As it’s well-known already, earlier this week Buick announced that it will soon be discontinuing all variants of the Regal — eschewing it from selling any “cars” for the first time ever and thus officially making it a CUV-brand only. Edward’s CC Newsstand report on it spawned some interesting conversation, notably touching upon the general stigma of Buick as an “old man’s car” and its overall unfavorable image strong enough for many to completely write it off. I can totally see where many people are coming from and in fact relate, and this got me thinking further, is there a brand (or multiple brands) of car I’d never buy because it evokes a certain stigma or unappealing image?
While there are indeed multiple brands that fit this category for me personally, I’ll just stick on the topic of Buick. This is somewhat hard to say, for on the one hand, I’m very passionate about Buick. It’s a brand with deep, meaningful, and interesting history, and one I’ve been secretly rooting for since the late-00s and it’s efforts in offering more competitive and appealing vehicles. I’m probably one of the few who was relieved back in 2009 when GM announced they were discontinuing Pontiac, but sparing Buick.
Yet on the other hand, I’d never buy a Buick. The latest Regal and Lacrosse have certainly caught my eye as attractive vehicles, but for me, their interiors still share too many corporate GM parts bin switchgear and components, and simply don’t feel special or unique from my perspective — easily my biggest pain point and qualm regarding Buick.
Furthermore, they’re Buicks. Alas, over the years Buick built a reputation as an old person’s vehicle (to great profitability I might add), and to this day it still can’t seem to shake it. After all, the youngest person I know who drives a Buick is my soon-to-be mother in-law who drives a Lacrosse and doesn’t look a day over 40. I like to think of myself as an open-minded person, but the idea of driving around in a Buick is somewhat of a cringeworthy thought to me as despite being an old soul, a Buick of any sorts is going a little too far into the depths for me. Is there a brand of car you’d never buy because it carries a certain stigma?
Dodge Ram trucks. Seems like all driven by jerks.
This is an amusing question because it is the exact antithesis of how cars are marketed. The manufacturer tries to build a favorable image of their product that includes the buyer. There is an early Buick Riviera advertisement that advises the reader “to bring home a Riviera tonight, who cares if your neighbors think that you’re younger, richer or more romantic than you really are.” The manufacturer tries to convince the buyer that they can bask in the glow of their esteemed product. They never purposely try to create a negative association with their product. These negative feelings come from the public at large. The resentments seem to follow the age old social script; those that are too rich, those that are too cerebral, those that are too young, those that are too common, and finally those that are too peculiar. Mix and match to your pleasure.
Teslas in particular, are a great example of this
But getting back to the actual question, “Would I buy a car that doesn’t connect with my self image? Well self image changes over time. When I was young I drove older Cadillacs and Harley Davidsons. Not because I thought that I was rich (or a Pimp) or a badass. It’s just that both these marques had a long history and a lot of mystique. In my middle years I drove minivans because they fit my family needs the best. Now I need a full size truck and a SUV, so I have them. Almost all my cars now are Fords; F150, Explorer and Mustang (2). My emotional and enthusiast needs are handled by my “hobby cars” Jaguar (3). Mystique again! Although I haven’t bought any new cars in years.
No list: Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Tesla, Volvo, VW, Subaru, Most GM makes
Yes list: Ford, Jaguar (hey, I might hit the lottery someday !), KIA, Honda, Lexus
While I don’t think “Stigma” has any real meaning as far as car brands go, there are a bunch I wouldn’t think of buying.
1. Subaru. Boring little boxes. My cousin loves his. I don’t get it.
2. Ford. Too many bad ones my dad had when I was younger, so many bad ones friends have had recently and even now. I hated their styling for about 40 years.
3. Mazda. Nothing interests me.
4. Toyota. While I like a couple of the Lexus cars, the rest of them put me to sleep.
5. Nissan.Same as Toyota, with one exception.
6. Honda. Never ever understood the love for them.
7. MB/BMW/Jag/etc. Nope, not into having to have a car “serviced” constantly.
8. Buick. I’m 63, and I’ll never be old enough to buy one.
9. Fiat More of a joke than a car.
If I went purely by lack of problems, I would be buying nothing but Chevy products. My 3 best vehicles were all Chevy trucks. But I don’t like their trucks at all now. And the Camaro is a styling nightmare. Same goes for the C8 Corvette.
At this point, I want V8, RWD cars that look good, and don’t cost over $50K. Hello FCA and hello again, Challenger. With one exception from 42 years ago, my Mopars have all been decent vehicles. I don’t know anyone who has had major issues with any Mopar built since about 2003.
