Mumsnet Talk

Test drive them and you'll feel the difference.
On a practical level yes both get you from A to B but if you actually get any pleasure from driving then you will understand.
We have 2 cars a Yaris & an Audi A4 - tbh the Yaris is in a lot if ways the better car. It's amazingly practical, reliable, cheap to own, run & buy, very cleverly designed, parks fantastically and is fab in snow, but for pure driving experience the Audi beats it hands down.
The Audi is also for long drives (dh does a long daily commute, I do long business trips) better equipped with an amazing sound system, cruise control and climate control.
Some people also buy for the prestige fwiw I'd never buy another ford after the debacle of dealing with them over our focus lethal engine fault. (they eventually did a recall )

Horses for courses innit.

You could say the same about any item from knickers to houses.

I drive a Mercedes, but prior to this I always had astras. I loved them and never had any problems with them.

It was what we could afford at the time.

I used to drive a 3 litre BMW 5 series, which I sold when I moved abroad. When I go back to the UK now I drive a 1.6 Ford Focus, which I spent a lot of time researching to make sure I got something reliable and good value for money. I wasn't expecting it to be quite as good, but I was expecting it to be reasonably decent.

It's like driving a shopping trolley in comparison!

Fwiw my car is rubbish in the snow

I think, up to a certain point, I would spend more if I could afford to for a comfortable car. But there's definitely a point beyond which I wouldn't be prepared to go as, to me, a car just isn't that important as long as it goes from A to B.
But some people are really into cars. I can see it already with my nephew who's only 11 and not a bit status or label concious, but he just loves nice cars.
Others just see it as a way to show off in the same way they always make sure to buy clothes by the 'right' designer and eat in the 'trendy' restaurants etc.

I have a third hand car, it is 14 years old and the seats are sagging, the heater is naff and the windows get misted up all the flipping time.

Tell me Op why do you have a posh car? and would you like to swap me your car for mine - no extra charge

Like most people I have driven shit cars. I started out with a mini metro circa 1995 FFS

I now have a nice car, not Aston Martin or Maserati nice but nice nonetheless. There is nothing I don't like about it. I have been given a courtesy car, same brand, lower class lesser spec and there were things I didn't like.

I imagine it would be worse in a car that cost 1/3 of the price so I disregard buying one. Like I disregard the idea of buying shoes in shoe express - sure they're fine but not what I would choose all things being equal

Why do you care what other people spend their money on? Do you feel superior in your choices or something?

I drive a fiat - it is cute, but utterly pants in every other way. I'd like something better tbh, but can't justify the cost at the moment.

We have an X5 and an S-max. I know which one I'd rather drive in the snow predicted for tomorrow.... Both are nice cars though, but the X5 does definitely feel more luxurious - plus it is better for towing our touring caravan.

The other thing is all the lovely extras you can get by spending more, like heated seats, electric/memory settings for seats, all electric windows, central locking, integral satnav, headlights that move with the car to follow the road on tight corners, etc. Those are the things that really make the difference when you spend a lot of time in a car. You probably also get more airbags, higher NCAP ratings as well. And the 0-60 mph is really important to me, not because I want to drive fast all the time much but I want the ability to accelerate away from roundabout and tricky junctions quickly and efficiently, and to be able to accelerate out of the way of danger.

We have a large luxury car (Lexus) and a smart for nipping about in, love them both. We bought them because each one was the right car for the job.

I technically have a posh car, and it was expensive, but when you realise the amount of design that goes into the systems to make it do what it does (land rover) its worth it. It will get me and 6 passengers where I want to go in just about any weather conditions over pretty much any terrain you can think of barring cliff faces etc. it really is a beast. Of course it doesn't look particularly posh as its normally covered in mud and the inside is liberally strewn with child related guff, and smells of horse, but hey, I did say technically posh!

Some cars which are seen as fairly average are actually quite expensive once they are loaded with the optional extras. Some people like to change their cars each year and drive something cheaper, whilst others would rather have a second hand 'status' car.

We own 2 cars, one is a BMW 5 series (great for a family) and the other a VW Polo (with an engine the size of a hair dryer!). Both have their uses and are fun to drive in different ways. I would much rather take the BMW on a motorway journey though.

Also, a lot of the more common status cars are company cars.

Same as posh bag, shoes, clothes, furniture. Something that does a basic job as well as much cheaper alternatives but looks better, feels better, is often better designed and most importantly has managed to position itself for a market who will pay waaaaayy over the odds to belong to a 'pack'

Seashell what car is it that you can text and email??? <Is a complete sucker for gadgets>

I have a 'T' reg Nissan Micra and dh has a 'W' reg Fiesta! I would lurrrrve a bigger flashier car with things like air con and that thing that tells you the weather and how many miles in takes until you run out of petrol and more seats etc. Our ex next door neighbours were car obsessed ands had really expensive brand new cars every five minutes, but, we knew they didn't 'own' them. We just couldn't afford the finance for new ones

most importantly has managed to position itself for a market who will pay waaaaayy over the odds to belong to a 'pack'

That's bullshit though. A brand new S Max starts at a list price of £22,600. In 2 years with average mileage it will be worth about £12,000.

You lose much more money on "average" cars than prestige cars (with the exception of Minis).

Of course though you need to be in the position of being able to afford a more expensive car in the first place.

I drive a Qashqai. I love it. I've done posh, I've done cheap. So far this is my favourite. But that may well be me, it's what I wanted.

A heated steering whell.

I would kill for a HEATED STEERING WHEEL <<bitter>>

LOL at small cars that you dont mind scraping being a good idea, that is so true for me as I cant park to save my life.

Just to clarfiy my OP I was asking what the difference is to the user (eg comfort, drive, reliability, whatever else people want) nowadays between a mid market type car eg a Ford and a comparable size "higher end marque" which costs a lot more.

I personally think the gap has closed a lot in the last 20 years. Cheaper cars have become much more reliable in general. IMHO I do not think the build quality on certain German makes is what it used to be. All taxis in Europe used to be Mercedes as they would run forever but I am not sure this is still the case?

Even I can figure out the differences between a Micra and an Aston Martin...

Thank you Runoutofideas you are probably the ideal person to answer my question! I love the look of the X5 but haven't driven one.

PS I would never buy a brand new car, especially not a Ford, terrible value for money. We got the S-max 6 months old with 5000 miles on the clock for £10 000 off the list price, but thats another story. Will probably run it into the ground.

Heated Steering wheel?? Blimey I thought that 'thing that tells you the temperature' was the height of sophistication!

Expensive cars often have really nice features. I would definitely have a nice expensive car if I could afford it. I am at some of the cars ive seen. They have features that just make things so much easier - the aforementioned defrosting button, inbuilt satnav, parking sensors and cameras, engines you start by touching a button without needing to get the key from your bag, comfort features, bluetooth to connect eith mobile phone etc. I would have all these lovely features and enjoy them if I had the dosh!

Seachelle DH's can text his car and tell it to start de-icing so that when he goes out the car is warm and no scraping to do!

Sold!