Topic: Brand loyalty

[wing]

I was thinking this morning..... rare that I do that. 

Are you brand loyal?  I apparently am not -- which is a good thing since it allows me to be less biased when reviewing cars.

I have owned 7 cars already in the past 10 years and 6 where different companies.

GM
Hyundai
Mazda
Honda
Nissan
Subaru

[johngenx]

None at all.  Who is making the best cars that suit my needs?  They get my biz...

[UmroAyyar]

My own personal car history is 2 cars only in 3 years.

2002 Toyota Corolla
2007 Toyota Camry

This might suggest brand loyalty but no. I would buy what will serve my needs first and then wants.

[tpl]

Not for cars.  But the performance of some brands relative to others might well keep me loyal for some things.   Example: Every piece of home/SOHO networking gear made by xxxxx that I have had experience with has worked flawlessly both work and home ( various users) . Certain other well thought of brands   yyyyy and zzzzz have all had various problems in the hands of people I know.   So I'll be loyal to xxxxx.

[initial_D]

Don't think I am. Owned the following in the past 10 years:

BMW x 3
Mazda x 3
Honda x 1

before that;

Mazda x 1
Nissan x 1
Infiniti x 1
GM x 3
Ford x 2

[xviper]

I don't have brand loyalty, but I do have brand DISloyalty.  If a particular brand has, in any way, gooned me in the past, I will forever look at that brand with great prejudice and discrimination no matter how good the reviewers say they have become.  This is not just the manufacturer itself, but the dealership as well.  How I was treated at any dealership will label that dealership forever.  There's enough variety in the car marketplace these days, that I won't be missing out on anything spectacular by crossing something off the list.
A car is a very big purchase with the potential for a lot of "crap" going on in any transaction that can affect that transaction by hundreds if not thousand of dollars.  It's not like if I had a bad experience with one example of a 2 dollar Crappy Tire screwdriver and will stay away from all Crappy Tire screwdrivers.

[tenpenny]

My wife has a strong preference for Toyota, except based on her last service visit, she is considering alternatives.  (despite the fact that she had booked an appointment, and dropped the car off the night before, the dealership didn't START on her car until 3pm, so of course it wasn't ready by the end of the day, and they were clueless about what to do for her, until she browbeat them into a rental).

Other than my company Chevy Celebrity, I've had an 89 Camry, a 98 Legacy wagon, and now an 05 Outback.  I have a strong preference for Subaru, but would consider alternatives if push came to shove.  I do have a preference for awd, though. 

[DockMan]

I have a feature preference and not particularly a brand preference. I prefer companies that offer more AWD options, I prefer companies who are on the bleeding edge of technology (I'm an early adopter). I will prefer companies that offer more diesel options.

How a dealership treats me also plays into the scenario. The local GM dealer makes sure that my car is washed every visit...every visit no matter what the cause, before I pick it up. I never need to ask for a drop-off or pick-up, they always offer.They are professional and very courteous....they make me feel important. By contrast my experience with Honda and Chrysler (local dealerships) have not been so good. The service department at our local Chrysler dealer has given me a "free wash kit" (soap and a mitt) with my oil change an commented on how dirty my van was. As well just this week I had brought the van in for the second time for really minor stuff and upon seeing me the second time that week the Service Manager commented that I should just trade it (the van) in and get a new one. The van is four years old! Not confidence inspiring. I wouldn't by another Chrysler product for the service they provide but would put effort into finding a car to fit my needs from "the general", so that I could have that service experience.

[dr_spock]

No brand loyalty here unless the brand pays me.     My family had owned Ford, GM, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, VW. 

[Wetson]

Uhmmmm I think I might be.

2003 Mini Cooper
2003 Honda Accord
2005 Honda Accord
2008 Acura TL.

I see a trend after the MINI. 

[ovr50]

I have had a lot of different brands over the years being I am on vehicle #56 or so now.

Interestingly, although I did not have a BMW prior to my current 535xi, this one makes #12 BMW so is my most common brand over the years. I had 11 of them between 1971 and 1987.

Next up would probably be Ford and Toyota. I have had 4 Mustangs and several other Fords. I have had about 7 Toyotas between 1987 and today.

I have had 6 GMs including 2 Vettes and 1 Camaro.

Numerous other brands as well. Loyal? Not really, but I won't buy certain brands that have given me trouble in the past (eg. Subaru's are never going to be on my list again).

[PJungnitsch]

No, could never afford to be that way. As I was always shopping for cheap used stuff vehicle condition was more important.

Nissan
Oldsmobile
Mazda
Ford

Combined with doing my own mechanics that kind of vehicle ownership gave an interesting look at how different manufacturers did things at the time.

