A quandary

[blindswelledrat]

Whats the general opinion on the following purchasing frightener:
With an average budget do you buy the cheapest of the best make or the most expensive of a modest make?
Discuss.
Please.

[m1spw]

Whats the product that you want to buy?

Or more generally, is it electrical/mechanical (and so lots of parts to break) or a simpler product?

[towman]

I have never had to buy a quandry. Are we talking about the 2 litre GT or the one litre automatic?

[cymtriks]

Best of the modest.

You are only paying for the badge otherwise.

Look at it like this Skoda, SEAT, VW and Audi all use the same bits so why buy the Audi just for the badge? The same could be said of the Ford Focus, dismissed by the ignorant for being "a Ford" but demonstrably superior on the road to many suposedly better makes offerings.

The only counter point is depreciation which varies widely in the first years but if you plan on keeping the car for more than a couple of years this really is a red herring as the value of any normal car will have fallen so far that it won't make much difference in reality.

[r988]

So what like a Mondeo ST220 vs a BMW 318i or something like that?

depends on what you need it for, in this case I'd go for the mondeo rather than the BMW because by all accounts the Mondeo is good car.

change that to top of the line Vectra vs BMW 318i, Merc C180 etc and I'd probably go for the panzers because by all accounts the Vectra is a clownwagon

[blindswelledrat]

Do your answers apply to things other than cars?

[B17NNS]

towman said:

I have never had to buy a quandry. Are we talking about the 2 litre GT or the one litre automatic?

Everyone knows the quandry only comes in the 1.8 manual

call yourself a pistonheader

[Mikey G]

When i look at material items i tend to buy the best i can afford from the quality manufacturer. My outlook is that if i went for the budget manufacturer i may get quality parts but put together cheaply whereas the better quality manufacturer may use slightly cheaper components but is put together a lot better.

[james p]

I remember a LJK Setright column years ago where he recommended buying the cheapest of any range as you were buying the same engineering as the top of the range but not paying for the manfacturer profit on the toys.

Mind you this was before VAG Group used the same chassis for so many cars.

However I clearly know nothing as I bought an MG ZT [with most of the toys but at least second hand and so cheapish] and then lost the warranty one month later!

[vee]

Been here with family.
I've always had the 'top' Golf (except the R32).
in the past 9 years, Mk2 GTi 8v > VR6 > VR6 Highline > V6 4Motion > V6 4Motion

Reason is that they were the best value car for the money & were relatively decent quality.
Over the same period various family members have bought, for similar money . .

E36 BMW 316 Compact
E36 BMW 316
E36 BMW 318is
E46 BMW 318i SE
E46 BMW 320ci
Mercedes CLK240

. . all of these were simply for the badge & were all rubbish

Personally I'd trade the badge for the better model every time.


To end, a quote from one of my wifes shallower clients . .

'You drive a BMW, why does your husband drive Golf'

[blindswelledrat]

Dont you think theres a reason 'badges' exist though?

[timmy30]

blindswelledrat said:

Dont you think theres a reason 'badges' exist though?

Used to be, until all of the goods were made in the same giant factory in SE Asia and branded afterwards.