V8, RWD, Chevrolet: snap up an SS if you can find someone who is selling. I bought a brand new 2015 (triple black, 6MT) and planned to drive it until the wheels fell off, but sadly divorces are expensive and she (the car, that is) went to live in Arizona. I would buy that thing back again in a New York Minute and hope to have one again some day. My only complaint was some interior materials and crap fuel economy, but it’s a 6.2L LS3 after all, so that is to be expected for all of the joy, power, and noise that fuel brings.
And as I’ve said above, we have nothing but BMWs now, but not for the badges. Yes, maintenance can be spendy but there’s just not much else out there that checks all my boxes. The X5 came along only because Better Half rolled the CTS on a curvy wet road (no injuries, thank God) and I have nearly 200k on my 330i (also triple black 6MT, I have a type!)
But I would give anything to have that SS back… or my beloved Buick Riviera which met a sad end two years ago, perhaps to the day – it was a Sunday just before Christmas. 😭
Speaking of Christmas, and Buicks… a Grand National, anyone?? 🙏
My bottom three
A Prius-self explanatory
A Subaru-associated with a certain group of ‘women’
a VW ‘New Beetle’-any self-respecting man wouldn`t be caught dead in one
Ok I’ll bite. Satire?
I haven’t gotten around to commenting yet but I had to step in here. I have owned all three and couldn’t disagree more with the stereotypes, one of which makes no sense and two of which I actually find offensive.
I’m male but have no problem with driving a “chick car”. I guess I’m secure enough about my masculinity that I don’t feel any need to prove how manly I am with the car I drive.
Not saying it’s accurate (confirmation bias is obviously in play when it comes to stigma….but BMWs to me are angry looking cars driven by angry men who are angry that they have to share the road with anyone else. Would rather drive almost anything else.
Funny, where I live it’s the women BMW drivers who seem to drive even more aggressively than their male counterparts.
A car joke ca. 1996
What does ‘BMW’ stand for?
Borrowed Momma`s Wheels.
I’ll put it simply; I would never buy any brand new, fancy, supercar or luxury car (i.e. Lamborghini, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, Bentley, Rolls-Royce. There is your answer.), because that would make me look like I was showing off, and I don’t want to give people that impression. However, if I found a classic car of pretty much any brand that was good, clean, reliable, but still fun, I’d get it. Even better, I’d buy something that I could make into a sleeper with that 500hp Corvette engine I have lying around (no, it’s not for sale). I love sleepers. 🙂
Ford, because it’s not a Chevy
Disclaimer: Current Buick owner.I’m 60, the ‘lark is 50. Back OT. Brands I’ll avoid?
Anything by Ford. It’s in my will that my hearse is NOT to be a Ford.
Anything from Toyota. Anything from Peugeot. ( currently in my bad books because the sadists who designed my wife’s 306 (dash out to replace a brake booster, WTF!)
Toyotas are a snoozefest, agreed, but Peugeot? The 306 went out of production almost two decades ago! You can hardly blame Peugeot for a hard to reach brake booster on a 20+ year old car…
Why not? Some sadistic Frenchman designed & built it that way.
You should make your own funeral arrangements then (if you’re serious about no Ford). Wills aren’t often read til after the funeral. Would be a real “oops” moment when they got to that clause.
Before I start, please let me state that my attitudes toward certain vehicles smack of stereotypes, and even prejudices. But I’m very self-aware of this, and hopefully I don’t project these attitudes toward owners of said vehicles.
Cadillac. My perception of the brand may be hopelessly outdated, but I still associate the brand with senior citizens who bought them out of habit, people who are trying too hard to look successful, and gang members/drug dealers, or those who simply want to emulate the “tough guy/gangster” look.
Corvette. I know it’s a model, and not a make, but it has a brand identity that surpasses certain makes. As an unmarried male who is firmly into middle-age, buying a Corvette for the first time (and this is key) seems to send a certain message that I prefer not be associated with. What I find odd is that I don’t see my Mustang ownership in the same way, perhaps because it’s less expensive and slightly more practical.
I drive what I like and don’t really care about the image the vehicle projects. When I was in my 20s and single, one of the cars i drove was a station wagon and trust me they weren’t cool at the time. But I liked the car and I kept it for over a decade. As a guy obsessed with V8s and horsepower, I also had no issue driving a Prius. We needed a cheap reliable commuter car to rack up mile’s and it fit the bill perfectly. The people I choose to associate with don’t out much worth into the image a vehicle projects.
Now, there are cars I will avoid based on reputation or design. I am not going to buy something that statistically will have a high probability of being unreliable. However, I’d never boycott an entire brand. After all , every brand has its good and bad cars.
