Best brand behind Porsche
 

aside from Porsche what brand do you most care for, i like Mercedes and jaguar.

27 years driving Alfa Romeo's. Don't know how the new one's will be once they arrive USA.

I love Alfa Romeos and if it wouldn't have been a huge ordeal to maintain I looked at both 914 Porsches and old Alfa spiders before settiling for the modern equivalent of a boxster... As long as they don't drop a dodge engine into an Alfa or anything they ought to be good!

My two other prevalent daily drivers have been Audi and BMW; but not for pleasure...always Porsche.

My Ford Ranger has 210k and only minor engine sensors. Very reliable. I've beaten the hell out of it.

Our Touareg is a great vehicle. VW is a very solid brand. Well built.

Need to get the MG back on the road!!

I think it really depends on when, as well.

To be frank, I'm not interested in almost anything currently being made. But I have a big soft spot for:

Late 80s to mid 90s Mercedes and BMW.
70s, 80s and early 90s Ferrari.
Late 60s, early 70s Alfa.

And that's about it bar the odd Jag and a few other isolated examples - a few Lambos, etc.

But if I had to pick a single brand, it would still be Porsche. Certain Porsches come closest to my ideal of what a driver's car should be. Late 80s / early 90s Mercedes a close second, but for a different kind of car - the car a pure transport and supremely engineered and fit for purpose.

I like the purity of concept and engineering integrity of certain BMWs, too.

But pretty much all of this is gone now, for me. The current stuff lacks the purity and integrity of old.

Mercedes is the inventor of the automobile and has led the category since.

Intriguing thread BiGJake. Being raised in the UK there are several cars that caught my fancy but I trust many I spotted before most of you were borne.

The following I spotted in the 1950's:
Bristol (----?)
Early MG's td, tf etc.
Austin (Supermarine?)
I rode in Austin A30, A35
Sunbeam Talbot
Ford Zephyr, Ford Zodiac
Morris Minor

1960's
Jensen Interceptor - I liked the way it looked and I think it had a big Chrysler engine.
VW bugs.I owned 3
Lotus Super 7. Never had a ride in.
Owned a Triumph TR3 and an MGB
Austin Healy 3000 - test drove a used one but too rusty and too much $$$

I enjoyed looking at or riding in or owning at the time because I was young. I liked all things mechanical but to own any of them now would be a nightmare - rust issues, parts etc.

Happy with the Boxster but would like a newer Cayman with a warranty. Well I can always dream!:)

Saab....turbo rush!

Honda, hands down for my family, Own 5 right now and have owned 4 others as well that were given away and sold and still on the road except for one that was T boned. The next oldest I gave to my sister and her husband, a 95, still on the road, gets over 50mpg since he coasts on his way down the hill...

a viggen! really wish spyker did something nice with saab

My Subaru Legacy is my workhorse. the AWD is great, ride is smooth, and a piece of cake to maintain.
You can go ANYWHERE in under 7" of snow.
Looking to get another soon, mine was bought new in 2002 and now has 160k miles.

I'm boring.....Company vehicles / trucks for myself; Chevrolet, comfy (they are all LTZ's), dependable and get the job done.

Purchasing vehicles for wife / kids; Honda for the same reasons as above, tack on bulletproof reliability and decent resale value.

Currently modding a clean low mile Miata for me and kids to thrash at local SCCA events, trying to keep it civil enough for the wifey to occasionally enjoy driving with the top down.

Subaru. Currently we have three in the family and have owned a total of seven. Not only have they saved us a lot of problems on winter highways, but they run forever. I must admit that part of our attraction is the local dealer. Not a sexy brand, but a real workhorse.

If I get tired of my Boxster I think I would really like a 308 or 328 (or even a Mera!)

Timco - we seem to have similar taste in vehicles. My other car is a Mazda B4000, which is a re-badged Ranger, and I've been looking at Touregs lately. (You can keep the MG and its Lucas electrics though)

On rereading the question(history of my auto experience above is redundant!) I will try this again. Second choice has to have some excitement. So I would go with either a BMW or Audi sedan/coupe. It might have to have 4 wd for the snow and if I pass on then auto transmission for the wife heaven forbid! And it would have to have some warranty left on it.

G.

Honda was always my recomendation for quality vehicles at a good price. I'm not sure that is still true. Do you have experience with 2007 & newer?

In 1986 I rented a 308 GTI for a day, I was not impressed in the least although it was an enjoyable PPI.

2002 viggen I drove has the quickest throttle response of any vehicle I've tested. Also most intriguing suspension. Good thread topic Jake!

Lamborghini. There is nothing in the world like a V12. Everything else to me is just a car.
Everyone that rolls off the line is a work of art made by the hands of a true artisan.
If I had the means I would drive an Aventador everywhere, each and every day.
No stick shift but at least its not DCT, it's the real deal.

Im boring too. My wife and I have been married 17 years and have had over 30 cars...but some of those were my toys. I am a Honda guy. Daily is an 07 accord with a big v6 and my wife drives a pilot. With all my toys though, I must say...my 89 944 turbo has got to be the most enjoyable and absolutely the most comfortable ride i have ever experienced. I loved my boxsters, loved them...but this 944 turbo is really something. When my kids are older, I will buy another and use as a daily. In Florida, we can get away with that kind of thing year round! :D

Honda or Toyota, never had a non scheduled maintainance repair on any of them. I'll never buy another German car

Honda fit is the workhorse in the family. I imagine that car will last forever, but waiting for good weather to drive the Boxster seems like an eternity.

