Which survey results are... not good!
Discussion
Oof, Alpine sure taking a beating this morning...
which.co.uk
news/article/most-and-least-loved-cars-for-2023-amzz16g63Uko
money/cars/article-12670963/New-cars-Britons-love-models-owners-regret-buying.html?ico=mol_desktop_home
Ouch!
Apologies I can't post the full links, for some reason the archaic PH system won't let me.
which.co.uk
news/article/most-and-least-loved-cars-for-2023-amzz16g63Uko
Which survey said:
When there’s a problem, it’s always big
Alpine A110 owner
Confirming that getting the mundane aspect of everyday driving spot on is key, the Alpine A110 sports car sits at the very bottom of our owner satisfaction rankings, for both new and used models.
When it arrived in 2018, the A110 was a breath of fresh air in a shrinking sports car market. We judged it to be a ‘true driver’s car’, for its agility, performance and well-judged ride comfort.
While this focused setup hasn’t been lost on thrill-seeking owners, everyday usability has been severely compromised, with its tiny boot, basic infotainment system and lack of refinement coming in for criticism. 'It’s quite annoying to drive sometimes. The seat can be quite hard to adjust,' was just one of the negative usability comments we received.
Alpine isn’t winning customers over with its shaky reliability, either. 'When there’s a problem, it’s always big,' railed one frustrated owner. 'It breaks down a lot,' surmised another.
dailymail.co.ukAlpine A110 owner
Confirming that getting the mundane aspect of everyday driving spot on is key, the Alpine A110 sports car sits at the very bottom of our owner satisfaction rankings, for both new and used models.
When it arrived in 2018, the A110 was a breath of fresh air in a shrinking sports car market. We judged it to be a ‘true driver’s car’, for its agility, performance and well-judged ride comfort.
While this focused setup hasn’t been lost on thrill-seeking owners, everyday usability has been severely compromised, with its tiny boot, basic infotainment system and lack of refinement coming in for criticism. 'It’s quite annoying to drive sometimes. The seat can be quite hard to adjust,' was just one of the negative usability comments we received.
Alpine isn’t winning customers over with its shaky reliability, either. 'When there’s a problem, it’s always big,' railed one frustrated owner. 'It breaks down a lot,' surmised another.
money/cars/article-12670963/New-cars-Britons-love-models-owners-regret-buying.html?ico=mol_desktop_home
Ouch!
Apologies I can't post the full links, for some reason the archaic PH system won't let me.
stanlow45 said:
Oof, Alpine sure taking a beating this morning...
which.co.uk
news/article/most-and-least-loved-cars-for-2023-amzz16g63Uko
money/cars/article-12670963/New-cars-Britons-love-models-owners-regret-buying.html?ico=mol_desktop_home
Ouch!
Apologies I can't post the full links, for some reason the archaic PH system won't let me.
I find mine really quite refined (for a sports car), it's one of its great qualities. As for seat comfort, well I find my buckets much more comfortable than many cars with infinitely adjustable seating, and infotainment, really, have we diminished the thrill of driving even a sports car down to how slick the infotainment is??? Boot space, er... surely pretty obvious that its not big to anyone with their eyes open when handing over the cash and with the right slushy luggage its actually not bad but if you are expecting it to do the weekly shop at the supermarket you've made a bum choice. which.co.uk
news/article/most-and-least-loved-cars-for-2023-amzz16g63Uko
Which survey said:
When there’s a problem, it’s always big
Alpine A110 owner
Confirming that getting the mundane aspect of everyday driving spot on is key, the Alpine A110 sports car sits at the very bottom of our owner satisfaction rankings, for both new and used models.
When it arrived in 2018, the A110 was a breath of fresh air in a shrinking sports car market. We judged it to be a ‘true driver’s car’, for its agility, performance and well-judged ride comfort.
While this focused setup hasn’t been lost on thrill-seeking owners, everyday usability has been severely compromised, with its tiny boot, basic infotainment system and lack of refinement coming in for criticism. 'It’s quite annoying to drive sometimes. The seat can be quite hard to adjust,' was just one of the negative usability comments we received.
Alpine isn’t winning customers over with its shaky reliability, either. 'When there’s a problem, it’s always big,' railed one frustrated owner. 'It breaks down a lot,' surmised another.
dailymail.co.ukAlpine A110 owner
Confirming that getting the mundane aspect of everyday driving spot on is key, the Alpine A110 sports car sits at the very bottom of our owner satisfaction rankings, for both new and used models.
