Why do British cars have a reputation for poor quality?

[quizzaciously]

This topic always bothers me. I mean, you guys have the best musicians ever, the best writers ever, but why your cars have a reputation of the most unreliable cars ever? How come?

[Pottel]

i would say the italians win that prize
....
but when it comes to house building quality...now that is an entirely different matter...

[PensaGhost]

i would say the italians win that prize
....
but when it comes to house building quality...now that is an entirely different matter...

Ferrari and Lamborghini are not reliable ?

[Banjo99uk]

It goes back to 70s when the car industry was on strike alot. The reasons I don’t fully know but Industrial Disease is about that period. You didn’t want to buy a Friday afternoon car was a joke. We don’t have a car industry anymore apart from foreign brands who have factories over here. Then again try owning a Fiat from the 70s/80s. All that cheap Russian steel they used was a hit with the dreaded tin worm.  Overall though the Japanese cars being cheap and reliable coupled with the quality coming out of Germany made us look like amateurs.

[ds1984]

i would say the italians win that prize
....
but when it comes to house building quality...now that is an entirely different matter...

Ferrari and Lamborghini are not reliable ?

Speaking about Ferrari, they are not.

[dmg]

It goes back to 70s when the car industry was on strike alot. The reasons I don’t fully know but Industrial Disease is about that period. You didn’t want to buy a Friday afternoon car was a joke. We don’t have a car industry anymore apart from foreign brands who have factories over here. Then again try owning a Fiat from the 70s/80s. All that cheap Russian steel they used was a hit with the dreaded tin worm.  Overall though the Japanese cars being cheap and reliable coupled with the quality coming out of Germany made us look like amateurs.

This in a nutshell.  Different story nowadays though; our Toyotas are very reliable indeed. 

[vr46mk]

Isn't Range Rover a solid car though?

[quizzaciously]

Isn't Range Rover a solid car though?

No

From people who owned a RR I heard they break like any other Land Rover. But I love the car, other than reliability issues that's an amazing veichle as all other Land Rovers are. I'd love to own a new Defender. If only Toyota would make cars with Land Rover's design, that would be something.

[hunter]

Regular Toyotas may be good quality, but I can't imagine more boring-looking cars.

[dmg]

Isn't Range Rover a solid car though?

No

From people who owned a RR I heard they break like any other Land Rover. But I love the car, other than reliability issues that's an amazing veichle as all other Land Rovers are. I'd love to own a new Defender. If only Toyota would make cars with Land Rover's design, that would be something.

Modern ones get a good name.  Older ones from the 70s, even 80s don't, but new ones get a very good name indeed.  Of course it's part of the Jaguar Land Rover group (Jags also great cars).  Britain nowadays has a large and respected motor industry from the desperate days of the 1970s when continuous strikes made it a laughing stock. 

@ hunter:  Nissan...?

[hunter]

@ hunter:  Nissan...?

I took a look at both the Toyota and Nissan websites, and I'd say Nissan is a touch better, but it was curious to see how few models Nissan offer.

[vr46mk]

I'm skeptic to Nissan compared to Toyota, as I have heard on several occasions where the automatic gearbox fails on both Juke's and Qashqai's

[Jules]

Toyota, Nissan... I always thought they were japanese cars, with factories all over the world, Nissan had one (they are closing) in Spain, so, are Nissan cars also Spanish

 

[dmg]

Toyota, Nissan... I always thought they were japanese cars, with factories all over the world, Nissan had one (they are closing) in Spain, so, are Nissan cars also Spanish

 

All cars are the same now!  Is it even possible to find a proper Japanese car made there with Japanese parts?  Doubt it.  The days when I bought car magazines, knew every model, engine, power output etc are long gone because they all got very boring and dull.  Too much economising and many shared parts makes all models much the same. Environmental and safety reasons ruined them in the early 90s too.

[ds1984]

I'm skeptic to Nissan compared to Toyota, as I have heard on several occasions where the automatic gearbox fails on both Juke's and Qashqai's

That is right because Nissan is using CVT technologly (Continuously variable transmission) on their "Xtronic" gearbox
That is not really an "automatic" gearbox as it is a single gear.

More on the subject : Continuously variable transmission