Buy British - Do you, would you, should you?

[drummonds]

German cars (in general) don't show up well in reliability results. "Japanese" cars generally do well, and some of these are manufactured in the UK, including the Honda Jazz, which does particularly well.

 

that's probably because rather a lot of the "german cars" aren't actually made in germany.

[Eater Sundae]

The world has become a bit more complicated since the Buy British campaign and even then British Steel argued that there was more UK steel in a Volvo than a Ford or Vauxhall.

 

But I have not bought the American owned and Dutch made HP Sauce who once spent millions on an ad campaign promoting the great British sauce, who then sacked their entire UK workforce.

 

Does Britain benefit most from a

British owned but made of foreign parts assembled by foreign labour in a foreign country,

 

or a

 

foreign owned, foreign parts assembled by British labour in the UK?

 

As I see it, either are better for the UK economy than owned overseas and built overseas.

 

On balance, of the options you give, I'd go for the foreign owned but built in the UK being the better. Of course, the quantity of components imported would be important. As I understand it, the big foreign owned players who came and set up new plants in the UK (Honda, Toyota and Nissan) have brought jobs here. A lot of manufacturing is done here, they are not just assembly lines. If/when we buy a Japanese or other foreign owned car that was built in the UK, it helps pay the wages of workers in the factory as well as their suppliers and helps to keep them in jobs. The money they earn is taxed which adds to income which is used to provide services to us all. They spend money which generates VAT to pay for services as well as keeping others employed.

 

The more British stuff we choose to buy, the better off we all are.

 

---------- Post added 25-07-2015 at 13:28 ----------

 

that's probably because rather a lot of the "german cars" aren't actually made in germany.

 

If so, it's worth noting that Japanese manufacturers appear to be able to keep up the standards of reliability even when they move their production out of Japan. I wonder why German manufacturers cannot do the same.

[JFKvsNixon]

If so, it's worth noting that Japanese manufacturers appear to be able to keep up the standards of reliability even when they move their production out of Japan. I wonder why German manufacturers cannot do the same.

 

If this is true it does suggest that the German worker is responsible for the superior German products, whereas superior Japanese products may be due to their superior production methods.

[Vague_Boy]

although well built British cars are now available

 

They may be assembled in Britain (by foreign made robotic production lines) but the list of actual British owned car manufacturers is very slim.

 

Westfield

Caterham

Bristol

Morgan

Ultima

Ginette

Caparo

 

Don't be too surprised if you fail to recognize most of those names, they are small companies turning out limited numbers of vehicles.

 

My opinion comes from experience of owning both a Vauxhall (which I assume was British at some point earlier on?!)

 

It was indeed British originally (please ignore the wholly incorrect information being offered elsewhere in this thread). It began manufacturing cars in 1903 and was only acquired by General Motors in 1925. [LINK]

 

 

that's probably because rather a lot of the "german cars" aren't actually made in germany.

 

Link please.

[TJC1]

I doubt I would choose a British car over a German one… German cars are so much more reliable and better manufactured in my opinion (but each to their own )

 

As for food - I agree - I only ever see the little flag these days on meat and potatoes - a good fraction of the other fruit and veg is also imported! I’m not particularly concerned where the food comes from, rather that it is good quality.

 

German cars are the most unreliable cars according to index.

Japanese are more reliable than German cars. Honda, suzuki and toyota consistently come top of reliability tables.

 

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/honda-named-uks-reliable-used-car-manufacturer-2015/1342848

 

---------- Post added 25-07-2015 at 13:45 ----------

 

You are a bit off here Vauxhall and Ford are American although their European image is that they are German (this stems from the 80s when GM bought Opel and both became big players).

 

VWs are German and are generally known to be reliable but score nowhere near as well as the Japanese cars on reliability.

 

I own a Jazz, I don't really like driving it, although it isn't bad, but it sure as heck is reliable. Had it for nearly five years and it's only had the brakepads done once during that time and a screw tightened on the exhaust. Not bad for an 8 year old car huh!

 

Oh and on topic: I always prefer buying local food, simply because I am not a fan of eating food that has been harvested weeks ago and kept artificially fresh so it can be flown to the UK.

 

Absolutely right. British cars on the whole are more reliable than German, here's the rankings in full

 

1 Honda

2 Suzuki

3 Toyota

4= Chevrolet

4= Mazda

6 Ford

7 Lexus

8 Skoda

9= Hyundai

9= Nissan

9= Subaru

12= Daewoo

12= Peugeot

14 Fiat

15 Citroen

16 Smart

17 Mitsubishi

18 Kia

19 Vauxhall

20 Seat

21 Renault

22 Mini

23 Volkswagen

24 Rover

25 Volvo

26 Saab

27 Land Rover

28= BMW

28= MG

30 Jaguar

31 SsangYong

32 Mercedes-Benz

33 Chrysler

34 Audi

35 Jeep

36 Porsche

37 Bentley - See more at: http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/honda-named-uks-reliable-used-car-manufacturer-2015/1342848#sthash.hQoTHghL.dpuf

 

---------- Post added 25-07-2015 at 13:49 ----------

 

I buy British farm produce we really have great meat here too...much better than many countries. Britain is great!

