Built quality

[Adrianable]

Which conti car has the best/better built quality in terms of safety and equipment and worth the dollar?

 

Let's not go into the specs nor speed nor looks... just plainly on built quality

[Cheepo]

I am going to suggest Saab 9-5 based purely on personal experience (which I do not have a lot ! ). I had one for a year. Never had an accident to prove how safe it was though. But the doors were so solid that my wife was hurt when the car was parked on a slope and it swung by itself, hitting her on her arm.

[W210k]

Just out of interest, how was Saab's reliability? Heard some owners complain about Saabs before.

Did you sell it after a year because of unreliability?

Thanks.

[Cheepo]

Hi W210K I sold it because I was relocating to another country. The only thing I had to change during the 1 year (other than standard servicing items such as oil etc) was the headlight bulb.

 

In fact, I am thinking of buying one again. My friend has a silver 9-5 and I am going to see if he is changing cars again. He travels to Malaysia pretty often (being a Malaysian) but I think he takes good care of it.

[Biohazard]

2nd that abt the solid & heavy doors! My dad had a 900 when i was still a little boy. The door was one of the heaviest i have even encountered i must say. And he passed the car to his younger brother when he decided to switch car and my uncle continued driving till scrsp. Solid car i must say but IMO overpriced

[Adrianable]

seldom hear ppl commenting about Saab till now...

 

personally i tot in terms of built quality audi should be one of the better ones...

[Dh6211]

Audi's build quality is the best in its class no doubt about it but its price is also in the top 3 in its class as well. So if you want a Conti car in the executive compact class that's good in built quality and value for money, I would say Ford Mondeo for >$80k and if you have budget up till the $100k range, it would be the Volkswagen Passat.

[Gary84]

Well i would certainly vote for Volvo in this case. Having the toughest body among most conti vehicles, it certainly lives up to her name of being a VERY safety car. Furthermore, price wise it is more affordable than marques like Mercs, Beemers...the luxury S80, largest sedan in its class is priced at abt S$ 185k, cheaper than someone its own class like the 7 series and S-Class.

[Cheepo]

Mercedes, Audi, and definitely Volvo cars too are the cream of the crop.

 

Here is a write up I read recently about how Saab incorporates safety features into the car. Pretty detailed...

 

http://www.users.on.net/~grypen/saabsafety.html

[Davidklt]

If you are really serious about build quality...only VW and Audi..

[Firstcall]

I'm not sure about Volvo now... they have the impression of being safe bcos they were the pioneer in safe car engineering. But the if I'm not wrong, the previous S40, the current S60 and S80 all only get 4 stars in EURONCAP safety test.

[Adrianable]

anybody has any comments abt the mini cooper built quality?

 

was at the NTU motofest and seent the Saab convertible on display, i must say that it really looks good but the centre console seems a bit bland and not so appealing...

[Nullifi3d]

Which conti car has the best/better built quality in terms of safety and equipment and worth the dollar?

 

Let's not go into the specs nor speed nor looks... just plainly on built quality

 

May i suggest the W123 Mercedes 200. Tough and long lasting piece of metal.

[Odyssey02]

HAHAHHAA. it IS a safe car. i remember crashing into a toyota panel van in the early 1990's and it 'caved' in. anyway, volvo is not that safe anymore. there are cars with better crash testing results.

[Vit4wd]

Sadly, most W123 have been scraped.

[Seansene]

Waitaminit...

 

 

 

It seems like everyone has a different understanding of 'build quality'. Is it:

 

1) The feel and solidity of the interface (door handles, switches, soft touch materials)?

 

2) Precision of assembly (small and even panel gaps, edges lining up properly)?

 

3) Reliability?

 

4) Safety?

 

I'll give you my opinions:

 

1) Audi, and generally the VAG group. They learnt earlier than the rest that buyers respond to the feel of the immediate surroundings and extrapolate that to the rest of the car.

 

2) The (non-Thai assembled) Jap makers and Germans are in a dead heat here. Lexus is supremely impressive. Mini (although owned by BMW) is not.

 

3) You can argue it whatever way you want, so I shan't. My Ford Focus was as reliable as it got in its nearly four years with us; old Mercs could outlast a nuclear winter; real adventurers (and terrorists) don't choose Toyota Hiluxes for nothing. I'd just say cars are getting to the point where you shouldn't have to worry about things like this.

 

4) The French are getting amazingly good at aceing the Euro NCAP results, so I take that at face value. The Swedes have always been strong here too, so these two nations I would put at the top of the list.

[Ajedi72]

I've driven a Fiat Uno (1.0L), Skoda Fabia (1.4L) and now Audi A3(1.6L).

 

The Fiat had a lively engine for 1L ... and actually would have progressed to a Punto if they did not pull out the dealer ship at that time ...

 

I chose the Skoda over the Jazz simply because the overall drive feel was different ... it has been one of my favourite rides ... interior build quality although no exceptional was still great for what you paid, considering the VW parentage ... again ... if they had brought in the Octavia II VRS ... I would have been sold ...

 

Now the Audi is of course of a different class altogether ... I really love everything about it from the interior build quality to the overall spritely engine ... of course my red interior helps spice things up ...

[Fluffy]

Which conti car has the best/better built quality in terms of safety and equipment and worth the dollar?

 

Let's not go into the specs nor speed nor looks... just plainly on built quality

 

when you say "Built quality", you mean how well it is put together right?

 

it therefore, should not equate to "reliability"

 

 

for built quality, you can't go wrong with SKoda. It scores and has been scoring very well in customer's surveys on built quality and customer satisfaction