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One of my friends from school was French and they had Peugeots, until they finally gave up when Peugeot left the US. His mother used to break into a rousing rendition of "La Marseillaise" in her native tongue when the wagon broke down, yet again, and she was waiting for a tow truck, something that I witnessed twice. I knew it was a death knell for Peugeot when the local dealer was offering a free Yugo with purchase of a Peugeot during the last couple of years of both brands.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
I had a 1969 Renault 10 that was not a bad car. It had four wheel disk brakes back when most cars had four wheel drum brakes. It had a very nice ride, and very comfortable seats. It got 35 mpg from it's rear mouned engine. The trunk in the front was huge for a car it's size. It is one of my favorite cars of all time.
There used to be a lot of dealerships in the United States selling British, French, and Italian cars. These were often secondary brands sold at dealers that mostly sold American cars. Although some of these brands (MG, Renault, FIAT, etc.) developed a following, for many Americans, these cars had a bad reputation. Were they correct?
Having owned many foreign cars since the late 1960's, I can say they did earn their reputation. And it's evidenced by the fact so few of those old models are on the road today. Of course, many of the foreign automakers went out of business, and many did complete turnarounds. Witness Fiat, who now owns Chrysler. And Hyundai. There was a time not too long ago Hyundai had the worst reputation on the planet. Now they build a full line of competent vehicles and are on the heels of Honda and Toyota. And they have 100,000 mile warranties. A friend of mine has a one year old Ford Taurus. It sounds like it's falling apart and the dealer can't find the problem. She's afraid to drive it. I had a 1991 Dodge Caravan. From that experience, I'll never own another Chrysler product. And that includes Jeep. I've owned BMW's, but found they had limited longevity. Over 50k miles and the cost of maintenance skyrocketed as it was breaking down as much as my first MG. I have owned a Toyota 4Runner for the past four years. It has a six cylinter engine that produces more than adequate power and I get 23 mpg (combined). With 68,000 miles, it's only requirement has been fluid changes, battery replacement and brake pads. It has utility that I cannot seem to do without. I'll probably keep it for the rest of my life as it's been my favorite vehicle- for practical reasons, so far. Even Honda motorcycles had their problems back in the day. I had a Honda and as a kid, almost bankrupted me with it's need for constant maintenance. The fact is, a lot of manufacturer's either had to get their act together or perish. Many perished- and many have become stronger than anyone could have imagined. VW us a excellent example of that (despite the best efforts of Ralph Nader).
Even back in "the day", I NEVER drove an M.G. over three years old that had a second gear synchro.
AND...virtually all of them had electrical problems.
Lucus--Prince of Darkness
My '73 Midget didnt have a first gear synchro, but once the second-click part of the ignition switch was changed out for a 1.50 doorbell button, that lil pee wee never let me down. As reliable as a brick. Its one of two cars I miss out of about 20. The choke cable broke, but as a starving artist I couldnt afford to buy another one, so I kept two balls of tin foil stashed under the seat and popped the hood---stuffed tin foil into the carb horns to choke it on cold days. No big deal.
My first car was a 1959 Fiat 1100D that need to be bump-started. So . . . I always ahd to have friends with me, and, park on hills. No biggie
My 'VW beatle was junk. A German Yugo
I think the Renault Dauphine actaully beat out Brits and Italians in the "yer gonna be pushing" categories . . .
Still looking for an updated version of the mighty Trabant
Oh wow . . . Forgot !
Toyotas in the 70's meant you lost your job. Not the same image as they have now at all !
In my neighborhood in Pittsburgh PA, circa 1972, parking one in your driveway was the equivalent of being a leper.
Later, my 1985 Toyota MR2 was the car that ended up on the tow truck more than any other Ive ever owned. My SO has a Scion, but I would never buy a Toyota, ever again. Never.
Oh wow . . . Forgot !
Toyotas in the 70's meant you lost your job. Not the same image as they have now at all !
In my neighborhood in Pittsburgh PA, circa 1972, parking one in your driveway was the equivalent of being a leper.
Later, my 1985 Toyota MR2 was the car that ended up on the tow truck more than any other Ive ever owned. My SO has a Scion, but I would never buy a Toyota, ever again. Never.
So you base your opinion of Toyota on what you experienced with ONE 1985 car?