Toyota and Honda for quality and longevity. I admire Honda for their success in F1. For dream cars, I am intrigued by Pagani and Koenigsegg. If you watch the documentaries on YT, it's amazing how they design and hand build their cars.

My mother has owned many hondas, and she had an 08 Accord when they first came out, it grinded the break rotors very shortly after we bought it, tech said its because they went to midsize but didnt change the breaks at all, it was the first of a body style though, between my two sisters they have owned 5 civics just while in high school and collage, one now has a CR-V the other ran off to jeep. but the 07 civic was great, they both had 2010s as well which drove great, the old 97 civic was reliable as could be and my cousin now owns it, my sister has had no problems out of her 2013 CRV either. My mother moved on to Toyota when the pedals were sticking though because she knew she could get one for a steal of a deal and got 36 months no interest. She often says she misses her hondas though and has always liked acuras.

Triumph, MG, and Austin Healey. I love an original sports car! If they were more reliable, I doubt that I'd even own a Porsche.

Definitely Mercedes. I enjoy the hell out of my '95 E320 (last year for the W124). I used to be a huge Volkswagen guy, still miss my '07 Golf GTI though. That car was a hoot.

For whatever reason, the wife sees cars purely as appliances to be used for a purpose. When we no longer needed a minivan we decided to sell the Honda Odyssey and buy the wifey a new smallish SUV, since we typically keep our vehicles 8 to 10 years I prefer to pay a little more for exactly what we want. I told her to visit the Acura dealer and look at the RDX then to go to Lexus and look at the RX350 and give me her opinion. She did neither, she went straight to the Honda dealership and said "I want a white CRV with tan leather, heated seats and a moonroof, the cars you told me to look at are the same exact thing but more expensive". What the hell do you say to that?

The kids get either Toyota Corollas or Honda Civics (FWIW, from my experience both great cars, Toyotas ride rougher but get better gas mileage, Hondas get ~ 5 mpg less but ride / drive much nicer) as first vehicles, generally 4 to 6 years old with 40 to 60k miles, they are safe, reliable and frugal on gas. They are mine and will be sold to them at a very favorable price after completing college if they want them. If they want something sportier it will be on their dime.

Personally, I have been very fortunate and have owned a plethora of makes / models over the years, the older I get the less I honestly care about a dailey driver. As long as it is relatively comfortable and reliable, I'd get in it, turn the key and get to where I am going. One thing I have come to notice that I've heard from my car elders that I respect and now wholeheartedly agree with.........."it's much more fun to drive a slow car fast than drive a fast car slow".

I'm getting old...............:cheers:

You obviously haven't experienced some of the garbage MB started knocking out in the late 90s! MB as it once was is long, long gone.

if i had to take an suv it would be a very very hard choice for me between the cayanne turbo and the G65.......... who am i kidding G65 all day... my father was a service advisor with mercades for 13 years or so and he would always complain how the g class was one of the most exspensive vehicles but also the one with the worst build quality, they had 3 2013s on the lot with leaking sunroofs.... the worst thing that happened to the g wagon was urbanizing it... the same thing thats ruined many SUVs

I've always had a Honda since the 70s, currently have a Pilot. As far as another car, an S model Audi Quattro is a lot of fun in the winter.

My daily driver is a 2002 Viggen. Saab managed to work some real magic with their turbo tune. The Viggen has a pretty standard single high output turbo but the turbo lag is almost non-existent. Hit the accelerator and the car turns into a torque monster immediately. Not a car for everyone, too easy to thrash. I would be surprised if more than half of the original 3000 made are still alive.

When you drive it over bumps I swear you can feel the control arms going up & down following the bumps without losing contact with the road! ;)

When I was growing up just even sitting in a Merc was a big deal.
That emblem meant you were doing something right financially.

38 models later, Mercs no longer stand apart from Audi, Lexus and BMW. Porsche are heading down that same route in a hurry. Once this budget SUV comes along the brand will be just another ubiquitous luxuryn name. I'm not sure I can think of another car company that transformed itself from iconic sports car status to bloated luxury brand.

That buzz will wear off. And then you'll be in the 981S Cayman. :D

I just saw a black one with these gun metal wheels, tinted windows. That car looked subtle and sinister. and it had the PERFECT proportions for a Porsche. It's the driver's car in tin top form. If I had to have Pcar with a fixed roof, that would be my no-brainer.

I have to say Lotus, I have a 2006 Lotus Elise and I must-say it is the best sports car I have ever owned, don't get me wrong, I love my Boxster but to be honest if I had to choose one sports car, it would be the Elise.:)

What no pics? you lie.

I bet if you had to choose 1 car it would be something else!

If you could spend a day with both it would be no contest.
Driving the G-unit feels like you are going to tip over when turning.
Driving a Cayenne feels like... a Porsche!

how small actually is it? would a 6ft 3 guy with size 14 feet like myself fit into the car and have room at the pedals?