General What is it with What Car?

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General What is it with What Car?

Most cars... Premium or Basic .. all end up in the scrap yard after 12 or 15 years. I don't see thousands more VW Golfs from the 1990's for example still running strong, even though they sold many times more of those than Fiat did Bravo's etc. so the damped grab handles and softy feeling plastics, and "more expensive" (rather than better quality?) parts don't seem to add anything to the life of the car. You pay that premium just for the privilege of scrapping something that was once expensive.



On the other hand.. a cheap/basic car may be easier/cheaper to fix.. that must work in its favour and increase its prospects of survival..? :)



Ralf S.



I think there is a lot of what you may choose to see rather than what is the case.

There are loads of 1990s VWs check out eBay and you'll see dozens of old golfs from that period. If you do the same with fiat then all you'll find is lots of old motor homes that need a lot of work.

A poor example of the bravos and bravas, these did have soft texture rubber door handles that literally fell apart as the rubber degraded and cracked.

A main factor in the longevity of a car is when the cost of repair out grows the value of the car.
If a very cheap car and the repairs are cheaper then this doesn't really make any difference, someone will still scrap the car if the costs of repair grow larger than its value.
Old golf's still have a following in the VW scene especially kids who want a very for a first car but can't afford a beetle or a camper, so an old polo or golf will do, this keeps the prices up, there isn't the same following for fiat so and old fiat sadly ends up on the scrap heap.
 
The reviews nearly stopped me buying my Tipo, but I remember the reviews for my two reliable, fun too own and drive, Pandas were also fairly poor overall.

I did wonder if the reviewers went for a very short drive and then compared notes over a liquid lunch.

When did plastic become a subject for snobbery?.

I think that the fairest review appeared on the Honest John website, and it was this review that helped me decide on the Tipo.
 
A car's reliability will depend on the quality of its components and the quality of it being put together, plus some influence from the design of how it all works. However, in my experience, long-term reliability is more influenced by the way it is driven and treated.

When I first went to work at a Rover dealer, early seventies, the warranty clerk showed me his records. It was the same customers showing most faults, year after year, regardless of which car they had. We saw several instances of cars returned for warranty work weekly, then sold on to a different owner, and no faults ever again. When you buy used, you are at the mercy of the previous owner(s).

My Father was a 'breaker'. Every car he ever had needed constant attention to keep going.

My Panda seems to keep going despite some neglect. I've had quite a few Fiats, all except one have been ultra reliable. And I still miss the unreliable one, just like the rest.

I work with a company who used to run a fleet of Octavias. Now using Civic and V40 as the Octavias were costing too much in repairs and downtime.

I've seen an Audi A4 pool car with nearly 200k on the clock. Apart from faded paint and needing new wiper blades at the time it was first presented to me, it drove very much like the new ones on their fleet.

It is difficult to buy a poor car. It is easy to find a poor owner.
 
I too concur with this as well. Getting all worked up about a car mag' & what has been said that doesn't fit in with your thoughts really not a big deal..;)
 
Interesting - my Grande Punto was terrible for reliability with numerous expensive faults including gearbox, dual mass fly wheel, brake calliper, turbo, suspension top mounts etc... I looked after it well and serviced properly at the dealers and ran it until 56k miles. This was replaced with a MK3 Focus estate and I covered 60k miles of fault free no warranty claims made...
 
At the risk of dragging this thread on, as previously mentioned how everyone has a story to tell regarding their lives with particular makes of vehicles. Certainly not aimed at anyone in particular & you will read the same story on other forums regarding weapons of choice or not as the case may be. Out of the thousands of members on here alone, you will come across the good, the bad & the other when people tell their stories of woe or happiness on their findings in their motor world. No surprises there, it's human nature at it's best/worst what ever way you look at it.