Nissan (crude but surprisingly good)
Oldsmobile (great engineering, so-so execution)
Mazda (sweat the details)
Ford (strong fundamentals, ignore the rest)

[Trainman]

In the 29 years I have owned cars, I have these:

Ford/Mercury 6 times (2 trucks, 2 SUV's, 2 cars);
Toyota 2 times (car, van);
Nissan/Datsun 2 times (car, SUV).


No real brand loyalty, it is the best vehicle for what it needs to do for what I can afford.

[xviper]

No brand loyalty here unless the brand pays me.   

This leads to another interesting side discussion.  Have you seen Jim Kenzie's comment about dealer stickers, emblems and licence plate frames?  Why should we go around and advertise for them for free.  Didn't we just pay them good money in exchange for the product?  Why should we drive around, displaying their name all over our cars?  I take those things off the second I get home.  I just hate the dealers that actually drill holes in your car to install their name plates.  I consider that to be akin to vandalism.  Whenever I buy a car, I insist that no dealer identification be placed on the vehicle.  It's bad enough that it says, "Ford or Toyota or Honda or whatever".  Kenzie thinks that if they want to put their "sign" on your car, they should pay you a reasonable fee for advertising ................. say a thousand or two per year.  I think Smart Car owners were getting something like $500.00/year if they let some advertising agency use their cars as billboards.

[tenpenny]

I bought my Subaru used, from a Hyundai dealer.  First day home, I got out the hairdryer, and took the dealer label off.

[Trainman]

No brand loyalty here unless the brand pays me. 

This leads to another interesting side discussion.  Have you seen Jim Kenzie's comment about dealer stickers, emblems and licence plate frames?  Why should we go around and advertise for them for free.  Didn't we just pay them good money in exchange for the product?  Why should we drive around, displaying their name all over our cars?  I take those things off the second I get home.  I just hate the dealers that actually drill holes in your car to install their name plates.  I consider that to be akin to vandalism.  Whenever I buy a car, I insist that no dealer identification be placed on the vehicle.  It's bad enough that it says, "Ford or Toyota or Honda or whatever".  Kenzie thinks that if they want to put their "sign" on your car, they should pay you a reasonable fee for advertising ................. say a thousand or two per year.  I think Smart Car owners were getting something like $500.00/year if they let some advertising agency use their cars as billboards.

Our local GM dealer has taken this to a new high (or low depending on your point of view  ).  HUGE dealer/GM decals that go across the width of the rear window and on pickups, come down about a third of the window.  They are slapping these on pu's, SUV's and cars, even used non-GM ones.  The look?   

Interesting that the Toyota dealer in Kamloops only puts on a license plate frame, no stickers, no decals, nothing else.  And the frame is easy to remove.    to them.

[ovr50]

No brand loyalty here unless the brand pays me. 

This leads to another interesting side discussion.  Have you seen Jim Kenzie's comment about dealer stickers, emblems and licence plate frames?  Why should we go around and advertise for them for free.  Didn't we just pay them good money in exchange for the product?  Why should we drive around, displaying their name all over our cars?  I take those things off the second I get home.  I just hate the dealers that actually drill holes in your car to install their name plates.  I consider that to be akin to vandalism.  Whenever I buy a car, I insist that no dealer identification be placed on the vehicle.  It's bad enough that it says, "Ford or Toyota or Honda or whatever".  Kenzie thinks that if they want to put their "sign" on your car, they should pay you a reasonable fee for advertising ................. say a thousand or two per year.  I think Smart Car owners were getting something like $500.00/year if they let some advertising agency use their cars as billboards.

Our local GM dealer has taken this to a new high (or low depending on your point of view  ).  HUGE dealer/GM decals that go across the width of the rear window and on pickups, come down about a third of the window.  They are slapping these on pu's, SUV's and cars, even used non-GM ones.  The look?   

Interesting that the Toyota dealer in Kamloops only puts on a license plate frame, no stickers, no decals, nothing else.  And the frame is easy to remove.    to them.

I NEVER allow the dealer to put any type of advertising on the car. If he asks if a license plate frame is OK, I say if you put it on, I will just take it off and replace it with a plain black frame. Some dealers are worse than others for these practices - I find the domestic dealers the worst.

[Allen]

I have no brand preference, as long as its not American

[mrthompson]

Not really.

3 Fords (Mustang, Mercury Topaz, Focus)
3 GMs (S10 Blazer, Olds Cutlass Ciera, wife's Cavalier)
2 Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge (Jeep Cherokee, wife's Caravan)

[TopGun]

So...given there seems to be little brand loyalty, does this mean that vehicles within the brand do not share the same DNA?

After all...you bought the car for some reason...and that same reason should be present in their lines of vehicles.

For example, I've find myself loyal to Mazda because I think they handle better than the cars they compete with.  So when the Miata didn't fit my lifestyle at a point of my life, the Protege5 came in.