When it arrived in 2018, the A110 was a breath of fresh air in a shrinking sports car market. We judged it to be a ‘true driver’s car’, for its agility, performance and well-judged ride comfort.
While this focused setup hasn’t been lost on thrill-seeking owners, everyday usability has been severely compromised, with its tiny boot, basic infotainment system and lack of refinement coming in for criticism. 'It’s quite annoying to drive sometimes. The seat can be quite hard to adjust,' was just one of the negative usability comments we received.
Alpine isn’t winning customers over with its shaky reliability, either. 'When there’s a problem, it’s always big,' railed one frustrated owner. 'It breaks down a lot,' surmised another.
money/cars/article-12670963/New-cars-Britons-love-models-owners-regret-buying.html?ico=mol_desktop_home
Ouch!
Apologies I can't post the full links, for some reason the archaic PH system won't let me.
The only genuine issue on that list is Alpine's responsiveness to major issues, well documented on PH. Luckily, touch wood after two years and 8000 miles including many long road trips in the heat of summer I've suffered no issues at all. But it does niggle what a nightmare people are experiencing when an A110 'fails to proceed' for no obvious reason.
No doubt a high scoring car would be one thats a dull as ditchwater to drive, but has a superbly modern screen inside, infinitely adjustable seats, a large boot and is a mainstream product from a large manufacturer with hundreds of dealerships and a supply chain awash with cheap spares immediately available. (ok, ok, I know the Alpine/Renault connection, but the A110 is a pretty niche offer).
That isn't what I set out to buy or have though...
A contented owner.
<with its tiny boot>................. seen the size of the car? Surely this is about managing expectations?
<basic infotainment system> this is sort of a valid point. Get one of the newer ones with Apple Carplay and it's no better nor worse than any of the competition.
<lack of refinement> A110 is actually one of the most refined sportscar out there in terms of road manners. Go drive a 992 GTS on UK roads for instance, you will be coming out of it VERY shaken. Why has Gordon Murray used an Alpine as a benchmark for the T50 then?
Unless refinement means it should have Bentley like interior quality?
<It’s quite annoying to drive sometimes> Really??
<The seat can be quite hard to adjust> Hilarious
The only semi valid point being the infotainment IF you own one of the versions without Carplay.
Else no mention of the various issues we all know about: FP, corrosion, alternator.
Speaking of an uninformed publication.................
<basic infotainment system> this is sort of a valid point. Get one of the newer ones with Apple Carplay and it's no better nor worse than any of the competition.
<lack of refinement> A110 is actually one of the most refined sportscar out there in terms of road manners. Go drive a 992 GTS on UK roads for instance, you will be coming out of it VERY shaken. Why has Gordon Murray used an Alpine as a benchmark for the T50 then?
Unless refinement means it should have Bentley like interior quality?
<It’s quite annoying to drive sometimes> Really??
<The seat can be quite hard to adjust> Hilarious
The only semi valid point being the infotainment IF you own one of the versions without Carplay.
Else no mention of the various issues we all know about: FP, corrosion, alternator.
Speaking of an uninformed publication.................
Edited by erics on Thursday 26th October 13:31
It is interesting too that no. 5 in the list of most loved cars is the Mazda MX-5, which has an even smaller boot, similar quality entertainment system, and probably gets even more annoying to drive on long trips.
The main pluses for the MX-5 are its supposed reliability (although I have heard quite a few of complaints about gearbox failures), and the almost 'premium' feel of its interior.
For me personally: I really enjoy both cars and still cannot decide which one I love most. The Alpine is a real GT which is amazing to drive on long trips, but even after more than seven years, every time I drive the Mazda it keeps surprising me how much fun it offers.
The main pluses for the MX-5 are its supposed reliability (although I have heard quite a few of complaints about gearbox failures), and the almost 'premium' feel of its interior.
For me personally: I really enjoy both cars and still cannot decide which one I love most. The Alpine is a real GT which is amazing to drive on long trips, but even after more than seven years, every time I drive the Mazda it keeps surprising me how much fun it offers.
I wonder how big the sample size was. There's only about 500 of us owners in the UK, so to get a fair impression the sample percentage would need to be quite high.
