I'm open to pretty much anything, but generally don't bother looking at Acura, GMC, Mitsubishi or Subaru unless a WRX varient.
Are you brand neutral?
- Thread starter AZjeff
- Start date
Not brand loyal , I buy based on features, reliability.
Only brands I will never buy; Nissan, and Volvo.
Only brands I will never buy; Nissan, and Volvo.
I’m a Mopar guy, but mostly because they actually make vehicles I want to drive. Wouldn’t mind a Yukon XL or a Suburban though. If I had a smaller family a Mazda CX-9 would be on my short list of possible vehicles. Wouldn’t touch a Toyota or Honda with a 10ft pole, I’m done with FWD snooze fest vehicles.
Given my "wonderful" Ford dealership experiences, they're OFF THE LIST! I'm not a huge fan of Nissan/Infiniti, and all the H/K issues kind of scare me, I don't really care how long the powertrain warranty is if it's going to fail dramatically eventually. Honda has kind of lost their mojo as far as I'm concerned, and Chrysler's multiple owners aren't inspiring either. Guess that leaves Toyota/Lexus, Mazda, & GM (2500 & over) trucks!
I guess it's Toyota, Honda hybrid for ICE. If I were buying a pickup, it would probably be an F-150; Toyotas seem to cost too much.
But give me the futuristic Tesla; there is nothing like them. I really like our GS, but they don't make 'em anymore, so there's that I guess.
But give me the futuristic Tesla; there is nothing like them. I really like our GS, but they don't make 'em anymore, so there's that I guess.
I prefer Toyota over most other manufacturers, Honda is a distant second and everything else? Well, that depends on how good of a deal I get and whether my wife wants it.
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Japanese only. I've always been a Japanese sports car fanboi. 300ZX, 3000GT, Supra, NSX, and RX-7 are my all time favorite cars.
I'm biased toward Honda products for my daily driving needs, as they've been invincible in my hands and have what I call "dancer's feet" (a nimbleness that's missing from every Toyota product I've driven). No reason to change brands in that regard. However, Honda doesn't currently offer RWD in their lineup, so I will look elsewhere for cars offering that drive configuration along with fantastic chassis dynamics - hence the Camaro and the Giulia.
dnewton3
Staff member
I'm primarily a Ford guy, but I have to say that hasn't stopped me from owning other brands over the years.
Fords (20+)
Nissan (1)
Toyota (2)
Mistubishi (1)
GM (1)
Fords (20+)
Nissan (1)
Toyota (2)
Mistubishi (1)
GM (1)
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- 1,128
I always find it fascinating when I see reports like "never buy a Ford/GM/Dodge, my great uncle's nieces ex owned one and ...". All you need to do is visit the other brand's forums and find the exact same thing, swap the brand but the story is the same. And yes Toyota dealers have garages and they're not just doing oil changes and brake pads.
I'm not brand loyal in the slightest, I try to shop the deal. With my priorities and preferences, find the best truck that fits that which costs the least. My current truck was purchased as best I could in this way. It was a hard choice, there is not really a bad truck on the market these days though the 2 Asian trucks were noticably less competitive (again, for me).
Reliability is a statistic, it's a bell curve and there are no guarantees which side you end up on. So I buy what I want, I'd rather drive what pleases me even if means I end up at the dealer 3 to 5 times more than my neighbour over its lifetime.
Seeing as how badly a Tundra fits my priorities, I can only imagine how upset I'd be if I got the short end of Toyota's "quality" and got stuck with both a broken truck and one that I didn't like in the first place.
I'm not brand loyal in the slightest, I try to shop the deal. With my priorities and preferences, find the best truck that fits that which costs the least. My current truck was purchased as best I could in this way. It was a hard choice, there is not really a bad truck on the market these days though the 2 Asian trucks were noticably less competitive (again, for me).
Reliability is a statistic, it's a bell curve and there are no guarantees which side you end up on. So I buy what I want, I'd rather drive what pleases me even if means I end up at the dealer 3 to 5 times more than my neighbour over its lifetime.
Seeing as how badly a Tundra fits my priorities, I can only imagine how upset I'd be if I got the short end of Toyota's "quality" and got stuck with both a broken truck and one that I didn't like in the first place.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2025
I try to be but I always find myself only liking a few brands lol. If you asked me today the car brands I’d recommend my list would be Subaru, Ford, Honda, Mitsubishi. Just because I know the reliability and warranty is good on those at least from my experience and my opinion. If you asked me car brands to avoid it might surprise you Nissan, Toyota, my family will never purchase anything Toyota again unless it’s used and out of warranty. Believe me I’m a Toyota/ Subaru tech. Toyota will laugh at you and put you to the curb for most warranty stuff. They aren’t very good with warranty. My moms Camry came with a bad serpentine belt from the factory. Two dealerships submitted pictures and all of that for warranty Toyota basically said go pound sand. Had to pay for it out of pocket. And now working for them again I can see they haven’t changed one bit. They are very picky and petty on warranty whereas Subaru will do anything in the world for you especially the long time customers. And Nissan that’s obvious why I would avoid them. Nothing good has ever rolled off the assembly line at Nissan except maybe the Xterra and Hardbody pickup.
