What Brands Have a Poor Reputation with Some, but a Great One with Others?
How many of us actively look forward to a trip to the nearby convenience store? How many of us would shine up our car for a gathering at such a retail establishment?
The answer might surprise you.
Hot dogs of questionable repute and sugary Slurpees do not apply here, as 7-Eleven has become a sensation with a younger generation of car enthusiasts for all the right reasons. It starts with the retailer’s well-deserved success in Japan, where premium quality food and beverages are readily available. One such Japanese 7-Eleven even has craft beer. The is why cars (especially modern Japanese classics) and 7-Eleven go together like peanut butter and jelly for enthusiasts of a younger class of classic.
It has come to the point that even die-cast car aficionados have their own 7-Eleven-themed building to make their own 7-Eleven dioramas. The yellow, green, and red signage of 7-Eleven is now synonymous with a specific generation, and a specific car culture.
At least among a certain subset of folks, things have certainly changed for this brand, one that used to be associated with low quality food, and sketchy activities in their lots. The 7-Eleven pivot might not have made it to your area yet, and the old reputation may still hold; a similar scenario likely holds true for several automotive and automotive-adjacent brands. So this is where you come in, as we want the Hagerty Community to answer this question for us:
What Brands Have A Poor Reputation With Some, But A Great One With Others?
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Well I have always been either a British or E type fan in my 20’s and 30’s but now in my 60’s I still like cars that still are quality but still distinctive. Therefore my car of choice lately have been Volvo wagons. Probably one of the best seats in the business and with their top notch safety it’s hard to beat.
Oldsmobile. The best passenger car I ever owned. When GM killed that brand, they lost my business altogether.
Brands GM had every right to kill off and did in some cases: Saturn, Pontiac, Buick, LaSalle.
Fargo. From my past research, these must have been some tough trucks. Shame on Chrysler for discontinuing that brand as well as DeSoto.
International Trucks. Tough, dependable trucks. I wish they were resurrected by Case-IH and sold at their dealers.
The 3 IH’s in my fleet support that sentiment too. They did at one point look at getting back into the full size pickup game in the early 00’s.
Our new 1961 Scout: other than an under-achiever engine (not bad, compared to the 1927-rooted motor of a Jeep, though!) was a neat concept and worked very well. Wish I had it now! Tough, easy to work on, simple in concept and realization. Nice SBC, and…
Mercury. It was not very smart of Ford for killing this brand off. I knew some folks who would not drive anything but a Mercury.
I too was annoyed with the passing of Mercury and the 4 sitting in my driveway (one is my son’s) backs that up. However I do have a Lincoln as a daily driver.
In the past 10 years or so have been disappointed in the quality of Standard Motor Parts electrical parts. They used to be the best, especially ‘Blue Streak’ no the quality is middle of the road. Selecting quality parts is sure a challenge these days.
Harley-Davidson. I bought a 1979 Low Rider and it looked great but would usually break something every 100 miles or so. The electrics malfunctioned, the rear master cylinder blew out, the front forks leaked and the speedometer quit working, all in the first six months and of course it leaked oil. Later on when I was involved in the quality control in the auto industry I learned the difference between perceived quality and engineered quality. All that shiny is not quality.
H-D taking lessons from the Brits?
Lexus RX350 and RX450h. Absolutely the most reliable and comfortable vehicles I’ve ever owned.
I am 100% sold on my Japanese cars. I’ve had my Toyota Tundra for 22 years. Other than routine maintenance I have only had to replace one oxygen sensor ($50) under the passenger seat. Had my Lexus GS350 for 8 years and haven’t replaced anything. Had my Honda S2000 for 10 years. When I bought it I needed to replace the starter and I installed a ($450) cloth top with glass. After that I have not had to replace anything. Back in 1987 I bought a Nissan SE-V6 Extended Cab. I drove it for 15 years and 140,000 miles before selling it to my neighbor. The only replacements were $400 for smog parts and a $65 oil sending unit.
I don’t understand why people buy expensive cars that have terrible reliability ratings year after year. Over the years I have talked many of my friends to go with Toyota/Lexus and Honda/Acura. None have ever complained.
a lot of people lease highline cars. they may or may not have to pay for routine services, and warranty covers the rest. after 1/2/3 years, they turn it in for another new car and the clock starts over again. i was in england around 2005 and at that time was told 80% of jaguars in their region were leased. and a lot of those were company vehicles.