Vince, you’re the most reasonable person at CC.
Thanks for being here! 🙂
Thanks Paul, but just because I don’t care about the stigma a car projects, doesn’t mean I will own any car. I still have my personal biases that come into play (don’t we all), so at times I can be unreasonable too. Nevertheless, ultimately if I like a car, I will drive it regardless of it’s stigma.
To all: I’ve commented much here because it’s a very enjoyable conversation, but apart from agreement with others I’ve avoided my own loathes for the sake of not inciting a riot, and I’m sure this may (and yes, I know it’s not a brand per sé)… but the top of my list…
Wranglers. Effing Wranglers, man.
Just like Hummers, who thankfully have almost disappeared from history, my observation where I live is that 98.12345% are driven by the same sort of idiots who jack up their truck and put knobby tires on for no reason and never see dirt, let alone mud. They are loud, uncomfortable, ill-handling, poorly constructed, and for the life of me I question the sanity of anyone who chooses to drive one every day. An old CJ? Sure, as a weekend toy… but a new one for new car money? Naw, I’m good thanks.
They also have these attributes, at least in stock form:
1. Extremely easy to drive and park in the city.
2. Have excellent visibility.
3. Very simple and cheap to fix any cosmetic issues that come with driving and parking in the city.
4. Have one of the best, if not THE best resale value of any vehicle out there making them an excellent value proposition. A $40k Wrangler will be worth at least twice what a $40k German car will be worth in five years.
5. Have an excellent warranty
6. Are simple to fix and find parts for
7. With a hardtop are almost as quiet inside as a “normal” car as anything else under 70mph.
8. Are actually available (and stocked!) in a plethora of colors
9. Are virtually unstoppable in snowy conditions no matter the depth of the stuff.
I still don’t get the people that insist that Jeeps all have to be offroaded constantly but have no issues with the Porsche, Corvette or M-BMW (the M does stand for Motorsport) that has never seen any kind of track.
The inherent problem with this question is that it incites stereotypes and tribalism. Which apparently is an intrinsic human affliction. We see a few versions of a certain vehicle that rubs us the wrong way, and then that’s all we see.
I see a lot of stock Wranglers driven by women, FWIW.
“I see a lot of stock Wranglers driven by women, FWIW.”
That’s because many men can’t handle the rawness, purity, and American Freedom-ness of the Wrangler and need to be pampered by their ride instead. 🙂
Ours is woman-driven.
Haha well drive on then! I truly hope I didn’t offend. 🙌
They are supposed to have “improved” over the past decades, but for me the Korean brands don’t have any real class or prestige. Does not matter to me how many gizmos they hang on, or how many former German industry genius designers they employ. Well maybe they’ll get an image boost when the Chinese products get here.
Maybe the market agrees with me since from what I hear resale value for these brands is poor, even if they have brought up the transaction prices from back in the day. I also find it interesting very few people in this discussion are even mentioning the Korean brands, so they don’t seem to awaken much emotion here except for indifference.
My impression of Buick as an old folks car dates way back to ’64 when the retired couple next door traded an early 1950’s DeSoto for a V-6 Special. The elderly couples living on both sides of me had LeSabres. One of them is still there, driven daily. My maternal grandmother had a ’72 Skylark that she passed on to my mother.
Dad’s last car was a gold Camry, Japanese Buick.
A Tarpan Honker. Or a SsangYong.
Only just below any modern Mercedes, which have become such paragons of shiny bad taste that I expect it to be only a year or two till they actually release a huge sparkle-chromed three-pointed star that rolls.
It’s interesting to read many of the comments, as the stigma can be associated with the car itself, whether real or perceived, such as reliability or design. Or it can be associated with the brand image or even (stereotyped) owners. I’ve owned BMW’s, a Subaru, a Pontiac, several Toyota’s and VW’s, a couple of Alfa’s and a handful of Fords. Oh, and a Vega and a Volvo. Included in the above were a TransAm, a Prius and a New Beetle.
But I’ll tend to agree with a few others on Cadillac – the “I’ve made it” image of the older cars of my youth, and the “Fast and Furious” image of the newer performance models just don’t work for me. At this point in my life, those two factors also influence my feelings about some other brands, but none as much as Cadillac. And as the son of parents who fled oppressive or invading governments, I’d have trouble with a Russian or a Chinese car, as much as privately hanker for a Lada Niva. Though to put that in perspective, my mother would never own a Japanese car and struggled with riding in any of our VW’s (she didn’t mind the BMW at all).
