Why are people so stubborn/brand loyal? (2011, German, SUV)

[xlroadster]

I gathered this sentiment from people through conversations over the years. That they'll buy "X" and nothing else, all cars from "Y" are pieces of junk, and I will never buy "Z" because my grandfather had a problem with it and that's why I'm leery.

Carmakers report increased sales, but A MAJORITY of the people I speak to are pretty stubborn in their car selection beliefs. Why do you prefer to buy one brand over the other? What makes you loyal to that brand? Why would you NEVER buy a car from a particular manufacturer or region? And if you did buy a car from a manufacturer you said you wouldn't buy from, what made you cross over to "the dark side"?

Myself, I've had my share of issues with any car I owned, but it's nothing that can't be corrected with proper maintenance. My father once told me, "you take care of your car, and in return it takes care of you." Though I've owned more GM's than anything else, I'd be open to buying anything that piques my interest.

[skoro]

It's SO much easier than thinking.

Turn off the brain and live on autopilot. And it applies to so much more than automobiles. Many people find thinking to be as uncomfortable as an hour in the dentist's chair without xylocaine.

[PDD]

Originally Posted by xlroadster

I gathered this sentiment from people through conversations over the years. That they'll buy "X" and nothing else, all cars from "Y" are pieces of junk, and I will never buy "Z" because my grandfather had a problem with it and that's why I'm leery.

Carmakers report increased sales, but A MAJORITY of the people I speak to are pretty stubborn in their car selection beliefs. Why do you prefer to buy one brand over the other? What makes you loyal to that brand? Why would you NEVER buy a car from a particular manufacturer or region? And if you did buy a car from a manufacturer you said you wouldn't buy from, what made you cross over to "the dark side"?

Myself, I've had my share of issues with any car I owned, but it's nothing that can't be corrected with proper maintenance. My father once told me, "you take care of your car, and in return it takes care of you." Though I've owned more GM's than anything else, I'd be open to buying anything that piques my interest.

Probably the same reasons they stick with one political party, favorite sports team, favorite restaurant.

I changed truck brands one time and got burned.
I bought the "elite" German car brand and got a lemon.

So now I stick with brand F

[mustangman66]

I think it depends on the type of car for me. For instance if I was buying a pickup truck from the 90's it would definitely be a chevy. If I was to buy a pickup tomorrow it would definitely be Ford. For me its the looks. I am a Ford guy, always have had Mustangs but if I saw a 1967 Camaro for sale id buy that too or a 50's chevy. There are a lot of nice Dodges out there as well that I may be open to. There are some brands that I stay away from for no real reason but thats the stubborness in me.

[reed067]

I've had good cars from said company & bad cars from said company. Even new cars. Car makers have created some duds over the years that's for sure. I tend to be brand loyal to some extent myself because I love said companies cars & they way they drive. So what If I won't own a Honda or Toyota, etc? It's my choice in the end or is the OP suggesting we all drive the same car?

[PDD]

Originally Posted by reed067

I've had good cars from said company & bad cars from said company. Car makers have created some duds over the years that's for sure. I buy what I like regardless of if someone else has had problems with it. Being that I don't have a family & I'm single I see no point in buying something that I can haul a football team in. So I tend to buy something fun to drive & gets decent mileage. I think people buy what they consider has been a good car for them over the years. Perhaps the dealership has always gave them a good deal & customer service has been great for them. I could ask why everyone feels the need to drive a suv bigger then thier house when they have no kids or nothing to haul. To each thier own.

Here is one reason people buy SUV'S. If you own a business an SUV is considered a truck for business purposes and can be depreciated and written off or even leased for tax purposes. Something you can't do with your family sedan.
Or course this only applies to businesses that use trucks.

[Retriever]

There can be many reasons, and I can only speak for myself.

In my earlier car-owning years, I never bought the same brand of car twice, and I essentially had no brand loyalty. My earlier cars included the following:
'71 Dodge Charger SE
'71 VW Karmann Ghia (the only one bought as a used car)
'74 Volvo 240 GL
'81 Chevy Citation
'86 Ford Taurus
'92 Honda Accord wagon

The Dodge, the VW, the Taurus, and the Honda were all acceptably reliable, and only needed occasional, minor repairs. In other words, not perfect, but decent cars. The Volvo was the absolute worst, unmitigated POS that you could possibly imagine, and the only reason that I kept it for 7 years was that I was not financially able to replace it for several years. The Citation was very problem-prone, and it spent a lot of time in the shop, but--believe it or not--it was much more reliable than that POS Volvo.

In 1996, I moved to a rural area with roads that were not always plowed promptly in winter, and I felt the need for AWD. Because there was a Subaru dealer only a few miles from my house, I test-drove an Outback, and liked this model enough to buy one--a '97 model.

Well, that '97 Outback proved to be the most reliable car that I had ever owned. Despite Honda's stellar reputation, that Subaru's reliability and freedom from repairs was even better than my Honda Accord. Also--that local Subaru dealership treated me better than I had ever been treated by any car dealership. To say that they treated me like royalty would not be too much of an exaggeration.

When I felt the urge for a new car in 2001, I test drove a few models, but the new six-cylinder Outback seemed better to me than the other models that I test drove. So, I bought a 2002 Outback H-6 VDC from that same local dealership. This '02 Outback proved to be absolutely bullet-proof, and this led me to have some brand loyalty to Subaru. Also--the dealership continued to treat me very, very well.

So--when I again got the urge for a new car in 2010, I test-drove a few other makes, but again I felt that a six-cylinder Outback gave me a better, more satisfying car for the money than the competition did. And so, I bought my present car, a 2011 Outback 3.6R Limited--from the same family that runs the local Subie dealership. As they had with the 2 previous cars, they beat the price of other, more distant, Subaru dealers by a couple of hundred $$

Do I have brand loyalty, or do I have dealership loyalty?
I guess that it is a little of both.
If I continue to like the way that a particular make of car performs and if I find it to be a better value than its competition, I guess that equates somewhat to brand loyalty.
If I continue to like the way that I (and my car) are treated by a particular dealership, I guess that equates to dealership loyalty.
In my case, both situations apply.

[reed067]

Originally Posted by PDD

Here is one reason people buy SUV'S. If you own a business an SUV is considered a truck for business purposes and can be depreciated and written off or even leased for tax purposes. Something you can't do with your family sedan.
Or course this only applies to businesses that use trucks.

I think it's a fad more then anything else these days. Some people feel the need to keep up with the Jones so to speak, I feel the same about those who drive said cars they just want to drive what someone else has.

[Cardiff Giant]

I don't have an answer to your question but for me, life is too short to drive the same brand forever. I bought 3 new Ford products in a row (they were all great, btw) and I realized this. My last Ford purchase was in 1996.

Great question, though.

[DELL37]

I'm not loyal to a singe brand but for my daily driver that MUST be reliable I stick to three brands. Toyota, Subaru and Honda in that order.

For toys of weekend fun cars I could care less what brand they are made by. If it leaves me at the side of the road (which a couple have) then I call aaa and have it towed to the dealer no harm no foul and go on with my life.

As for why I stick to those brands for reliability. Simply. My old man was a die hard Toyota guy and me being rebellious bought anything and everything but Toyota for the first 10 yrs of my car owning life. What that taught me was that a large number of the brands out there have no clue how to build a quality car. Granted some of these mfg's have made huge improvements over the years but I when you go to test drive a 2011 GT500 and the dealer can get the car to start or you buy a 2011 392 Challenger and it leaves you stranded due to electrical gremlins with 2900 miles on the odo you get a little jaded.