A lot of car buyers are loyal to their favorite automakers, almost to a fault. In my travels, I’ve met Ford guys who say they’d never buy a Chevrolet, Ram guys who’d never buy a Ford, BMW guys who’d never put their hands on anything American, and pretty much all points in between. Automotive tribalism can get weird sometimes, but it makes us think. If you had to live with a single car brand for the rest of your life, which one would it be, and why?
This is a question that’s hard for me to answer. I love all cars, even the deeply unloved ones. If anything, the more a stereotypical enthusiast hates a car, the more I’m likely to love it. I do own six Smart Fortwos, after all. Still, I also own lots of other cars and motorcycles, from American classics to a Japanese rotary. Telling me to pick only one brand feels like torture.
For the purposes of this question, the brand you choose is the one that you also have to drive for the rest of your life. This means that you can’t just rent a car from another brand as a sort of loophole. No, if you rent a car, you have to rent a car from your chosen brand. Also, brands that are technically related to other brands, like Ram, DS, Polestar, or SRT, are considered their own brands for this exercise. I suppose the one loophole would be that you can be a passenger in another brand’s car.
The implications of this can be grand. If you choose a brand that builds nothing but sports cars, you’re sort of screwed if you ever need to drive a truck to move out of your house or apartment. Likewise, if you choose a truck brand, you may never experience the thrill of driving a roadster or a sports car. Logically, the best choice here would be a full-line automaker that has everything from sports cars to trucks.
Despite the rules I set above, I would still pick Smart as my one and only brand to live with.
I’ve gotten through much of my life already, depending on a Smart Fortwo to be my everything. My 2012 Smart has worn many different hats throughout its life. There was a time I treated it like a tuner car, a time when I had it towing trailers and working like a pickup truck, a period when it was my off-roader, and more. My Smart fleet now has a frugal 70 mpg diesel, a convertible, a beater, and a speedy turbo model. Smart has also built a weird street legal go-kart, a sports car, a couple of small four-door hatches, and now it makes a bunch of crazy fast electric SUVs.
If I need to go faster, I suppose I could just soup up a stock Smart engine or have someone implant a Suzuki Hayabusa engine or a Toyota Paseo engine into my car. Some wild builders also used to make six-wheel Smart pickup trucks, too. I could pretty much have most parts of the car world covered with an armada of Smarts.
I think if I had nothing but Smarts for the rest of my life, I would depart from this mortal plane as a happy woman. So, here’s where I turn things to you. A terrible sorcerer is using magic or whatever to force you into sticking with a single car brand for the rest of your life. What brand is it, and why?
I would have to say Ford, but entirely by accident, sort of. Also, please don’t make me choose – I love my Wrangler too much.
I grew up a GM guy in a GM family. In series – 72 Vega, 73 Monte Carlo, 80 Camaro, 84 Firebird, 94 Camaro, 98 Blazer. Then suddenly I turned around to buy a new car in 2016 and realized that the majority of my cars over the last 15 years were Fords. I guess I am a Ford guy now (16 Fusion, 08 Focus, 24 Mustang).
As I said, though – don’t make me choose, or I would have to give up the 21 XJ, the 60 CJ (both gone to the great beyond) and the 21 Wrangler. I still have a thing for GM cars, but it has literally been over 20 years since I owned one.
Valmet Automotive has a pretty diverse lineup.
I would say Hyundai. Economy Cars, SUVs aplenty, Hybrid, Plugin, Electric. The only thing it does not have is a full size pickup but they also have Construction Equipment and Cargo ships.
Gonna assume someone’s holding a gun to my head and paying for the choice…so I choose Oshkosh.
Mutual aid disaster relief in an 8×8 beast? Check. Telehandlers to rebuild? Check. New USPS vehicle to tool around (what used to be) town in? Check.
Those stepvans Oshkosh used to make were great.
Toyota. they have a wide variety of models and joint ventures that still give it some fun and unique vehicles. plus, IMO, they have good build quality and stability as a company.
I would go with Chevy, and then Ford/Toyota close behind. Partly from growing up in a town with a GM plant, though mostly for the range of vehicles, ease of repairs and parts availability.
Toyota for many reasons general build quality variety of lineup. Plus probably a cheat way to get access to other Japanese automakers Toyota has a majority in. Either though shared models or some badge engineering.
Being a guy that owns 2 Datsuns, the answer is obvious. With Nissan you get decent trucks (Hardbody, Navara), supercars (R35 GT-R), cool sportscars (370Z, Silvias), great classics (240Z, 620 …) and reasonable dailies (Altimas and such).
However, if you were to force me to chose a brand of VEHICLES the choice gets harder because of motorcycles. Honda or BMW maybe?
Toyota
I have to pick 2, GM and Honda. I can go either way, but I would lean towards GM these days, as the past 10 years of Honda design language has not interested me in the least bit. These brand new ones are getting back to the Honda of yesteryear.
Willys-Overland.
After owning 84 cars in my lifetime, it’s probably Subaru. Currently own a 25 Forester with all the goodies. IMHO, Subaru doesn’t do anything particularly great, but does everything well. Ownership and dealer experiences have both been good. And… who else sells gray SUV’s?
84 cars?! Are you 190 years old and still driving Marty, or do you routinely own several at once, or change cars every six weeks since you got your drivers’ license? 😉
68 yo. Let’s call it an understanding wife…
Color me impressed, regardless of how it is accomlished. 😉
Sorry to say, but it’s going to be about as unexciting as you could imagine: Toyota.
For one thing, I have no intention whatsoever of ever selling the truck. It’s not an exciting vehicle except it has achieved such an advanced age for a vehicle that it is becoming exciting-ish simply by dint of having made it this far.
For another, I’m not an exciting driver. I’m one of the more conservative drivers you’re ever going to meet – I actually believe in speed limits and don’t exceed them as a rule. So Toyota, with its very conservative bets in design and engineering, suits my driving style too.
If I had the money to spend and room to keep them in, I would have quite a collection of orphans: AMC, SAAB, International. I would be the weirdest car collector, placing a diesel Chevette on a plinth to be admired for the choicest that defined its design. I’d restomod an AMC Eagle to be halfway powerful, thrifty, a go-anywhere hauler that looked exactly like it did in 1985. I’d daily a 2CV because, I mean, look at it.
But until I win the lottery, I have to make my money work very damned hard, so it’s just going to be Toyotas.
I’m going to disagree that it’s that unexciting of a choice. It’s a full-line automaker. You can get a sedan, a truck, an SUV, or a couple different sports cars. Not many others with all the options covered.
Ford still sells the Mustang, so they might be in contention. I guess Honda isn’t a bad option.
Chevy won’t sell you a car.
Dodge doesn’t sell anything anymore.
The Germans won’t sell you a truck (well, maybe you could get one over 25 years old).
Toyota designs for reliablity and durability. It may not be the most luxurious experience, but after 10 years or 150k they still often look near new, inside and out. I think they have better corrosion protection than Honda IMO.
Since the death of Saab I feel like there’s no real perfect answer, but it would probably have to be Cadillac. I found my way there with a a 6spd ATS-V Coupe and it’s really quite great! The blackings are there to give the rear-drive stick experience, an Escalade ESV could haul my 84in sofa’s to design shows and pack a ton of stuff for longer trips, and I actually really quite enjoy the designs of the EV line (Lyriq looks better than most almost all other crossovers on the road, easily). I’m a convertible diehard, so unless they deliver the Sollei (as if I could ever…) I’d be out of luck but that sounds kinda like most brands these days anyhow
You can buy an old land yaught convertible for a pittance.
Oh which I would totally do (and very much intend to!). I suppose I got stuck in the current and forward look of the question, given that the Saab one is great but stuck in the past with no actual future 🙁
GM. Broadest product portfolio. Ford in second place. GM may not have a dedicated off roader, but that’s not something I do (though, if you count the Tracker back in the day).
No other automakers come close
Only GM and Toyota are now full line car makers in the US. Ford abandoned the car market.
For me it would probably have to be Jeep. They have enough aftermarket support that even if Jeep goes under long term I’d be able to hodge podge something together without it costing too much time, money, etc.
Towing with a Jeep would suck, but that’s really the only concern I’d have.
As much as I love German cars, there is no one German brand that would keep me happy based on my needs (I like personally having more than one car for different things). Right now my dream garage would be an Audi S3 and a BMW Z4 with the inline 6 and 6MT.
So I think I’d go Mazda. I’ve got the 3 for “practical small car”; the Miata for fun, and I’d probably go with the CX30 for “I want a small crossover that isn’t going to bore me to death”.
Damn hard question. I have had 5 jeeps and my current Wrangler meets all my personal and hobby transportation needs. (if it was a bit longer in the back I could sleep in it while camping). I want to say jeep but, you know, quality.
I am at the age where my wife just this week mentioned that after the wrangler I will probably get to buy one more vehicle that will be for the rest of my life.
Given that I would have to go Toyota. I think my next new vehicle will probably be a 4Runner or Land Cruiser.
Toyota has such a range of vehicles that it would be easy to meet a life of transportation needs.
By the early 90s, I thought I’d be a Saab guy for life, but the GM’ified 9-3 undid my loyalty by feeling like just another car. I’ve been a brand nomad ever since, willing to be won over but never quite getting there.
I came to the Saab game much later than you, but I feel the same way. Since it’s closure it’s just been a jettisoning! Who knows where to go… I now have a Cadillac and an old Benz and a Model 3, to show just how weird that’s gotten
I like the idea of extending this to ALL personal vehicles in addition to cars/trucks like motorcycles, ATVs, boats, tractors, etc. In that case, Honda is a stand-out choice here having all of those and more.
You could drive to the airport in your Honda NSX, take off in your HondaJet, fly over your property maintained with Honda tractors brought onsite by a Honda Ridgeline, land in the mountains, jump on a Honda ATV to drive up to your cabin (powered by Honda generators), then go fishing in your Honda-powered boat.
When you no longer have much mobility on your own, you can dawn a Honda wearable exoskeleton to extend your mobile independence, and when that’s no longer viable, you can get a Honda Box with wheelchair lift, and a Honda ASIMO to help out around the house.
I like many brands, but Toyota seems the most well-rounded. Need an offroader? Several options. 3 row SUV. Again, several choices. EV? Yup. Hybrid? Lots. Giant half ton pickup? Done. Sportscar? Again, yes.
Well, I currently own a Chevy, Ford, and Mazda. The Miatas are my favorites…but I would have to go with Ford since they have a vehicle to apply to any situation I would need whereas Mazda does not.
Toyota.
Just for the variety. I don’t know what I want next, but Toyota will always offer something pretty darn close to what I’m looking for.
This is the correct answer.
“Rest of your life” could be a long time and I’ve got things to go, people to do, places to see. I can’t make this selection based on desire, I’ve got to go with reliability and maint/repair affordability. It has to be Toyota.
Trucks to work, sedans/hatches to commute, minivans/SUVs to tote family, sports cars to play, none of which I’ll ever worry about if I’ll throw even the smallest bit of care to.
They have a strong back catalogue too. Buy an old Celica or Paseo if you need a convertible. The Supra was a legend.
This one’s easy – as anyone whose ever known me for any length of time would say, “Cadillac”. It’s hard to say where exactly the obsession began, but Cadillac has been my favorite automaker going back to when I was maybe five or six and got to ride in a 1967 GTO.
That ’67 GTO was instantly my favorite car, until I saw a really nice 1968 Cadillac for sale in a nearby town. I think it sat in the owner’s driveway with a for sale sign on it for over a year. I thought it was one of the coolest cars I’d ever seen – it was like the GTO, only even better looking somehow (I didn’t know anything about GM and how Pontiac and Cadillac were cousins at the time).
From there it just seemed that every time I saw an older car I really liked , it ended up being a Cadillac. Especially the gorgeous custom-painted purple and white 1959 Cadillac I saw at a local car show all done up with wide-whites and curb-feelers at all four wheels. I couldn’t hardly believe such a car was ever built.
I had also heard “Cadillac” referenced in quite a few of songs in The Old Man’s record collection. Among them, Maybelline, Beep Beep, Little Cobra, One Piece at a Time, and probably a few others RCR would refer to as the “Winga Dinga” genre.
Thankfully, even though my parents thought my taste in cars was pretty hideous, they entertained it with Christmas gifts and such. In 6th grade they got me a book about the history of Cadillac from the late 40’s up to the 80’s. By 7th grade I had read that book through enough times and knew enough about the different engines sizes, styling cues, and other minutia that I could thoroughly bore just about anyone to tears if somehow the subject matter came up.
I’ve owned at least one Cadillac since I was fifteen. That first one was a 1969 Sedan deVille I paid $350 for. Started fixing it up, but was distracted by a 1968 Coupe deVille that looked just like the one I had seen as a kid – “Firemist” maroon with a white vinyl top. It had also sat for awhile and since the owner had mistakenly left the windows down during a rain storm, and then let it sit awhile longer, talking him down from $4000 to $1450 didn’t take all that much doing. And I got exactly what I paid for. It was still a great looking car though, plus one that I learned a lot of wrenching and electrical trouble-shooting skills on.
Towards the end of college, the first car I ever took a loan out for was a 1989 Cadillac Brougham and proceeded to drive it all over the country. That eventually was traded for a 1994 Sedan deVille and right before getting married I bought a 1998 Eldorado that ended up being the car my wife and I brought our daughter home from the hospital in. Along the way I’ve owned three different ’59 Caddies, a really nice low-mile 1967 Sedan deVille, a gorgeous ’75 Eldorado, a nicely reconditioned ’93 Sedan deVille, several other Broughams, and the current couple in the fleet – a ’94 Fleetwood Brougham that is my family’s current trip car and a ’71 triple-black Sedan deVille that’s currently in project-status. Amazingly, I have a slew of great memories associated with all of these cars.
I’ve gotten into a few other makes as well, Jaguar being my favorite of those and Mercedes closely following, but the Cadillac obsession remains and has actually been reinvigorated lately with what they’re doing these days in IMSA, the Blackwing cars, the Celestiq, etc. I’d certainly have no problem driving Cadillacs exclusively from here on out.
TL;DR: Cadillac
Cadillac seems to be on the upswing, but still a shadow of “The standard of the World”. Neighbor growing up had an Audi 5000S, a late 60’s Mercedes S class, and an ’84 or so Eldorado. Just by looking you could see and feel he inate quality in the Audi. The old Benz was sublime, all the materials were real and hefty. True, lasting quality. The Cadillac was all glitz with no substance.
That’s a nice mashup of interesting cars your neighbor had. I have zero experience with Audi’s, but I’ve owned a number of Mercedes from the late 60’s through ’93. I agree, they are amazingly well-built cars – loved the way they drove and even the way the doors would shut and click just right were a treat. I would say the ’59 Cadillac I had along with my neighbor’s ’64 Fleetwood I’m the current care-taker for both have that quality even if the driving dynamics are wildly different. The doors on those cars weighed about as much as a Geo Metro, yet could be shut and latched with a light pinky push, they were so nicely balanced. The ’84 Eldorado otoh… yeesh. It’s no Cimarron I’ll give it that, but the downsizing matched up with the abysmal 4.1 “digital-injected” V8 made for glitz being the only thing it really had going for it. So nice to see Cadillac where it is today (and hopefully the direction it continues to go) given those doldrums.
I drive a Honda and I love it, but my Fit is no longer offered here. Everything else is too big, including Civic.
I’m thinking Mazda, because at least their vehicles are gorgeous. Of course the 3 will likely go away, and I’m back to they’re all too big (the 3 is too, but it’s offset by its pluses).
Extra points since I could get a Miata. At 5’7″ and 170 I’ll fit.