into a poverty spec BMW thread...











Classic.

not really, most people buy 'the badge' in Ireland just to say they drive such and such a car.

There are enthusiasts for sure who pay more attention to whats under the hood and what the suspension is like before the badge but most people just buy 'the badge'.

I have seen some nice BMWs here thou

166man

ba_barabus wrote: »

Could be worse, we could be talking about posh Fiats :pac:

I left myself open for that one admittedly...:D

rocky

BMW 4 LYFE
















:pac:



who cares what other people think...

Voodoomelon

Eric Cartman wrote: »

the biggest 'bought for the badge' cars imo are toyotas, throw a toyota badge on anything and Irish people will buy it.

About sums up the thread really.
I'd say an incredibly small amount of people guy a German brand (mid to high end) "because of the badge". The huge majority of people, even in this country, are not so ridiculously self conscious that they feel they have to buy a particular brand just so they can tell others. Yes some do, but the vast majority do not.

Most people in this country will jump on anything that has a VW/Toyota/Nissan badge because they offer proven/perceived "reliability" for a good price. Once the decision on the above manufacturer has been made, the next objective is to get the highest year affordable. Having the newest registration is far more important to most people than badge, as it looks good, projects success (moreso than a 2004 S500 in their eyes, thats an old banger), is less likely to give trouble and you get a nice warranty which means the car "doesn't need to be serviced".

As mentioned, even poverty spec German motors are nice places to be. Lets not forget that most other brands on the road are also poverty spec and are cheap, nasty places to be.

JerCotter7

Voodoomelon wrote: »

About sums up the thread really.
I'd say an incredibly small amount of people guy a German brand (mid to high end) "because of the badge". The huge majority of people, even in this country, are not so ridiculously self conscious that they feel they have to buy a particular brand just so they can tell others. Yes some do, but the vast majority do not.

Most people in this country will jump on anything that has a VW/Toyota/Nissan badge because they offer proven/perceived "reliability" for a good price. Once the decision on the above manufacturer has been made, the next objective is to get the highest year affordable. Having the newest registration is far more important to most people than badge, as it looks good, projects success (moreso than a 2004 S500 in their eyes, thats an old banger), is less likely to give trouble and you get a nice warranty which means the car "doesn't need to be serviced".

As mentioned, even poverty spec German motors are nice places to be. Lets not forget that most other brands on the road are also poverty spec and are cheap, nasty places to be.

+1 on the last line. I don't get why people say for the price of a basic spec BMW you can get another car with more options. When the average person looks at it that way, they will just buy the other car with the basic options and not bother with anything extra.

I would guess that the base BMW package will be a bit nicer than most others that sell for less. Just a guess since I doubt I'll ever own a new car.

dgt

Voodoomelon has it in a nutshell

"Oh it's a */Insert generic non specific blandbox here*/ it must be a great yoke, I must buy one, tell everyone how great it is and force my ill informed opinion on everyone else to buy one because everything else is rubbish...."

I buy cars on the basis of how they interest me. And to stick my 2 fingers at the people who recommended a blandbox instead :rolleyes: eg I was told not to buy a 166 by a numpty with no concept of enthusiasm, they're crap, unreliable, worthless etc.... Look how that turned out :pac:

On poverty spec luxobarges, the W126 in the garage came with cloth seats, no air con, one electric mirror and a steel spare wheel. My E34 by contrast puts it to shame, SE spec. But both are still nice places to be in

rocky

I actually bought one of these on Monday to replace the peeling bonnet one

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-BONNET-BOOT-3-5-7-Series-M-LOGO-BADGE-82MM-NEW-UK-STOCK-PART-NO-5114-8132-35-/221192590432?

Only ~7 euro

Nissan doctor

While I agree that not everyone buy's BMW's for the 'badge' and that there are many proper enthusiasts,but the amount of basic spec(and even not so basic spec) 3 series on the roads with the front wishbone bushes hanging out of them and broken rear springs proves that the much used 'driving experience' excuse for buying a BMW is just that for many, an excuse to hide the rear reason for buying it.

rocky

Nissan doctor wrote: »

While I agree that not everyone buy's BMW's for the 'badge' and that there are many proper enthusiasts,but the amount of basic spec(and even not so basic spec) 3 series on the roads with the front wishbone bushes hanging out of them and broken rear springs proves that the much used 'driving experience' excuse for buying a BMW is just that for many, an excuse to hide the rear reason for buying it.

Rear Wheel Drive?

Kenny Logins

rocky wrote: »

Rear Wheel Drive?

Room for golf clubs.

Nissan doctor

rocky wrote: »

Rear Wheel Drive?

Yeah!...most drivers wouldn't have a balls notion what the differences are between FWD and RWD and how they effect your driving technique.

BMW are of course the most popular RWD cars available by far...and all that means to the average Irish driver is that they can't be driven in the snow:rolleyes:

Tea 1000

Eric Cartman wrote: »

+1 , I never realised a car could drive so well until I bought the 7 series, Ive driven a load of 'premium' cars (lexus rx's, passats etc..) and the main stay of the irish punter (avensis, santa fe, primera) and nothing comes close to the driving experience you get from the bavarian badge.

Lots of things come close, but it depends on what you're comparing and to what from Bavaria.

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Yeah!...most drivers wouldn't have a balls notion what the differences are between FWD and RWD and how they effect your driving technique.

BMW are of course the most popular RWD cars available by far...and all that means to the average Irish driver is that they can't be driven in the snow:rolleyes:

Most Irish drivers don't have a notion about anything car related. How else can so many think an FWD A4 be a "drivers car"?
You're right about the "Driving experience" being the excuse for most BMW buyers, just like manual is the choice because auto "takes from the driving experience". The amount of BMW's with piss tyres all round would highlight the fact that most don't know what a fine handling car is.
(I wouldn't mind if it had Pirelli Pzero's on the front and Wanli's on the back, that would at least point to a reason!!!!)
I'd say 80% of Beemers in this country are bought because it has the right badge.

ugglasdav

Voodoomelon wrote: »

About sums up the thread really.
I'd say an incredibly small amount of people guy a German brand (mid to high end) "because of the badge". The huge majority of people, even in this country, are not so ridiculously self conscious that they feel they have to buy a particular brand just so they can tell others. Yes some do, but the vast majority do not.

Most people in this country will jump on anything that has a VW/Toyota/Nissan badge because they offer proven/perceived "reliability" for a good price. Once the decision on the above manufacturer has been made, the next objective is to get the highest year affordable. Having the newest registration is far more important to most people than badge, as it looks good, projects success (moreso than a 2004 S500 in their eyes, thats an old banger), is less likely to give trouble and you get a nice warranty which means the car "doesn't need to be serviced".

As mentioned, even poverty spec German motors are nice places to be. Lets not forget that most other brands on the road are also poverty spec and are cheap, nasty places to be.

your point is true about irish people going for the newest affordable car, thats why you see so many bog spec cars going around.

but still do think that people buy BM's, audi, Vw etc say that they are 'into cars' and from there they have to buy something that is of abit higher quality and end up going for one, thinking that they are driving a unique car when there is 100's of them around for the same reason.