Markus

Interesting debate.

I'm not totally against BMW's or their drivers, even though the stereotypical image does stand true for some of them (stereotypes exist for a reason people! ). I would be quite happy with an M3 or M5, apart from those two, I'm not overly keen on them, just personal preference really.

Skoda, have to say I love the vRS and would quite happily have one. VW jumping in was the best thing that could have happened to them. I've had a few people laugh at me when I mentioned I'd be happy with a skoda, but I've also had a fair few knowning nods from others who appreciate they are way better than they were.

Plus they are a bit of a Q car to boot, and that's one of the qualities I like, a bit of stealth, and that is why I loved my wagon, it was stealthy when I wanted it to be and not when I didn't.

The mention of the Audi and the salesmen mentioning dogs should not be in them amuses me. I'm going to have so much fun taking the hound with me when I go shopping for the next car, as the primary reason for an Avant is due to miss four paws, plus she'll have a little sister in the near future, and them sitting in the back of a saloon is not really on. So any crap from the dealer means he'll lose out on the best part of $75k.

Anyway, I digress. If you look at most marques, there will be the usual pillocks who just cannot drive properly and cause mayhem. I think the BMW/Audi/Mercedes thing is possibly partly due to jealously as some people can afford rather nice cars, others cannot and so appropriate bad driving to those with better cars than them. However, there is also the arrogance factor from the car owners, that they drive a superior machine to you, so the plebs can move out of the way.
Hmm, same can be said for a fair few Subaru owners who think the car is the be all and end all, cannot be bettered, etc. It's not the best car in the world, simple.

I've said this for a while but the impreza is going the way of the XR can RS cars from Ford. As they get older, a wider audience is able to "appreciate" them, and we know that this means that kev and tracy now get an impreza and give it the same type of treatment the Ford cars got back in the day. It's the way of the world unfortunately.

chiark

Lots of good posts already on this, and I'm not adding much but hey, when did that ever stop anyone

Skodas to me are excellent: they've got that Q car feeling now that the impreza had "back in the day" . If they did a diesel awd estate with a sporty feel then I'd have one like a shot.

A few scoob owners think that their car is the fastest thing on the road. Now, the majority have accepted that a plain WRX bug or blob whilst fast is not faster than well sorted hot hatches of recent pedigree. Others haven't, and those are the people who cause the impreza stereotype that you see in a same way that the caffeine crazed junior sales rep in his 316 or 318 sitting up your *** in the outside lane causes the 3 series stigma.

I took a test drive in the BMW, and at the end of the drive said to the seller that I wanted to hate the car because of its image, but at the end of the day a well sorted 3 series is a drivers car, moreso than the WRX blobeye was for me. So I bought one. YMMV .

Astraboy: I know how you feel. A year ago, if someone had told me I'd have been driving a BMW, and a coal powered one at that, I'd have laughed or possibly hit them. Or both. 6 months on, I'm having more fun in the BMW than I did in the scoob: pushing it hard gives a thrill of danger that was just missing in the scoob unless you were doing insane speeds.

MattOz

What he said! LOL

Matt

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Bang on

I'll remember that quote next time I get involved in a "Subarus are rubbish" thread LOL

Subarus have always been in a strange black spot with badge image, as it's continually changing. First they were regarded along the likes of unknown far east brands like Hyundai, or Bland jap boxes(corrolla etc). Then the Turbos off started with "knowing nods" from people "in the know". Then it was the IT mans/desk driver's/company/everyday car drivers favourite (cheap to buy). Then the "I'm driving a Rally car" fraternity jumped in after the more publicised Rally sucesses. So that was the point when the badge became "the one to have".

But Alas once your at the top of the hill - the only way on is back down. So shortly after that, it became the criminal's favourite (due to all the previous lot not bothering with security - ex cossy/XR owners knew better from experience ), and now it's the spotty teens/chavs and wide boys favourite amongst the rice rockets. Taking over the torch from XRs and Cossies. Alienating the cars brand appeal from its original followers - almost like the history of fast Fords repeating.

Funny though, the Cossie image is now improving as more and more cars fall into the hands of "true" car lovers, and the abusers finally kill theirs off. RS1600 (MKIII s'cort) is already a rare beast and the XRs and RSs are becoming increasingly rare. Maybe in 10-15 years they'll be so rare they'll be desired so much that their value starts rising to silly money?

Imprezas may go down the same path, but I don't think so, or it'll take much longer. As there is much more of them in total globally, plus they are still being made and they don't succumb to tin worm as badly (although I have seen a few rust buckets though ). And in some respects it was the "replacement" cossie so it'll always be in its footsteps. But who knows, maybe in 30years we'll see desirable "classic" classic imprezas?

v8voodoo

So which category would you put yourself into ALi-B..?

Nige.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

If you noticed I quoted those example based on what OTHER PEOPLE say. So I like the VRS...but other people would sneer and say "but it's a Skoda".

