For Car Buyers, the Brand Romance Is Gone

[snopes]

To sell a car in the 1980s, dealers had to do little more than open their doors, and loyal buyers would show up to trade in their Chevrolet for a new Chevrolet, or their Toyota for another Toyota.

Nearly four in five Americans were repeat buyers back then, staunchly faithful to brands that they knew, trusted and were part of their self-image. The allegiance often continued through generations of families, like party affiliations in politics.

Now, partly as a result of increasingly fickle consumer tastes and the industry turmoil in Detroit, that hard-won loyalty is largely gone.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/business/21auto.html

[woohmom]

Who cares about "industry turmoil in Detroit"? I'm not buying another Dodge (even though I love the one that I have) because of crappy service at every dealership within 100 miles when it's needed warranty work. And these are at supposed "5 Star" dealerships.

[Johnny Slick]

Also, why in God's name would there be any kind of "brand romance" in a so-called American car that in actuality keeps fewer Americans in jobs than a Toyota? I think "American" car companies lost the last of the goodwill they'd built up and had been spending on putting out crap cars when they piled out of Michigan in the 80s and 90s.

[Logoboros]

Well, in fairness, there's brand loyalty to "non-American" brands, too. My family (back to my grandparents as of the 80s, anyway), was a "Toyota" family. There was much heart-searching when a few years ago my parents decided to get a Honda Odyssey instead of a Toyota Sienna.

[Latiam]

We were Saturn owners. WE don't have the option of sticking with our brand - they've closed it here. I'm thinking of a VW for my next car maybe. Or maybe I'll just get a smartcar. I was planning on buying a hybrid anyway.
I don't know. Pisses me off. GM had our brand loyaly and they f'd it up.

I like the IDEA of a smartcar but the idea of being in even a minor crash in one frightens me.

[WildaBeast]

Originally Posted by Johnny Slick

Also, why in God's name would there be any kind of "brand romance" in a so-called American car that in actuality keeps fewer Americans in jobs than a Toyota? I think "American" car companies lost the last of the goodwill they'd built up and had been spending on putting out crap cars when they piled out of Michigan in the 80s and 90s.

I knew people when I was growing up in the 80s and 90s who were fiercely loyal to either Ford or GM. There was a family who lived near us who would never buy anything other than fords, and a friend from high school never buys anything other than GM cars. I've even been asked on a few occasions if we were "Ford people or Chevy people" (as if no other brands existed in the world). Some people took it to the same level as OS fanboys do when arguing that Macs are better than PCs. Seriously, I've witnessed heated arguments over whether Fords are better than Chevy's, and a response to "what's wrong with my truck?" from one of these people would be "It's a Ford, that's what's wrong with it. You should get rid of it and buy a Chevy" (or vice versa).

[DawnStorm]

Originally Posted by Logoboros

Well, in fairness, there's brand loyalty to "non-American" brands, too. .

Of course. My brother loves Hondas. He still has a 1987 Accord that has almost 300k miles on it. Just a commuter car though. For him, no other car will do.
Some neighbors of my mothers are Chrysler people, but if your son worked for them, you'd probably be Chrysler people too.

[AnglRdr]

My mother's parents were Oldsmobile loyalists: got a new Delta 88 every 2 years. Fortunately, they both died before Oldsmobile was disbanded. I don't know that my grandfather would've been able to drive anything else.

My dad's dad was a Ford man, while my grandmother loved her Buicks.

My dad drove only Fords and Mercurys for at least as long as I was born (except a brief lark with an Olds Cutlass Supreme, the car I slammed my toe in when I was three) until last year, when he made the switch to a Chevy Malibu--his younger brother worked as an engineer for GM until he retired about 10 years ago or so.

Me, I've driven whatever I can afford, but my last two cars have been Chryslers. I wouldn't be adverse to buying another, but I don't need a big car any more, so it's pretty wasteful for me to own anything more than a smartcar at this point.

Brand loyalty toward cars isn't something that is very important to me--toilet paper and toothpaste is a whole other story, but when I do find something I like, I can understand sticking with it.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by Johnny Slick

Also, why in God's name would there be any kind of "brand romance" in a so-called American car that in actuality keeps fewer Americans in jobs than a Toyota?

Because "brand romance" isn't based on how many Americans a particular auto manufacturer employs.

[Mr. Furious]

Originally Posted by DawnStorm

Of course. My brother loves Hondas. He still has a 1987 Accord that has almost 300k miles on it.

Nice. My parents bought me a 1987 Accord when I was in college, and it served me well, even though it was an "R Title" (translation - pushing it off a cliff and trying to trade it in will result in roughly the same amount of money). It was the first of five - after that I bought a 1996, 2000, 2003, and, most recently, a 2008. I had a brief dalliance with a 2005 Camry, but that was the equivalent of a revenge NFBSK because I felt wronged by my Honda dealer. I came crawling back soon enough.

[DawnStorm]

Originally Posted by AnglRdr

My mother's parents were Oldsmobile loyalists.

So was I.
Just got a used 2008 Subaru Outback and with great good luck, it will last at least as long as my '95 Olds did.
Both my parents bought Pontiacs for the longest time; they switched to Oldsmobiles after seeing how rugged my brother's first car (Olds 442) was.
There were always two cars in the driveway, but my father's car was his police car and of course could only be used for official business. By the time I was old enough to know what my dad did for a living, the county had switched to Fords, but IIRC my dad once mentioned that he drove a Plymouth.
The general family car was always a big American made sedan.


Dawn--still shudder when I think of the color scheme of that Ford Torino my dad had for the briefest of times--Storm

[LizzyBean]

Originally Posted by Latiam

I like the IDEA of a smartcar but the idea of being in even a minor crash in one frightens me.

Just FYI, "Smart Cars" aren't hybrids. If you want a good hybrid try a Honda or a Toyota.

I've had an eclectic collection of cars, so there's really no brand loyalty for me. It's almost frightening how my ex's family must have Ford cars and trucks. I think it's a Michigan thing.