Sir, the car doesn't have feelings. It can't get hurt.

[draftermatt]

Off the top of my head, I can't remember if Willys was the creator of the Jeep, but they were an early builder of it.

Mike

Willy's and Ford made a "Jeep" during WWII. After the war Willy's started manufacturing the Civilian Jeeps (or CJ's, hence CJ-7). Not sure when it switched to AMC, and of course now Chrysler runs Jeep straight into the ground.

[Chromatix]

Another example is that VW make a model for a few years, then they move the tooling to the Skoda plant and Skoda makes the same vehicle - with a slightly reworked body and their own badge - at a lower price. VW then make new tooling for their next model.

The result is that modern Skodas are actually decent cars, just not at the bleeding edge of technology. Quite a step up from being the proletarian arm of the local behind-the-Iron-Curtain car industry. Lada has been unable to pull off the same trick.

[crazylegs]

Another example is that VW make a model for a few years, then they move the tooling to the Skoda plant and Skoda makes the same vehicle - with a slightly reworked body and their own badge - at a lower price. VW then make new tooling for their next model.

Pretty much

The latest varient of the Fabia isn't quite as good as the Polo, but you sure get a lot of bang for your buck, and VW build quality is VW build quality. My Fabia ('02 plate) has that nice satisfying *clunk* when you close the door - it doesn't sound tinny.

[Jester]

I love that people are actually ignorant of this practice that has existed in the auto industry for decades.

The Ford Taurus and the Mercury Sable were the exact same car. Ditto the Pontiac Firebird and the Chevy Camaro. Ditto my beloved Chevy Blazer and the GMC Jimmy. And on, and on, and on, and on, and on.

Sometimes one brand of the car has more bells and whistles, or more features, or higher end features, but as far as the actual chassis and mechanics go, the cars are carbon copies of each other.

No one is going to offend anything but my sensibilities if they call my Blazer a Jimmy. It's when they mistakenly call it a "Bronco" that I get pissed off.

[Juggler]

She had a Mazda, not a "cheap ford", and by $DEITY she wanted a Mazda lock, and that's all there was to it. If I remember correctly, we told her we'd fix it and she should come back in another hour, and when she left, I recut the key on a blank with the Mazda logo on it and threw away the Ford one...

Did you charge her for the "Mazda" lock?

[Juggler]

Another example is that VW make a model for a few years, then they move the tooling to the Skoda plant and Skoda makes the same vehicle - with a slightly reworked body and their own badge - at a lower price. VW then make new tooling for their next model.

The result is that modern Skodas are actually decent cars, just not at the bleeding edge of technology. Quite a step up from being the proletarian arm of the local behind-the-Iron-Curtain car industry. Lada has been unable to pull off the same trick.

Doesn't VW own Skoda. I know that they own a lot of brands you wouldn't think they did.

[crazylegs]

Doesn't VW own Skoda. I know that they own a lot of brands you wouldn't think they did.

Yep, and Bugatti.

[protege]

Pre-1987, it was an AMC, since then, it's been a Chrysler. (Not sure when AMC acquired it, but don't think they were the original.)

They weren't. Originally, the "Jeep" was designed by American Bantam (earlier American Austin...who was building licensed Austin designs this side of the pond). Unfortunately, when proposals were being done for the war, the idea was accepted...but given to Willys and Ford instead. Ultimately, American Bantam went out of business.

Willys got bought by Kaiser Motors in 1953, and later quit making cars under their own name. Instead, they concentrated on Jeeps. 10 years later, the company became Kaiser-Jeep...until they were gobbled up by the mess what was American Motors in 1970.

[sportsmom]

The first car I drove on a regular basis (it was my parents, but neither one of them drove it much) was a Chevrolet Chevette...

That said Pontiac inside.

[Sonoma]

No one is going to offend anything but my sensibilities if they call my Blazer a Jimmy. It's when they mistakenly call it a "Bronco" that I get pissed off.

When I bought my GMC S-15 pickup, the registration said "GMC S-10" (the S-10 was the Chevrolet version of the truck). I wrote in to have it corrected, and the wonderful, all-knowing Oregon DMV responded back that according to "the computer", S-10 was correct, therefore they wouldn't change anything...yes, S-10 was correct, IF IT WAS A CHEVROLET, WHICH IT WAS NOT.

The first car I drove on a regular basis (it was my parents, but neither one of them drove it much) was a Chevrolet Chevette...

That said Pontiac inside.

When I worked for that manufacturer's dealer-support group, we would get calls of that nature from time to time, from the dealers that got those cars in. We'd get calls for Chevrolets with GMC wheel covers, mis-branded airbag covers, you name it, it would come in. The dealer should have caught that one during their inspection, but it makes life more interesting when they don't.

[HYHYBT]

You expected the DMV to fix an obvious error?

For nine years, they insisted the color of my red car was "BLU". About every other year, I'd bother asking to get it changed; one year I pointed the car out through the window. Still BLU. And it probably still is, whoever has it now.

[Sonoma]

I tried to have the error fixed. When they just blindly when by what 'the computer' said, I gave up, and just kept a copy of that letter with the paperwork when I sold it a few years later. I knew more than to get more involved trying to fix it.

[crazylegs]

You expected the DMV to fix an obvious error?

Ha! Even the AA (Automobile Association) has issues with cars.

They insist that my g/f smart car has four seats. Unless they're hidden in the boot somwhere both her and I can only find two...

Letters, phone calls, emails - they all have no effect!

[VComps]

The first car I drove on a regular basis (it was my parents, but neither one of them drove it much) was a Chevrolet Chevette...

That said Pontiac inside.

So essentially you had a Pontiac Acadian then

[Magpie]

I love that people are actually ignorant of this practice that has existed in the auto industry for decades.

I wasn't ignorant of the practice, I was just confused as to the details! I had honestly been under the impression that the more expensive cars were often built with tighter tolerances, making them (in many cases) an actually better car. That being said, I was never ignorant enough to think that you couldn't use parts from the one car for a different one.