How many ways can you interpet the use of English and miss the entire point I was trying to suggest?

I just like cars that are good to drive.

Seeing that I find a Diahatsu Cuore a hoot to drive, the Octavia an excellent bargain saloon and Merc MLs complete tripe would catorgorise me as....?

mushkinee

who cares about the badge i d rather have a discreet, fast nice to drive car than a extroverted car which everyone knows or thinks is fast. Also the car is less likely to be vandalised or the driver stereotyped.

lightning101

Snob brands hold their price far better though.

Audi TT
Porsche Boxster
Any BMW Cabriolet
X5
Audi S3


Only cheap examples found of the above are high mileage or crash damaged

Alas

Very interesting thread.
I've owned 3 imprezas but will not buy another one. Nothing to do with image just that the car is not suitable for me any more. I would buy a Legacy however so obviously the badge is not the problem.
At present drive a BMW 328i Touring. All the power I could want, all the toys and all the comfort. Suits me sir And if anyone thinks flash BMW driving tosser then they are really stupid as its worth less than a new Suzuki Liana

The wife drives the flash car in our house

vaughant

BM`s do suffer from bad image but it really is down to a lot of jealousy on some people. We`ve had our BM 328i cabby 4 years and it`s never missed a beat, still drives lovely. I bought it because we have a child and we wanted a four seater cabriolet with good performance/reliability and yes ok, a badge. But stop and ask yourself this, how did all these German makes (except VW) get this status? Because their so well built and generally offer exceptional VFM. I exclude VW from a personal point as i have had four of them and would say that my Mk3 Gti would have a podium finish in my worst car`s ever, absolute rubbish, 150k miles (warranted) drove more like 350K, unreliable, slow crap on petrol and just total pant`s. My mk3 astra GSi? A year older than the golf but totally incomparable as a car, superb reliablity/economy/performance/handling and now better residuals. Am i a badge snob? No, i`m afraid for me Skodas for me fall into a bad category, hard to sell 2nd hand, Vw reliability ( so what!!) and i think people tend to feel sorry for you, like you couldn`t afford the equivalent Audi! Just my opinion anyway!!

v8voodoo

I'm afraid I still disagree ALi-B. Your quoted examples had ended and the extract I printed was from your final paragraph which appears to hold your views, so you can bang your head against a wall as much as you wish to. I'd also like to point out to you that I haven't missed the entire point you were trying to suggest, and therefore add my own input.... i enjoy driving my girlfriend's mini cooper more than I enjoyed driving my old cooper s (both the BMW versions). I'd even go as far to say that around town, the cooper can be more fun than my Scoob, but the sides change when on the open road and twisties.

It's badge snobbery. It's amazing how many people have it. I recently said to a friend that I was toying with the idea of a Fabia VRs to replace my Scoob to cut running costs. I was met with cries of derision and "A SKODA after a Subaru..?? What a come down that'll be." As you say, cars that are good to drive...

Now, back to this wall and head banging.....

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Pedantic ******* go and whine about quotations to Telboy or Bubba

v8voodoo

Pedantic..? Me..? Never..!
Just PML at you shooting yourself in the foot..!!! Type it once, read it twice, then post it... That way you don't end up looking like a plum.

I also had great fun driving a mk1 Fiesta once..oh.. and a Morris Minor.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Only because it is partly written as a third person perspective


The only thing I'm guilty of is adding a personal opinion in first person and to switch from first person to third person perspective. That does not make the extracted text a personal opinion, only an observation on others opinions.

By trying to argue and furthering the off topic points, you are being pedantic. Intentionally taking an alternate context to what the intended meaning of the post, based on an extracted section, rather than the entire text, can and will leave it open misunderstanding. Even if is being typed for the sakes of conciseness. The points, as set out in the whole post are very clear, yet you decide to make a point of personal ridicule, which makes a big difference from criticising a group or observed pattern. Further backed by the complete refusal to accept the justifications to the context of the text given in the immediate reply, and the self need to reply and further criticise the use of a language being unchecked on what is a just a informal bulletin board. Whereby there is no requirement or strict necessity to check the correctness of a post or any technical correctness of English usage. Also the failure to appreciate that there is no text book correctness in terms of English usage, just preferred methods, which again, for sakes of conciseness, is not needed when posting in informal English, as long as the general context is given correctly.


The above post has not been re-read, or corrected of any grammatical, spelling or incorrect usage of preferred English. As being an informal post, it is not necessary.

Any further replies as further justification of your case, or any further attempts at finding any hole or usage of incorrect English is not needed or wanted or needed and the wishes of thread originator is to allow it to remain on topic.

Any further continuation of this matter will result in my polite request for all of your posts and my follow up posts to be deleted.

v8voodoo

Yep...

scoobydooooo

what a cry baby !!!