Buying a Badge

ugglasdav · 05-03-2013 09:44PM #1

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 · 05-03-2013 09:51PM

Depends on the engine under the badge

Kenny Logins · 05-03-2013 09:54PM

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

lookitsme · 05-03-2013 09:55PM

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

The Bishop Basher · 05-03-2013 09:57PM

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

coylemj · 05-03-2013 09:58PM

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 · 05-03-2013 09:58PM

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 · 05-03-2013 10:01PM

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 · 05-03-2013 10:01PM

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 · 05-03-2013 10:04PM

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 · 05-03-2013 10:04PM

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 · 05-03-2013 10:07PM

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 · 05-03-2013 10:09PM

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

shinkansen · 05-03-2013 10:09PM

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 · 05-03-2013 10:16PM

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 · 05-03-2013 10:27PM

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 · 05-03-2013 10:34PM

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 · 05-03-2013 10:35PM

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

Kenny Logins · 05-03-2013 10:36PM

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 · 05-03-2013 10:41PM

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 · 05-03-2013 10:48PM

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

The Bishop Basher · 05-03-2013 10:49PM

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 · 05-03-2013 10:57PM

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 · 05-03-2013 11:03PM

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

colm_mcm · 05-03-2013 11:04PM

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

ba_barabus · 05-03-2013 11:09PM

I'd have a Porsche Ibiza

166man · 05-03-2013 11:10PM

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

Classic.

colm_mcm · 05-03-2013 11:13PM

The original post mentions basic beemers to be fair.

ba_barabus · 05-03-2013 11:13PM

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 · 05-03-2013 11:15PM

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 · 05-03-2013 11:21PM

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

Buying a Badge

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