I’ve always wanted to buy American, but since 1970; service costs on non-Japanese cars are prohibitive. So sad! A poor man can’t really afford not to get a Toyota. Oc, they’re homely and the Camry engine, when stirred up, sounds like the noise guys playing ‘liars dice’ in a bar makes! Horrible racket! Worse than Ford Tempo four!
Anything made by Chrysler since 1954. Lousy styling, horrid build quality, unreliable, rust buckets. Almost as bad as anything Jaguar. If you own one, it’s best if you have your own tow truck.
Yeah, gotta’ agree. Went from the terrible dash shifter in ’55-56 to the weird pushbuttons after that. Our ’56 Dodge Sierra wagon blew up on Mom twice on long trips, the second time was fatal and we never saw it again. Post war era had pretty good quality, but despite the ‘forward look’ styling on the ’57, it was a rattle-trap.
Nissan.
Never again. My Datsun pickup, less than a year old, died entering a freeway. At night. With no electrics.
There is something about the culture of that company that is wonky, and has always been. Think back to the great 510 and 240Z. Then look at their ugly undependable products today. Oh, and that extends to the dealers. A friend with a used car lot frequently has Nissan owners upside down on their loans by a large amount (since they have terrible resale0 and desperately trying to escape from them. But the dealers will get anyone with a pulse financed–and at some terrible rates.
and on the flipside, my quite reliable ’90 nissan truck has 450k+ mi with the original longblock – untouched. like every mass produced product, no matter how reliable it is, there will be lemons if only a very few. really sorry to hear of your bad experience, one that would get others even more outspoken. but 1 rotten apple doesn’t make the whole barrel the same. won’t debate either way about dealer sales tactics, but the brand does sell a lot of cars…
I’d comment but the Hagerty “moderators” delete my intelligent and polite posts now for reasons unknown to me. I will likely “moderate” my Hagerty policy when renewal time comes around this year. 😂😂
Well, I don’t know about deletions, but I swear that Sajeev goes in and purposely inserts a few typos in many of my comments. You know, I’m sure I’m typing everything correctly, but then after hitting “Post Comment” and re-reading what is now ‘in stone’, I’ll spot all sorts of problems. That guy, I’m tellin’ ya, he’s a perfect speller’s nightmare!
One of my interns went to Japan a couple years ago and said there are 7 Elevens on just about every block in Tokyo. Reminds me of ABC Stores in Honolulu, you can’t walk 5 minutes without seeing another one.
In terms of brands, two things come to mind: Oil/Air Filters and Exhaust Systems. For the filters, some people only buy the expensive brands like K&N and others will make fun of you for spending so much money when the “generic” does the exact same thing. For exhausts, it truly is different strokes for different folks. I can’t stand the sound of a Nissan VQ but other people love it. Some people love the raspy Corsa exhausts on Coyote motors while I prefer the more throaty tones.
about 40+ years ago, i heard the statistic that bad news travels 11 persons deep, good news, 3. if this holds reasonably true, maybe some of those bad reps aren’t really that bad. personally, i’d much rather be part of the 3 instead of the 11. but then, if you’ve personally encountered a bad experience with a product, it’s kinda difficult to positive.
an example of how and where reputation builds up: one person will get 400k mi w/o issue out of their ’92 taurus while someone else needs the engine replaced under warranty in their ’23 corolla with 5k mi. and so add infinitum.
regarding automotive brands, i think decent reliability wise. most of them anyway, at least compared to 30-40 years ago. still wouldn’t buy a new fiat. or a renault…regarding car parts, most that i buy (and not necessarily by choice) are from china, taiwan, etc. i’ve had fairly good luck with them overall, especially with the name brand items. i bought a chinese made makita 9.6 drill in 1996. used it a couple of years when still a mechanic. never a problem and the batteries held up well, too
and about 7-11 stores. they were all over in LA & orange counties (so cal), at least up to about 20 yrs ago (i moved out-of-state). in middle tn, they’re popping up here & there. what i find interesting is how many gas/convenience stores regardless of brand are being built, and so close to each other. they’re probably all gov’t subsidized, just to have more fuel storage : D
Dodge commercials: especially the ‘Has that thing got a hemmmmy?” and the ‘Dodge Bros.’ series with all kinds of socially destructive acts — or just stupidity — being portrayed. When I think of Dodge, I always think of the two ugly geeks in the Power-Wagon in ‘Christmas Vacation’. Was the pickup in ‘Low Rider’ a MoPar too?
Well, you asked. I M Humble O