Although I'm at the cynical old git stage in life, I still consider myself a very fair person & take things at times with amusement & do wonder why at times "some" take things in life far too seriously indeed. I've said before many times....I like to make my driving experiences with vehicles as pleasurable & happy as I can. Happy trails to one & all. No I haven't been at the wine.....YET.:devil:
 
Ive had 5 pandas and probably done near 150000 miles in them. The only failure was a wheel falling off on an heavily abused 4x4 86 d reg which was regularily used on the beach and off road in the countryside.
Having bought many cars i always do a bit of research first and check out the paperwork and forums if available and ive never bought a dog yet. Even family members ask me to find their cars for them and never got a bad one yet. Maybe ive been lucky the only thing that i can remember from 20 plus cars of my own other than consumables (cambelts, other belts, exhausts, tyres, and sevice items) was a 120000 mile audi 80 cabriolet which broke a spring. In the last 25 years ive Only ever paid for one cambelt One exhaust and a few tyres but only keep cars 18 months to 2 years.
I tend to buy cambelt done, v good service history and best condition i can find for a fair price also the way the owner comes across can make or break the sale for me, but will spend up to a few months looking to find the one i want as i am quite fussy lol
 
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With regards to motoring press, I too have noticed that anything made by ford or vw tends to receive amazing reviews, and as such, I don't hold their opinions with any value.

With regards to reliability, I would also agree that the biggest contributing factor is how a car is driven and maintained. However, I do believe that there is also an element of sheer luck tbh.

With regards to the number of old vws still on the road, I would agree with andyrkett: I don't quite know why, but for some reason, old golfs and polos are popular with certain type of younger driver, and examples that should really have gone to the scrapyard a few years ago are run as "projects"
 
We often consider reliability by looking at how many are still around as they get old. A better measure, but more difficult to quantify, is how many left compared with how many sold. That will often tell a different story.

But owners will skew the results.
New VWs, even the little ones are more likely to be cherished and cared for whereas Ford and Fiat less so. The only reason there are a lot of old Fords, is that there were a huge number new. As they get older, only the more 'special' models survive.
 
I've stopped taking notice of the motoring press recently. Too much subjective opinion given out and a total misunderstanding of Fiat as a brand overall! Just traded my 9 year old Gp t-jet 5 door in excellent condition 32000 miles for £3250 for a Typo t-jet wagon lounge. Had the two tone seats in met grey and looks a quality item.So far so good. Let's hope it has the same reliability as my previous fiat's. I've owned four now :)
 
Can't resist another dig at VW. They have
been fitting sub standard suspension parts for decades. My Skoda Favorit estate was bought after the VW takeover and it's front strut cups were so weak that after 5 years they were almost touching the tyres. Fast forward to 2023 and we hear that Skoda Yeti rear springs are falling through the rotten suspension arms (do a search for this and scare yourselves). Both highly dangerous cases that should have been subject to recall but somehow they never made a dent in VW's self penned and highly questionable "reputation".
 
I've had 2 audis, a 1984 coupe, and then last of the first A3 models (2002). Both were brilliant, no worse than any other car, but comfy and handled well. My brother has had a few audis too, TTs and A5s, cant really fault them either. From my personal experience, audi are better made quality wise.
 
I've had 2 audis, a 1984 coupe, and then last of the first A3 models (2002). Both were brilliant, no worse than any other car, but comfy and handled well. My brother has had a few audis too, TTs and A5s, cant really fault them either. From my personal experience, audi are better made quality wise.
One more point regarding Fiat v VW. Try to find a rusty Grande Punto and you will be looking a long time. Even blue badge ones are still in great shape. Golfs of similar age are frequently rusty around the wheel arches but when new they were far more expensive than the Grande Punto.
 
The press here are so in love with VAG Group that its ridiculous.
If the Tipo had a Skoda badge, they'd be lapping it up
They always come out against Fiat, even with Alfas there is always "but" at the end of the review
I liked our Tipo a lot, more than I thought I would and still miss the boot compared to the 500x we have now
 
This was what my stepdaughter did to her Punto a few years ago…….we put a rope on it, pulled it back over onto it’s wheels and towed it home as to avoid recovery costs. It still started and drove fine after! Obviously was scrap but shows how tough those little cars are…..goes without saying the replacement car was another Punto! Could the same be said for a polo or similar?
 

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