Finally, a note on Toyota. If you’re a performance car enthusiast of a certain age, I totally get the perception. But if you’re an offroad enthusiast in the US or Australia, this is the #1 brand for function combined with reliability, though the Jeep guys might argue with the first point. People do things with offroad Toyota’s that are the complete antithesis of dull and staid. As for the Prius, many Prius owners I’ve known (myself included) were engineers who just couldn’t ignore the car’s functional brilliance, image be damned. And there’s a significant number of those people driving Tesla’s now.
Tesla. Not because I hate the cars, or the philosophy behind them, but because I personally loathe Elon Musk. Strictly my personal feeling, of course, but I’d rather not send him my money, even indirectly. You can argue that other auto executives are or have been just as bad, but for me Mr. Musk is a deal-breaker.
Although the stigma is based on perceptions formed long ago that are now obsolete, I’ve never wanted to drive a Cadillac. They were just far too blingy and showoff-y, and in an especially bad way. Nowadays I probably realistically feel this way more about Mercedes than Caddys. Modern Benzes, like old ones, are well-designed cars, but I can’t get past that giant, illuminated logo in the grille.
I’m attracted to anti-bling cars like the VW Phaeton or Kia K900 or to a lesser extent, some recent Mazdas. The specter of low residual values keeps me from buying a new one, but they make excellent used car values.
My whole driving car life, I swore I would never drive a Ford, but here I find one in my driveway. My boys all had Honda Civics, and swore up and down they would never buy anything but, but proceeded to buy something else when the time came. I called myself a Mopar man for life, but got a Chevy after my Dart.
I go with the times, and get what I need when the time comes.
My BIL always had Ford pickup trucks, but then got a Chevy. HIs wife, my SIL, always hated Ford after her Crown Vic gave her nothing but trouble, but now has an Escape.
Another BIL was always a GM man, but now has a Hyundai and an F-150.
At this time, I would avoid Nissan, Ford, Mercedes, and Volvo. I’d be open to a Dodge, a Subaru, a Honda, Kia, or Hyundai. I’m quite sure a Fiat or VW or Buick will never come in to my garage.
I’m 36 and bought a Buick LaCrosse last year. I wanted a car that was quiet but with a decent motor that felt fast with reasonable fuel economy. The interior also seemed nicer than similarly priced cars. I traded in a 17 Mustang convertible, though it was an EcoBoost, not GT.
Hands down the buick feels like a higher quality car. A year later I like the Buick, but consider trading it in as I miss having a convertible. The stigma of buying and driving a Buick hasn’t bothered me. Why let a stigma stop you from getting the product that best meets your needs? Though I’ll admit I like the image and stigma associated with the Mustang much better.
In the UK, it’s any Rover post the SD1. Still gets an easy laugh
Short of an unexpected and massive windfall, I’ll never be in the position of having to decide whether to buy a new Bentley, which is a relief, as I really dislike the styling, brand image and bling of VW Bentleys. (I’ll take an RR Bentley in a heartbeat, windfall assuming.)
And if you think that’s petty, in the real world I wouldn’t touch an Audi. Image, reliability and a personal antipathy towards those scrolling turn indicators!
The brand that immediately comes to mind is Cadillac. While I quite like the clean ‘knife blade’ styling that Cadillac has been using for a decade or so, the image of the car is maybe still unfairly set in my mind as an impostor in the luxury road car field, one associated more with tasteless bling rather than attention to detail and good design. I can’t imagine driving a Cadillac, or having it parked front of the house, without feeling defensive and a little embarrassed.
There’s been a lot of shade cast at BMW here, which I totally get. It’s not the brand it was. But then I watch a video like this one (a 730d cruising on the autobahn at 250 km/h), and I think ‘Yes please!’, to both the car and autobahns.
where I live it seems the young hoodlum types like to drive used Acuras and Mercedes so that kind of puts me off from considering one
Bought my Buick when I was 39. 41 now and I still love it. Best car I’ve ever owned.
Not really many marques I wouldn’t buy but 2 come to mind: Mitsubishi and Nissan. These days they don’t have a lot of cars that are really competitive (especially Mitsu) and they seem to say “I wanted a new car and they accepted my credit.”
When we bought the Buick we went out to the Chicago burbs to an area that has a ton of dealers and we went to Hyundai, Kia, Subaru, Ford, Honda, and Toyota. The telling thing was when we were driving past the Mitsu dealer (my wife used to love the old Eclipses) and she asked me “is there anything we want to look at there?” And I was just like “nope.”
I guess if I had to name a car I would never drive it would have to be an SUV and of those it would have to be the Escalade. I can’t stand that vehicle almost as much as I can’t stand the Dallas Cowboys.