[tzijlstra]

I knew they were American (GM) now, but I always thought they began life as British... I’ve learned something, and it’s only 8am!

 

Vauxhall started life as a British brand, got bought by GM, then after the war, over the run of a few decades they were turned into the British Opel (presumably due to anti-German sentiments) once GM had bought out Opel (I believe that was just after the war). Complicated, I know

 

In that case, is it even possible to buy a British car? Are Rover still British? They don’t strike me as reliable though, my sister has had two, both of which were hideous at breaking down.

 

What is a British car? Not a single car brand in the world is completely reliant on just resources from the country where it is based, except for maybe some obscure Russian and US brands. A modern car consists of thousands of parts, produced by highly specialised companies that are in turn owned by various car manufacturers or specialist brands (like Bosch). So our Volvo has Ford parts (Ford owned Volvo), an engine that was developed with Audi (who are owned by Volkswagen) Italian electronics, French windows, British steel and was assembled in Gotenborg, if it had been a V40 it would have been built in Belgium (I believe), so as you can see, cars are global things these days!

 

(Btw, Japanese cars tend to be bucking this trend, they mainly use Japanese components)

 

I guess at two votes for the Jazz, I’ll be looking for one soon then

 

Yes, if you are looking for a car to get from A to Z without too much difficulties along the way, that is relatively frugal (I have a heavy right foot and average over 40 mpg in the 1.4, quite a lot of motorway miles though) and not intended to do too many rides over 2-3 hours long in its lifetime than a Jazz is a great buy. I am a large individual, but even with the drivers seat all the way back another adult can sit behind me, five adults or 2 adults, 2 baby seats and a youngster are easy to fit in and then you still have room for prams and things in the back!

[TJC1]

Traditional german branded cars have an undeserved reputation for reliability. Probably to do with advertising.

Cant beat a honda civic!

[woodmally]

Many years ago there were Buy British campaigns, with little Union Flag emblems.

 

Nowadays the only British produce I recall seeing marked as such are meat and veg.

 

Is there much other stuff identified as being British? Do you ever look out for British goods.

 

I have tried to buy British cars in the past (many years ago, when they were rubbish - Metro, Eurrghhh). More recently, although well built British cars are now available, my wife's and my cars are foreign made, simply because we had specific needs and there weren't any British cars that fitted the bill. However, needs have changed, so by the time we next buy a car, we can consider British built cars. It's unlikely to be the main reason why I would pick a particular car, but it certainly goes into the mix.

 

How keen are you to buy British? Do you, if you can? Should we buy more British goods where we can?

 

I try to as it has low travel miles however its usually more expensive than other countries products.

[mlfc]

Absolutely right. British cars on the whole are more reliable than German, here's the rankings in full

 

1 Honda

2 Suzuki

3 Toyota

4= Chevrolet

4= Mazda

6 Ford

7 Lexus

8 Skoda

9= Hyundai

9= Nissan

9= Subaru

12= Daewoo

12= Peugeot

14 Fiat

15 Citroen

16 Smart

17 Mitsubishi

18 Kia

19 Vauxhall

20 Seat

21 Renault

22 Mini

23 Volkswagen

24 Rover

25 Volvo

26 Saab

27 Land Rover

28= BMW

28= MG

30 Jaguar

31 SsangYong

32 Mercedes-Benz

33 Chrysler

34 Audi

35 Jeep

36 Porsche

37 Bentley - See more at: http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/honda-named-uks-reliable-used-car-manufacturer-2015/1342848#sthash.hQoTHghL.dpuf

 

This list is too simplistic though when trying to work out which is a British car. Some Vauxhalls are made here and sold here. Some are made here and sold in Europe as Opel. Some are made in Europe in Opel factories and sold here as Vauxhalls. Some Nissans are made here and some aren't. All the large manufacturers are global companies with plants in many places so we can't say that any brand is British or any other nationality if we are thinking about the locations of the factory and the employees.

 

This should help though - http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/car-buyers-guide/cbg-cars-made-in-britain.html

[unbeliever]

You're essentially talking about protectionism.

In general this is not in the long term interests of the countries involved either in terms of economic growth or keeping the peace.

Buying more expensive or inferior home country produce does more harm than good to the economy as money is being wasted.

Countries that trade heavily with each other are less likely to get into armed conflict. Therefore more foreign trade in either direction = more peace.

Just bear that in mind.

 

Sometimes of course the best value comes from your home country's product. Then it's a no-brainer.