Anything else I try to stay open minded too. Absolutely no euro stuff though with the exception of my Volkswagen or any old Volkswagen. Me and my dad are dying to get some Stellantis products. I want a Challenger he wants a Chrysler 300 which I also like really well. Our neighbor has one with less than 10,000 miles on it he bought it new in 2006 to take his girlfriend on a date he drove it awhile and parked it on the street under a car cover. I asked him about selling it said he isn’t interested in selling that or his truck that has sat for years. Now he can’t drive though so maybe I can talk it over with him lol. If you would have asked me 6 months even a year ago I’d of told you Toyota is the second best and Mopar is garbage but you can see my views have changed. I used to think Toyota and Ford were king but not anymore. Sorry but I faced reality instead of going by hearsay. For other brands I like old Chevy and old Dodge stuff only old though nothing new impresses me with looks or style or anything from those brands in particular.
To cover brands like Hyandai/Kia I don’t see myself ever in one of those but you never know. I do like the Kia Stinger. Never been impressed with Hyandai offerings except the first few generations of the Elantra. We repo a lot of Kia and Hyandai stuff at work I know that lol
. Actually our most repoed cars at work is the Kia Optima and Hyandai Palisade but that could vary place to place its not the brands fault that customers don’t make their car payment lol. And everyday you walk in the Kia/ Hyandai shop there is one to two engines getting rebuilt or replaced. You don’t see that with any other brand. Not saying they are totally junk but I’ve not been impressed by any of them really.
Currently I’m searching for a newer vehicle that’s better on gas mileage I’m wanting an AWD/4WD as my commute is 30 miles each way and doesn’t matter if there is snow on the ground or not they want us there. I’m thinking about getting a Subaru Crosstrek or Out!back. I’d love to have a Honda Accord but not being AWD really hurts them on my list. My more modern dream car is probably a Ford Crown Victoria preferably with police style wheels but again there is a problem it’s RWD. I like the Toyota Corolla and Camry but again I’ll never buy another car with a Toyota or related symbol on if. Be terrible to your customers you lose customers. Sorry Toyota people again but Toyota needs to clean their act up about warranty stuff. I also find myself wanting another Ford Econoline or Jeep Cherokee XJ but can’t afford that kind of gas mileage anymore lol. Plus I already own one of each of those I just don’t want to fix them lol. I’ll probably stick with the Subaru stuff or possibly Mitsubishi as I do like the Outlander Sport pretty well. I’d like to get the Crown Victoria eventually though as just a fun car.
Sorry for my long winded post. You asked I told lol. I’m sure a lot will be surprised about my views on things now.
Anything else I try to stay open minded too. Absolutely no euro stuff though with the exception of my Volkswagen or any old Volkswagen. Me and my dad are dying to get some Stellantis products. I want a Challenger he wants a Chrysler 300 which I also like really well. Our neighbor has one with less than 10,000 miles on it he bought it new in 2006 to take his girlfriend on a date he drove it awhile and parked it on the street under a car cover. I asked him about selling it said he isn’t interested in selling that or his truck that has sat for years. Now he can’t drive though so maybe I can talk it over with him lol. If you would have asked me 6 months even a year ago I’d of told you Toyota is the second best and Mopar is garbage but you can see my views have changed. I used to think Toyota and Ford were king but not anymore. Sorry but I faced reality instead of going by hearsay. For other brands I like old Chevy and old Dodge stuff only old though nothing new impresses me with looks or style or anything from those brands in particular.
To cover brands like Hyandai/Kia I don’t see myself ever in one of those but you never know. I do like the Kia Stinger. Never been impressed with Hyandai offerings except the first few generations of the Elantra. We repo a lot of Kia and Hyandai stuff at work I know that lol
. Actually our most repoed cars at work is the Kia Optima and Hyandai Palisade but that could vary place to place its not the brands fault that customers don’t make their car payment lol. And everyday you walk in the Kia/ Hyandai shop there is one to two engines getting rebuilt or replaced. You don’t see that with any other brand. Not saying they are totally junk but I’ve not been impressed by any of them really. Currently I’m searching for a newer vehicle that’s better on gas mileage I’m wanting an AWD/4WD as my commute is 30 miles each way and doesn’t matter if there is snow on the ground or not they want us there. I’m thinking about getting a Subaru Crosstrek or Out!back. I’d love to have a Honda Accord but not being AWD really hurts them on my list. My more modern dream car is probably a Ford Crown Victoria preferably with police style wheels but again there is a problem it’s RWD. I like the Toyota Corolla and Camry but again I’ll never buy another car with a Toyota or related symbol on if. Be terrible to your customers you lose customers. Sorry Toyota people again but Toyota needs to clean their act up about warranty stuff. I also find myself wanting another Ford Econoline or Jeep Cherokee XJ but can’t afford that kind of gas mileage anymore lol. Plus I already own one of each of those I just don’t want to fix them lol. I’ll probably stick with the Subaru stuff or possibly Mitsubishi as I do like the Outlander Sport pretty well. I’d like to get the Crown Victoria eventually though as just a fun car.
Sorry for my long winded post. You asked I told lol. I’m sure a lot will be surprised about my views on things now.
Yeah, I would consider myself a brand neutral. I buy what I like and I can’t say that I’ve ever owned any brand that I hated.
I will never in my life own another Mitsubishi product as long as I live. The rest I would consider.
@ Auto Mechanic......in your view how has the reliability been with the Subaru CVTs? What company makes them for Subie?
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