Honda, Mercedes Most Respected Car Brands
A poll from Harris Interactive attempts to show what people really think about automakers' reputations.
Honda and Mercedes-Benz are the most respected car brands in America -- the former among mainstream manufacturers, the latter among luxury badges -- according to the latest poll from research company Harris Interactive. Of all luxury automakers, Mercedes came out on top for the second year in a row, followed by BMW, Lexus, Cadillac, Acura and Infiniti. Audi, which has been seeing month-over-month sales increases for more than a year, finished last.
For nonluxury automakers, Honda was ranked first, followed closely by Toyota -- this, despite less-than-stellar opinions of the new Civic and Toyota's massive recent recalls. The other automakers, in order, were Ford, Nissan, Chevrolet, Subaru, Hyundai and Volkswagen.
Harris, which asked more than 38,000 people how they favored certain brands, is not like the more popular surveys from J.D. Power and Associates, which also track customer opinion regarding automakers and specific car models. Harris, which has been conducting surveys since 1989, did not say what its rankings actually mean, nor did it divulge any sample questions or describe the format of the surveys, though it did say the line of questioning hinged "on key measures of brand health -- including how well the public knows a brand, how positively they think of the brand and their consideration to do business with ... a brand."
What do you think of these automakers, and do they really deserve to be recognized in this order? What about all the other automakers that aren't on here? We've got plenty of opinions, so tell us.
[Source: Harris Interactive]
how do you respect an inanimate object?
I know allot of people who own mercedes and they all stay in the shop and if you think American made autos are expensive to fix, go pay for a simple tune up on an MB. you will part iwth a grand or better to put a set of plugs in one.
once again people purchase with their emotions rather than look at the big picture. But that is their business. I wished I ownd an MB dealership and could get rich pushing a mediocre product.
When I met my wife I used to tease her about driving a rice burner. I used to criticize her for driving a foreign piece of crap. I only had owned GM's and Ford's previously.
When I am wrong, I admit I'm wrong. She never had any problems with that Honda and drove it to over 250,000 before we sold it. As a matter of fact, I had more mechanical problems with my American made vehicles.
We have now owned Honda's for the last 22 years. We drove a 1994 Honda Civic for 277,000 miles before selling it to a coworker about 3 years ago. They are still driving it as a commuter car.
Our current 1999 Civic, which we bought used, got our daughter through college. We assumed it back after she bought a new Civic. It now has 264,000 miles and is still going strong.
You might pay a little more for Honda, but if you want a car that lasts longer with fewer issues than check out a Honda. You got this former GM and Ford guy convinced.
TO "10NMBRI"
What an arrogant fool you are...perhaps you should do some reading before you start spouting your ignorance. Search out some MB blogs where you can read what all your snobby crybabies have to say about their expensive cars. What a pile of garbage they are, and how many times they have had to take them back, repeatedly for the same issues...
By the way you arrogant fool, I drive a Dodge Magnum...awd...and was very dissapointed when it puked its tranny at 130000 K. When I took it in is when I found out it has a Mercedes Benz transmission. Yep superior quality....what a fool!
well not to burst any bubbles here but here is how I see it. Your auto is like the second largest expense, but in buying new cars we all take it up the you know what. Merceedes...wow great car, extremely beautiful, but $500 dollars for plugs and wires when the time comes thats after that big fat sticker price. What happened to America being the land of the free, heck last I checked I pay heavily ffor everytrhing I own. I have never bought a new car for the simple fact that when you really look at things in america.....do you ever really own anything. Tax, registration, fees, insurance inspection, emissions, should I go on? I try to keep it real, but i cant live in my car, so I wait on you guys who really take care of your nice new cars and are ready for another reamming from the auto manufactures. Drive a 2000 Volvo cars has 180,000 miles on it but was well kept. Beautiful car rides like a dream, and while yes at repair time I take a hit, my initial cost was only $3000.00.
I simply think that once we buy from these big manufacturers and get hit with those 40, 50, 60 thousand dollar sticker prices a law should be made to keep parts service and repair resonable for the life of the car no matter who many times its resold. I too own my own business. I do computer sales and services and when someone buys a pc from me I try to do cheap repairs and maintenance on them until it dies. I think that should be the american way.
I have nothing against "buying American" if one so chooses but people need to get their facts straight. Many of the US big three's cars are actually made in factories abroad while foreign auto makers are building their vehicles in the US. Ironically my 2011 BMW X3 was built in South Carolina and my previous car a Mercedes was made in Alabama.
My first car was a 57 VW. My dad owned a repair shop and his last American made car was a 65 Newport. Rusted in 6 months. I have never owned an American brand. I do feel that if you hold on to a car for three years and less than 100,000 most any car will serve you just fine. The quality comes out over several years. My 89 Toytoa Camary was a gift to my brother with 313,000 miles he sold it with 359,000 miles on it. It would not stop running. Anyway it is all international now. And there will be no turning back. Camray's made in Ky, Nissans in Tenn, my Dodge pickup, several years ago, was made in Mexico. That Town and Country minivan is made in Canada. So long as American workers are making money That is fine with me. We all want to most for our money, and the most dependable car we can get. It is called Capitailism.
@Cars101 - Lexus is the luxury brand owned by Toyota, hence why they had the same problems and why most Lexus vehicles have Toyota counterparts that look almost identical.
Also, I don't care which brand people drive as long as they aren't trying to be a dbag. There are some people that drive their vehicles and look like effing, entitled a**holes, whether they're in an F150 or a Benz.
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