The worst vehicle I have owed was a 1990 Ford Explorer. Since that time, I have owned three Ford products. All have been good. One bad vehicle doesn't mean ANYTHING.
My bad car experience was with GM.....long term GM repeat buyer until the mid 80's sedan de ville. It stranded my wife 5 or 6 times in 4 years and nearly broke GM and I trying to keep it running. GM did an engine rebuild just out of warranty for us....but it failed again and switched to Japan.....
Lexus and Infiniti since... never been stranded once by either
Brits drink warm beer cause Lucas makes their fridges.
Haha, you beat me to it. One of my favorite jokes.
My Dad was a Chrysler salesman in the 70s on Long Island. Back then Chrysler was selling rebadged Hillman Avengers under the name Plymouth Cricket. He used to take me to work on Satudays and I would sit in all of the Roadrunners and 'Cudas and pretend I was driving, anywhere. One time he was getting ready to show a Cricket to a customer and it must have rained the night before because the trunk was full of water. He was desperately trying to drain the trunk before the customer showed up.
Later, in the 80s he worked for a Dodge store that also sold Renaults. I remember we had a Fuego turbo that would pop one of the fuel lines if you drove it aggressively as my older brother liked to do. I must have replaced that piece of hose 5 times. We also had a couple of Le Cars that weren't bad, at least they didn't break in the short time that we had them.
He also sold VWs for a short time around 75-76. We had a brand new Dasher and somehow the throttle cable broke. My brother literally tied a string to the throttle and drove it like that so my dad could get it back to the dealership.
There's a reason most of those brands didn't make it in the states. I like the new 500, though. Not enough to buy one, however.
My bad car experience was with GM.....long term GM repeat buyer until the mid 80's sedan de ville. It stranded my wife 5 or 6 times in 4 years and nearly broke GM and I trying to keep it running. GM did an engine rebuild just out of warranty for us....but it failed again and switched to Japan.....
Lexus and Infiniti since... never been stranded once by either
My boss bought a 87 DeVille new. It was a piece of junk. The motor had to be replaced FOUR times in a year and a half. Power windows were sketchy. Climate control sometimes worked, sometimes not. And the dinky little front disc pads wore out in 15,000 miles. When I went to shop to get it I brought the old pads back and they were less than half the size of the ones on my Pinto which weighed 1000 pounds less! And I hated the soft front end that heaved up and down non stop while driving over even the smallest bump. Then in 88 my Dad bought a new Suburban that was also crap. New paint job twice in a year. Two transmissions. 3 new AC compressors. When we drove to Decatur TX to pick it up, there were six trim screws missing from the back moldings, there was a BIG paint run on the dash, and the spare tire rattled all the way home. Got rid of it in 2 1/2 years. Boss got rid of his piece after two years, then bought a full size FWD Pontiac that actually was very reliable, proving that indeed one bad apple does not ruin the whole bunch. My Dad however has never owned a GM anything since.
Good question here. I'm assuming that you mean non-USA brands when you mention 'foreign' cars.
My parents currently have two Mercedes cars. One is a 97 E420 and the other is a 98 M320. The M320 to me drives okay but has a weird rattling sound when it goes from a stop to drive when it's in Drive. Also, the dealership said that the transmission needed to be replaced and a bunch of other stuff (including some cheap plastic cupholders they wanted $200 to install-WTF?) and the total estimate for that would be $3500 - $4000. At 130000 Miles (209000 KM) it sounds like this car might be dying. The E420 seems to have the acceleration of a bus and doesn't seem to be very well designed for a luxury car. It has a ticking sound in the engine and I've heard where that's a bad lifter or it could be an engine knock.
We've had other foreign cars and overall the Mercedes' seem to be the most expensive and problematic. It would be okay if the cars handled and performed well but they don't seem to handle or drive well to me. I've heard where Mercedes has a bad reputation over in Europe; I'm not sure if that's true but I wouldn't be surprised if it is. Their dealerships are BAD; they 'fixed' a broken side mirror on the E420 by duct taping it after I think a $100 shop charge. It's ridiculous and I'm glad I don't own one of these things!
I think that some of the foreign brands have a bad reputation that's well earned; I don't get the appeal of Mercedes and I've also seen where Mitsubishi gets crap too.
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