11th Jul 2016, 21:47

The Toyota Avalon is not an American car.

12th Jul 2016, 08:56

Best way is to read your actual zero car title to see what you own. That leaves zero doubt. If unsure, give your VIN number to your car insurer and ask them. If you stay on the phone while with them for a while, please explain your worldwide parts content percentages. If you hear otherwise, please let us know. How often do you buy brand new cars (not used) to even stimulate the economy? The small percentage of even import workers building new cars are not seeing this. At best, maybe some transfer or registration fees. The largest expenditures today for families are their homes and cars. The remainder for our family were daycare and later educational expenses. What brand of toaster and other appliances is a very small percentage. I just put a Deka battery in one of our cars. The plant is in Pennsylvania. I try to buy domestic parts if at all available. My Chinese tail light bulbs were blowing out until I replaced with better ones. If you have time, please look at your car title and let us know what brand it says on the top. The corporation that reaped the biggest profit to reinvest in its own country. The few who turned the local wrenches get a small percentage of the pie chart.

12th Jul 2016, 15:40

We have collectively had this same conversation for years and I assume the same points and counterpoints shall be made. First of all, yes - I bought my Volt used. To suggest that nobody benefited as a result would be incorrect seeing as how the dealer that sold the car to me along with the car salesperson, and then the various parts and service centers whom will later benefit over the life of the car will certainly benefit. So that being the case, I fail to see an argument as only purchasing new. Besides, if anyone only ever bought new cars, does that mean all "used" cars should be crushed?

Moving on... I believe I've mentioned this before. But yes, I actually know people who work in some of those plants that so happen to have some other brand on the door. In fact the neighbors next door where I grew up worked at the Nissan plant in Smyrna. They were doing just fine, owned their home, drove two newer cars (cars they incidentally made there at the plant) and otherwise functioned no differently than any other typical middle class family. The argument being made which seems to suggest that only workers in US-owned company plants count isn't valid. These are jobs just the same. If the argument really boils down to where the money goes, well in the case of both foreign and domestic producers, that money goes mostly into product marketing, research, engineering, machinery, and real estate both here and abroad.

GM, Ford, Chrysler and then the slew of European and Japanese car producers have plants, engineering, marketing, sales and testing facilities globally where money made from products sold globally is re-invested. What's leftover is where the upper last percentile of that final profit goes: the boards or those companies. So that being the case, the argument comes down to who's private yacht or Napa vineyard your money goes to. Does that really matter? Exactly how much do you think that small slice of the pie will affect anytown USA? Indeed the greatest expenditure of any company is spent on actual employee salaries. As mentioned before.... follow the money trail.

And in regard to the general conversation of actual domestically produced items, I would bet money that almost all of those making an argument against what I've said, probably do a rather healthy amount of their shopping at whatever Big Box retailer happens to be nearby, where 95% of the stuff they stick in their shopping carts is from China. And so I find it ironic that here we are talking about only one single consumer product, when in reality almost EVERYTHING sold in this country is in fact - imported.

As far as me heaping praise on my Volt - or the perceived lack thereof - Fine. I will say that this has so far been the best car I've owned. It is well designed, has an excellent fit and finish, has been very reliable, and all the while delivering something on the magnitude of 145MPG. The Volt along with the more recent lineup of vehicles from the big 3 are all the long term result of a painful period those companies went through. When I was a kid we owned in this order a '78 Chevy Malibu 2 door, an '81 Olds Delta 88, and a '84 Buick Riviera. ALL of those cars were total junk, and as a kid I recall watching Saturday morning cartoons at the dealership waiting for these cars to be fixed. My Dad had been a lifelong GM fan. But these three cars really turned him off on that brand and when he bought the company car, a lowly '85 Camry, and it wound up running for years without a problem, he and my Mom never looked back.

I actually suggested they look at used Chevy Volts when they were looking at cars. They wound up getting a new Prius V, which in my opinion is not as good as the Volt. It doesn't have a very good fit and finish, it handles really sloppily, doesn't have as nice of a paint job, and in many ways feels cheap in comparison. It's because they are very brand loyal. But I on the other hand look mostly at the actual characteristics of a vehicle and it wasn't until around 2005-06 that I felt that GM and Ford both started selling products I found appealing. The decision to me was never about patriotism or nationalism. It was everything to do with product. That is how true capitalism works.

Lastly: "The Avalon is not an American car". True and I didn't say it was. My comments about it were strictly in referral to the percentage of domestically-produced components it is made out of.

12th Jul 2016, 20:06

I am sure quite of few of us are much older than you. We have seen prosperity where even the middle class had far more to enjoy. There was a time where if you had a toy as a kid or older, that "Made in Japan" was considered cheap. Our middle class lifestyle could accurately be described as upper class today. Or in another description, middle class today has far less buying power. It's erosion and a lower quality of life. You likely missed it and view things differently. We didn't feel we were buying a cart full of Chinese goods. There was prosperity and most goods were domestic. Including appliances, televisions, etc. People saved more and didn't rely on credit cards and more debt. Even couples today with degrees are paying out student loans, credit card debts and mortgages based on what you can attain, not what you can truly afford. Making a middle class income long ago, many of us didn't drive small econo cars or skimp to basically hope we can retire out today. Personally I don't like how the world is today. Companies and people are stressed and insensitive. We worked in family friendly work environments and enjoyed a better quality of life. You can go on and on about parts content and a plant in your town. In the end, I doubt there is the level on happiness that once was widespread in this country. We worked hard, but many of us retired after 30 years in our 50s. My son plans on working til 70 due to the high cost of living. My other son also lives in California, dreaming of buying a home in the Berkeley area. What he may have left for any form of retirement is anyone's guess. I know he likes it there, but he better keep his job. Good luck with your Volt.