JoeR

Good luck with brand loyalty there!

Three of the five you mentioned are gone!

Personally, brand loyalty has meant absolutely nothing for me over the years. I've owned a whole bunch of brands. Purchasing decisions were made based upon what my needs were at the time and what I liked.

BTW, my HHR is my first Chevy.

Krash Kadillak

I don't really have any 'loyalty' to any one brand, but if I have a real good experience owning a vehicle from one certain manufacturer, it makes me more inclined to buy other vehicles from that same manufacturer.

Back in 1998, I bought a 1997 Ford F-250 (not a Super Duty) P/U (basically a F-150 with heavy duty stuff and 7-lug wheels). Used it to pull a trailer. Loved it - rode nice, reliable. We got rid of the trailer, so we didn't need a P/U anymore. Got a '96 Chevy Blazer. Hated it. Kept it for 2/3 years, then we were finally able to afford something new - bought a '03 Explorer, which my wife still drives. Very comfortable and reliable. Because of the Ford experience, when it came time to buy 2 cars, one for me and one for my daughter, we purchased 2 Ford Focuses...on the same day. Daughter stil has hers, and it's running like a champ. Mine WAS running good - until I totalled it a few weeks ago. Now I could have bought another used Focus wagon, but I wouldn't have found one equipped the way I want it - so I has to try something different. The HHR is anexcellent replacement. I've had Chevys before. Heck, I've had at least one of almost everything, except Honda.

Old Lar

Cars I've owned:

VW 1
Suzuki 1
Plymouth 1
Ford 2
Pontiac 5
Chevy 5
Buick 1

Seems to be a GM trend

JoeSchmoe

Thanks for the link... very interesting. Chev is about average... Ford is #1 and Dodge is floundering bad...

I've owned Fords, Jeeps, Nissan and Chevy.

No brand loyalty. I don't believe in it. Chev offered the best deal on the fastest and most practical car I could find. Mini was good, but too expensive... Solstice GXP was impractical (but oh so awesome!!), RX-8 was great too, but pricey... I surprised myself and went with the HHR SS.

I've had excellent luck with all my vehicles except the Ford Ranger... 2.8L motor and auto tranny. What a horrible choice. Couldn't get out of its own way. Good at 4x4ing though!! It kicked some Toyota ass in deep snow! It surprised me as much as the Toyota guys... then the tranny overheated and proceeded to leak all the tranny fluid from a relief valve. I had a gearbox full of neutrals as they say... haha! Stuck on a mountain in the snow! Thanks to friendly snow-mobilers I got to town and back!

pitbull76

I'm not too brand loyal, but I do tend to prefer Ford, Chevy, and Honda over most others.

c2vette

Ford almost had me with the Laguna Seca Edition Boss 302....until I found out how much the list price is and the fact it will be very limited edition which means a mark-up above an already high price. Looks like a 2008+ Z06 is still what I am saving for.

Krash Kadillak

Interesting you bring up the RX-8.
My younger daughter has pretty much worn out the $1,000 beater we bought for her when she was 17 ('91 Camry). She's 21 now, and in no position to afford a new car.

I was checking various vehicles and found I could get her a used RX-8 for about the same price as a Toyota Celica. I've got some rotary experience - my first new car was a '74 RX-4.

We'll be seriously looking in a couple of weeks...

JoeSchmoe

I test drove the heck out of one (the sales guy was great). What a little screaming machine!! You have to rev the crap out of it for it to move with any velocity, but the sound is wonderful and it corners with great tenacity! I'm a BIG fan of those cars, but it was out of my budget for a new one and I didn't find a used one that I liked.

Great interior too...

Uses more fuel and oil than a normal 4-banger.

Those are amazingly gorgeous and agressive-looking cars with performance to match apparently...

http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car...hotos_and_info

Krash Kadillak

I've cautioned her that this isn't a car that she can just put gas in it and drive. She's done her research and joined the RX-8 forum and has asked questions. Also has a connection to someone who is fairly knowledgable about them. We had to pay a few hundred dollars for a used engine in the Camry a while back, due to her ignoring her routine maintenance. I told her I'm not buying her a new engine for any RX-8........

One thing that came up in our research is an oil issue. Apparently a lighter-weight oil was specified on the 2004's, possibly due to trouble meeting emission regs. Some of the engines wern't lasting very long. Owners were switching to a slightly heavier weight oil with was helping with longevity, but Mazda wasn't honoring warrantys with the heavier oil. Got to look into this issue more. Apparently, there's some kind of 100k warranty on the engines.......

843de

Boy Krash if she used up an engine due to forgoing routine servicing I'd be leery of a rotary. They sure are fun to rev the nuts off of, but I've been told they're like a grenade with the pin out. I have an employee with an RX-8 and he loves it until it breaks which is often and expensively.