They didn't ask me! I have had my car from new for almost a year now and I love everything about it, but I certainly appreciate it is not for anyone. If I had one of those known issues that can take a frustratingly long time to be sorted then I too would not be satisfied.
They didn't ask me! I have had my car from new for almost a year now and I love everything about it, but I certainly appreciate it is not for anyone. If I had one of those known issues that can take a frustratingly long time to be sorted then I too would not be satisfied.
This occurred to me - small sample, human nature tends to result in more people who have an issue responding than those that have not had an issue (we like to moan!). I ran a quick calculation.
The survey involved c50,000 owners. Approx 1.6M cars sold in the UK each year. Alpine sold 203 in 2021. The Which surveys (from recollection) tend to be for a specific registration period.
Assuming therefore an even distribution of owners between each car this does indeed equate to 6 Alpine owners. (50,000/1,600,000)x203. So I wonder how they passed the 40 owner threshold.
As said, I do wonder what on earth possessed some of the owners to buy an Alpine in the first place given the comments. Surely they should only have been looking at SUVs. I feel sorry for the poor cars that those contributors own, if the cars were animals they'd be banned from ownership for cruelty.
The survey involved c50,000 owners. Approx 1.6M cars sold in the UK each year. Alpine sold 203 in 2021. The Which surveys (from recollection) tend to be for a specific registration period.
Assuming therefore an even distribution of owners between each car this does indeed equate to 6 Alpine owners. (50,000/1,600,000)x203. So I wonder how they passed the 40 owner threshold.
As said, I do wonder what on earth possessed some of the owners to buy an Alpine in the first place given the comments. Surely they should only have been looking at SUVs. I feel sorry for the poor cars that those contributors own, if the cars were animals they'd be banned from ownership for cruelty.
Edited by Colin P on Friday 27th October 08:17
PhilipIbrahim said:
The idea of a Royal Society for the Protection of Alpines tickled me
I bumped into an old colleague at a market event earlier in the week. He owned an S2000 in his early 20s and recently treated himself to another one. Proudly told me that he bought it on 8000 miles 5 years ago and it now has 9000 miles on it, at which point we got called to our seats - I did just about get out a passing comment of "you need to drive the bloody thing" as I walked away.How many left say 884 licenced A100s and 54 on sorn during Q1 2023.
Edited by Colin P on Friday 27th October 08:28
Simon Owen said:
Don’t get me wrong I’m not enamoured with the situation but I think it’s very fair to say the grass isn’t much (if at all !!) greener on the other side is it. If only the Japanese made an A110 eh 
Not so sure about that - it is rumoured that the fuel pump failures on Toyotas is going to cost them up to 150 million dollars....bcr5784 said:
Simon Owen said:
Don’t get me wrong I’m not enamoured with the situation but I think it’s very fair to say the grass isn’t much (if at all !!) greener on the other side is it. If only the Japanese made an A110 eh
Not so sure about that - it is rumoured that the fuel pump failures on Toyotas is going to cost them up to 150 million dollars.... Interesting ref to the MX5 above, chocolate gearboxes etc… our car has been bombproof with no issues. If you read the forum comments on the Emira likewise you’d never go anywhere near Lotus would you, eeek !!!Simon Owen said:
Ouch !! I can only speak from experience, our ND did 100% reliability up to 6.5years in, and then only let me down with a window regulator, I was gutted it blotted is copybook Interesting ref to the MX5 above, chocolate gearboxes etc… our car has been bombproof with no issues. If you read the forum comments on the Emira likewise you’d never go anywhere near Lotus would you, eeek !!!
I did 45000 miles in Evoras. The only thing that ever left me stranded was a key (Ford Transit parts bin) that gave up the ghost. Seeing as the Emira is basically an Evora with a new frock...... I can believe there are niggles, but major issues I struggle to believe are endemic. Interesting ref to the MX5 above, chocolate gearboxes etc… our car has been bombproof with no issues. If you read the forum comments on the Emira likewise you’d never go anywhere near Lotus would you, eeek !!!Simon Owen said:
Interesting ref to the MX5 above, chocolate gearboxes etc… our car has been bombproof with no issues.
I fully agree with your personal experience: 8 years of NC ownership caused only two battery replacements, and now I own my ND for 7.5 years without any malfunctioning at all, not even a light bulb. I only read about gearbox issues in the press.Gassing Station | Alpine | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff