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?
Saab. If Irv Gordon can keep an old Volvo going for 3 million miles, then I’ll try that myself with a OG 900.
Meta: for a site full of enthusiasts, a lot of the commenters are picking the ultimate appliance car manufacturer (Toyota).
Volvo. Because I can’t say Saab anymore
Why not?
Thought it had to be aa alive corporation. But if not give me a 9000
I’m a very big fan of Honda/Acura, but if I can only have one brand for all types and styles of vehicle, Toyota offers a lot more flexibility, so I’d have to go with them.
American Motors Corp.
Easy, Ford. Already been doing it for years as nearly every time I’ve ventured outside the brand I’ve been let down. They offer an option for every need I have.
Probably Chevrolet, which is ironic because I’ve never owned a Chevy.
That said, I hope to continue my active ski/bike/camp/home improvement lifestyle for at least another decade, which will likely push me into another full size truck to replace my new (for me) GMC Sierra.
My wife will need something to replace her tiny little Infiniti CUV, and has already noted that we may need to upsize a bit in the future to facilitate potential grandkids.
Finally, I continue to hem and haw about replacing my mom’s old Del Sol with another summery convertible that I could better use for empty-nester road trips
Given current lineups and future needs, Chevrolet is probably the only brand that checks all of the boxes.
Likely Ford. You’re hard pressed not to find a dealership within reasonable spitting distance – at least here in rural Ontario, Canada.
With no geographic/import restrictions, easily Toyota. Vans and all the basic consumer stuff I’d reasonably want, and still many performance options.
Current USDM lineup only…unfortunately, Chevrolet (or GMC, depends how money factors into the exercise). Long live the Express/Savana, and still various basic options, even if far from ideal.
It would have to be Chevrolet. I want to get another Nova at some point in the future when I have garage storage again. Which would kind of suck in the present time, because I want to buy a small Honda for my small current driveway.
If I am getting past, present, and future, it’s easily Mazda. Plenty of sports and sporty cars to choose from, plus hatches, sedans, crossovers, SUVs, and even a small pickup truck.
Since the 90s my DD has been an Isuzu. Now that they aren’t available I’m not sure what I would do if my Vehicross punked out. There still are used ones on the road but owned by fans that aren’t selling them. On the bright side I can rent an Isuzu truck.
Companies change what they build too frequently. I used to be a huge Subaru guy, but except for the reluctant BRZ, they stopped building anything I wanted over 20 years ago and that was a little stretch even then. I bought a couple Fords, but then they stopped making cars except for the Mustang, which is cool, but not for me. Mercedes-Benz has been pretty consistent over the past . . . century and has a large lineup, but also not my thing. Morgan might be about the only “safe” bet in continuing to make what I’d want to drive, but if I need something more practical, they don’t qualify.
If it were just me, Nissan since all I ever drive are their pickups.
Whole family? Ford, since we need a full-size pickup for the horses, and I could switch to an old Ranger or Courier. Not sure what in their lineup could replace the Outback wagon though.
First one that came to mind was Mazda. I’m pretty much brand-agnostic, but every Mazda I’ve ever had I just loved. I feel like a newish Mazda 3 hatchback and an old B2000/2200 from the late 80s would make a near-perfect two-car solution. Both manuals, of course. Maybe with a Miata in the garage for nice days.
Mazda. My 2022 Mazda 3 can be a riot to drive, or a reasonably quiet cruiser that eats highway miles and is a nice place to be. Parts are cheap and it’s reliable. That still gets me access to the AZ1 for a kei car, RX-7 for a rotary, and if I hit the lottery and they lost their minds, the 787b to take to historical events and enjoy that wonderful sound. At that point I could pay someone else to transport it.
There’s always the answer Miata and the new CX-50 if I want a hybrid and more space. If I want an EV, I’ll just do a drivetrain swap into the car of choice. I’d figure it out.
if we extend to motorcycles too, I’m picking Honda. If I can ignore motorcycles for this exercise, Toyota.
I feel like Honda would be my go to.
I guess I’m a Honda guy. I’ve had three (and a scooter) and all have treated me well and been competent at what they do.
Truck? The Ridgeline seems capable of what I would want it to do.
Business travel? The HondaJet seems pretty cool.
For everything in between, my two Accords and a CR-V have given me no reason to go with another brand.
Ram.
It’s all I need.
Between Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Acura, Kia, and Subaru, I’ve only owned Asian cars in my life.
So I’ll go with Toyota if I can only choose one car brand for the rest of my life.
Could I just stockpile MB W123s?
All the brands that offered built to a standard cars that would last 40 years seem to have shifted to unrepairable obsolescent cars with an entrustment of features that break and collect dirt,
Well I could easily drive a Morgan for the rest of my life, but that would Be cheating.
I have always loved the way the W123s looked and yet I have never even sat in one, let alone driven one. The W124s looked nice as well. And then MB totally lost their way and haven’t recovered.
I had W126s in college as they were cheap and looked good. And were bomb-proof reliable. I wanted a W123 to see what the wagon life was all about. Got into a W124 wagon instead. Could have been the lack of care this one had, but I just didn’t love it as much. Engine troubles, 4matic didn’t work, electrical system was a mess (windshield wipers came on when radio volume was adjusted), and other weird quirks like deteriorating plastic. The magic wasn’t there like the W126.
A Diesel W123 will happily run without a battery installed. Getting it started without power is, to put it mildly, a fairly big deal. The electrics won’t hinder progress in any way.
W124 was a much more complicated car from what I hear
W126 seemed more of an old-fashioned cost-no-object Mercedes but the W124 seemed to be less so.
Seconded, though I’d include more models, almost any made between the Pagoda and the W126. If I need a truck, I’ll just tow a trailer or use a Sprinter van. Need something small for city driving? Pagoda or R107. Need something big and comfy for long trips? W116 or W126. Need a wagon? The T123. Sporty? R107 or C126, or any AMG SL. A huge number of those cars are still very much roadworthy and have more miles in them than I’ll ever drive before I die.
Tough one. A 1 ton diesel dually, flipping a coin it lands on Fords. They are more like large luxury cars. I can live out the dream of towing and large 5th wheel. Also useful for many things.
Though the z28 would have to be in the garage.
I’d have to say Traton/Volkswagen Auto Group/MAN. Solid vehicles for the most part.
Ford comes in second place.
GM, the dealerships around me are pretty decent, they offer a bunch of models and good financial options along frequent refreshes and updates to their models to keep up with the competition. Also the way I can stack incentives is good, with the GM supplier discounts, loyalty bonus and Costco.