As a counter to Brendan I do drive a Buick Le Sabre now and then but I inherited that car from my father.
At my house we currently have 2 Subarus, a BMW, an old Chevy, a Pontiac, and a Lexus.This time last year there was a Buick. I’ve also owned a couple Dodges, a Scion, 2 Nissans, a Mitsubishi, a Chrysler, and an Audi. For the most part, I don’t care what other people think about what I drive as long as I like it and it isn’t beaten up.
But if you handed me the keys to a vehicle and told me that all maintenance and gas was free and it turned out to be a Hummer, I’d say no thanks. The horrible thoughts I have about other people driving them is too much for me to overcome.
I can sum this one up simply–
ANYTHING GERMAN!!
I don’t care what it is–Benz, Bimmer, Audi, Porsche, VW–to me they all carry the stink of unabashed snotty pretense. Teutonic, over-priced, over-engineered.
My favorite one to pile my venom upon is the BMW. The ultimate snot-mobile, and grossly unreliable for their price point.
Got some choice acronyms for BMW, too–
Big Money Wasted
Big Mother—-ing Wimp
Bogus Motor Works
In Maine, some women are referred to as being a BMW. BMW being short for Big Maine Woman!
I rented a LaCrosse last year on a trip. It was okay. I found the gas gauge hard to read. The shift operated differently than any car I’ve ever owned, but it wasn’t an improvement. In profile, and at a distance, it looked a lot like an Altima. Meh.
But no worry about me buying one. GM burned me so badly, twice, in the malaise era. I haven’t bought a GM vehicle of any kind in forty years and I never will again.
I can’t think of any car brand that I wouldn’t buy because it’s “uncool”, but many that I wouldn’t buy because of poor reliability. So that’s anything American, most things from Europe, and no Australian made cars.
MINI. I don’t like the looks, I don’t like the price, but I certainly don’t like the image. Instagram influencer cars. Same reason why I don’t like Apple products: partly rational (overpriced), partly less so. Obviously I’m a minority 🙂
Toyota and Audi.. Never, never, never. I would sooner be an amputee.
Three brands that I’d never own would be Audi, BMW and Mercedes. Partly because of the stigma. But largely because I don’t have any faith in their alleged “quality.” To better explain, there is no dealership for those brands in my town, so it’s a complete no-go.
There is also no VW dealership, so again, a VW would almost of necessity be a no-go. Might possibly consider a Mazda despite no local dealership. Especially a Miata, especially in light of it’s great rep. Possibly even a Fiata, despite no nearby dealership. I might even be willing to gamble and throw the dice on an Alfa Romeo. I suspect after a test drive, I might be ready to throw caution to the wind and take my chances as I always have a spare car.
Again to better explain my position, I have zero problems with Buick. I actually like most all the Buicks. And have for some time. And, there is a Chevy, Buick and GMC dealership almost walking distance from my house.
There are two powerful reasons I would never drive a BMW or an AUDI.
1.) Their history.
2.) Their history.
While I have a German education, I also have a heart.
I think it would be Chevrolet. There isn’t a Chevy, regardless of its true talents, that doesn’t just read as “average” to me. Can’t help it… even the Camaro seems like a rental and for me, the Corvette, except for the first one always seems a little gaudy and not in a fun, Dolly Parton kinda way.
Buick’s don’t bother me at all. In fact I owned a 2000 blue LeSabre Custom at age 32 and enjoyed every minute of that car! It was a manager rep car which means they ordered every possible option save leather seats. It had a moonroof, 12 disk trunk mounted CD changer, CD/cassette with concert sound II speaker upgrade, power everything, those cool “Rain-sense” wipers that worked really well and best of all the touring suspension upgrade which gave me a leather steering wheel, upgraded suspension tuning, 16 tire upgrade and a switch to 3.05 axle instead of 2.86.
It was a remarkably refined solid driving machine and everybody that I let drive it was very impressed! With that said Buick after 2020 is completely dead to me! The last car I would have considered, the Regal, is going away making Buick a stupid FWD based Cute Ute brand only which doesn’t interest me in the slightest. To think they threw away much of their history in but a couple of model years is just sickening to me.
A successful consultant engineer I work with, founder of his firm, survived the holocaust and only bought American cars, but particularly hated Mercedes because of his experiences with the brand before he escaped Nazi Germany (barely and with harrowing stories). His younger Indian (subcontinent) partner, also a naturalized American citizen, bought a 500SEL, and had a constant debate with his partner about supporting the best design quality and what in life can be forgiven, and do you hold people responsible for the sins of their elders….