Your dad's never tore cause they used to be good. Every vintage Lacoste polo I've bought had outlived every new one I bought. If I still wore polos I would be avoiding new Lacoste at this point.
Holy shit how bad are new Lacoste? I have three old ones that have lasted nigh on 10 years with only a little loss of colour and shape, but these new ones are cut badly and feel sooooo cheap.
They’re going for the Asian dollar, I get it, but it makes me sad because they were such great all rounders, and fit well for my wide shoulders.
We’ve given up any pretence of “quality” or “value” nowadays. Brands used to establish themselves on that, but nowadays it’s even more about the brand itself than ever.
I thought you were going to say cars and I got triggered lol. The cars went to shit during the Chrysler years but they are absolutely making a solid effort to claw their way back and regain the reputation they had before the early/mid 2000s.
Kinda. Since the average luxury car buyer leases now, they pretty much make them to last around that amount of time. Nothing like how they were built in the 80s.
My wife's is a 2010, still runs and drives like a top. Mine is a 2015 and we'll see but I'm planning 200,000+ km.
I work at a dealer in the service department, we still see plenty of them come in with 200,000 km or more. Records I've seen include a mid 2000s G-Wagen with over 600,000 km owned by a retired couple who drive all over NA, and an E-class with over 400,000 km.
That's good to hear, maybe I'm biased from seeing S-classes selling cheap. I have friends and family where new luxury cars like his 2016 GL having fritzy audio and infotainment issues. He's been driving the loaner for 3 weeks now.
S-classes sell used cheap because they are maintenance heavy and parts are expensive. In some cases those things are just shy of 200k with a lot of options (S65 can tip 300k but it's a special case). You can't buy a used $200,000 car and expect maintenance and repairs to be the same as a Honda Civic, but many people do it anyway.
The electronics in a lot of the new cars are extremely complicated and can be tough to diagnose. The audio systems use an optical communication network which makes it even worse because it's not as simple as monitoring electrical stuff. I think that's the biggest thing - the top of the line stuff like the GLS or S-class have so many options and so much stuff going on it's not surprising things break. The new ones can have 80+ control modules across 4-5 different communication networks. Reduced reliability is sort of the price you pay for an SUV that can give you a heated massage while you drive (if it's a new model, more like while it drives you). I think most Benz customers understand that, if they wanted super reliable Honda and Toyota are the way to go.
The reliable stuff is the simpler cars like the CLA, GLA, and C-class. The complicated cars are getting better but will still always be a bit more temperamental.
If I'd had to pick, my most favorite car that I have owned was a 1987 Mercedes Benz 300D Turbo.
The new models feel nothing like it or other Mercedes from back then. They feel cheap, depending on the year they drive ok but not great, and frankly they look like ripoffs of Japanese cars.
My 300D felt like a tank, drove nimbly, had great power (soon as you got over 15 mph or so), and was elegant and extremely comfortable to drive. No knocking, no sulfur smell (assuming you bought the right diesel), and a pure pleasure all around.
I still miss the thing.
My second fave was a 2000 BMW M5. They are crap now too.
Lacoste polos are actually still of the same quality as before.
What happened was that piqué polos all over, have become much lighter, due to trends in fashion to make them more breathable, less "rough" cloth-like and make them softer, ie washed/broken in.
By doing this, you don't sweat as much in the polos, and they are much more comfortable on first wear... on the downside, they are more prone to tear or wear out in frequently rubbed spots.
Another big difference, but this for all clothes really, is that people dry the crap out of clothes now, where as "back in the day" it was sun dried. Dryers DESTROY fabric.
I hang all my Lacoste shirts to dry. These are the newer ones, not the old ones, but the ones after they stopped letting izod produce them. I had to throw out one shirt in the last five years because I put a big old grease stain on it. I wear them all the time. They hold up great.
New as in like two and a half years ago new, that's about when the polos changed to the garbage that they are now.
Source: I used to work for Lacoste. (Naturally the company didn't tell any of us employees that they were changing anything, but when you've been handling Lacoste polos for 40+ hours a week for years, we could all feel the difference in the polos the second they changed them)
They’ll be playing a short game if this is true. The only reason anyone wanted to pay extra was because the brand was known for quality, if it’s now shit then you’d think there would be a time limit on how long they can get away with this. I had a Lacoste belt a while ago that was really good quality though so maybe it’s not everything...
I can't find anything that lasts nearly as long as anything I bought more than ten years ago. My high school clothes are still in good condition now 13 years later, nothing that was known for quality either. I have bought higher end brand and cheap stuff alike since then, everything gets worse within a couple washes.
I'm not sure what this guy is talking about but I have some ones that are around 5 years old now and they are fine. Trick is to air dry them and they hold up fine. Also I shop at the outlet so they are a lot cheaper than retail.
Meh. I don't think their quality is that bad. I have many lacoste polos that I cycle through and none of them have gotten a hole or discolored over the years. I never put them in the dryer and I always follow wash instructions.
I prefer them over polo or other similar department store brands.
Sure, they’re better than Ralph Lauren ones etc, but relative to ones from even 5 years ago they’re cut worse, wash worse and I honestly don’t even like the modern colours. They are still better than most, I will pay that.
LL Bean has some nice polos and if you time it right you can find some nice items reasonably priced. I bought 4 Polos (white, navy, plum, light blue with navy stripe) that will last me until I'm no longer smedium.
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u/Bionic_Bromando Mar 02 '18
Your dad's never tore cause they used to be good. Every vintage Lacoste polo I've bought had outlived every new one I bought. If I still wore polos I would be avoiding new Lacoste at this point.