25th Feb 2009, 13:49
"Buying from foreign companies is like shipping bundles of 100-dollar bills to Japan every day."
Presuming, of course, that foreign MUST mean Japan.
26th Feb 2009, 11:00
"Presuming, of course, that foreign MUST mean Japan."
No, not at all. With the worsening economy our family has stopped purchasing German-made vehicles as well. Mom was on the verge of getting a Mercedes, but opted for a Lincoln (and is VERY pleased with it). My sister-in-law traded her Mercedes for a Ford (and is also very pleased). My brother-in-law traded his BMW for a Hummer. ANY foreign purchase is harmful to our economy, and at the present time I honestly don't see how anyone with a conscious could possibly support a foreign industry.
26th Feb 2009, 11:10
I disagree that you should support a company just based on the future of the US economy when they have contributed so much to our demise (and their own). Most experts say that we should let the car companies fail, and the banks for that matter, and go through this painful recession (or depression) to emerge a stronger nation that can get back to the basics of manufacturing and producing our own goods.
This is going to hurt either way, but rewarding bad decisions and poor management with more money and support just strengthens the negative business practices in this country. Look what the banks are doing with the tax money they have received... oh yeah, they won't even tell us what they are doing with it.
Yeah, we may all have to give up our iPods and cell phones for awhile among other extras we've come to expect from life in America, as this surely isn't going to be an easy transition, but it is one that has to occur for us to survive as a nation.
Funny how we are so quick to forgive and forget decades of rip-off's from the car companies as long as we are safe in our little boxes and we keep our lifestyle going strong.
26th Feb 2009, 20:01
"sane-thinking people wonder why they should spend fifteen-thousand more dollars for a Lincoln Navigator or Cadillac Escalade when they can buy practically the same vehicle in the form of a Ford Expedition/Chevy Tahoe."
I don't see how this is a criticism. They have figured out how to serve two different markets, the sane who buy the Expedition/Tahoe, and the insane who buy the Navigator/Escalade.
27th Feb 2009, 09:05
Just HOW have U.S. car companies "ripped us off"? All of our domestics have been priced thousands LESS than our imports and have proven MORE reliable. I don't regard that as a "rip off" in any sense of the word. Data just out shows customer dissatisfaction with dealerships ranks the worst 5 as Japanese or Korean. Not a domestic in the bunch.
27th Feb 2009, 20:18
My wife and I watched a TV show some time ago that was about the "Country's most patriotic person". This individual had everything in her home done in red, white and blue, wore only red white and blue and stopped every time she saw an American flag to salute it. We burst out laughing when in one of the last scenes it showed this SUPPOSEDLY "patriotic" lady stopping to salute the flag, then getting back into her red, white and blue GERMAN car!! Patriotic?? Give me a break!!
28th Feb 2009, 03:49
"Just HOW have U.S. car companies "ripped us off"? All of our domestics have been priced thousands LESS than our imports and have proven MORE reliable."
They are a rip off because they sell junk that should be in the salvage yard. They cost less because they are of LESSER quality and LESS dependable, and have LOWER resale value.
"Data just out shows customer dissatisfaction with dealerships ranks the worst 5 as Japanese or Korean. Not a domestic in the bunch."
If my company was hanging on by a thread, I too would see that my customer servive was tops. On a local radio station yesterday, I heard that Toyota, Honda and Subaru ranked at the top when it comes to dependability and have more cars recommended than most. No domestic make has a vehicle in the above average category although Ford has greatly improved in reliability. It irritates me when people tell me how I should spend my money. I get more for my money buying imported vehicles rather than domestics, and they have served me far better.
28th Feb 2009, 09:03
"Just HOW have U.S. car companies "ripped us off"?
I would only feel "ripped off" if my experience with a car was different than what I expected when I bought it, or I found out others got the same car for less.
When I buy car, I pretty much know what the resale value is going to be, what the mileage will be, what the insurance cos will be, and I work out my annual ownership cost. And I have a pretty good idea of what the reliability will be. All this kind of information is readily available now. I just can't see how anyone buying either domestic or import could say they ever got ripped off unless they got a true lemon, which hardly ever happens anymore.
28th Feb 2009, 10:12
Worst resale ever in our family was Acura TL... Honda.
Not seeing any issues with our new GM models. Why would we have changed new ownership preference if there were no service issues?... and we do not buy new vehicles on strictly price or fuel economy. We will spend more for new vehicles, but certainly not at the service depts with low mileage concerns... Our spare time is too valuable, as well languishing there is not fun.
28th Feb 2009, 12:57
Well, if you want to destroy the American economy, our rather generous laws allow you to do just that. Of course if the country goes under (and if GM fails it WILL) then you'll certainly be in as much trouble as the rest of us.
As for U.S. auto makers building "junk that should be in the salvage yard", please cite evidence before making such claims.
Out of 35 vehicles owned in the last 35 years by our family, only ONE ended up in a salvage yard before 200,000 miles. It was a Honda with just under 100,000 miles that had totally disintegrated in a 6 year period. We have driven Fords over 300,000 miles, Chrysler products over 240,000 miles and GM products over 277,000 miles without problems. If this classifies them as "junk" I'll keep buying "junk".
The longest-lasting vehicle in Consumer Reports article (Oct. 2007) on long-lasting vehicles was a FORD. It had made (at that point) 488,000 miles without a problem. The Honda in the same article made less than HALF that.
If people insist on making statements attacking the U.S. auto industry, they should be able to back up such claims.
Cadillac currently builds the fastest sedan in the world.
Chevrolet builds a car that outperforms Ferrari.
Ford has a reliability rating equal to Japan's best (the Fusion is actually rated higher in reliability than both Camry and Accord).
GM builds more 30mpg+ vehicles than Toyota and Honda COMBINED.
Consumer Reports dropped its "recommended" rating for the Camry and Tundra last year due to quality issues.
A car review in USA Today (Friday Feb. 27, 2009) was titled "The Nissan Versa sings like a bird: "CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP", and discusses the rattles, squeaks and clunks in the test car as well as a "rock hard" rear seat.
From such examples it is amazing for any person to call U.S. autos "JUNK".
25th Feb 2009, 09:24
Good point. Used domestics are often abused by previous owners. The Cavalier is one of the most under rated cars ever built. Many are still on the road with well over 200,000 trouble-free miles on them.
As for "not having loyalties to foreign or domestics", hopefully that attitude will change as the U.S. plunges further into the depression and the value of supporting U.S. industry becomes a more apparent way to recover our economy.
Buying from foreign companies is like shipping bundles of 100-dollar bills to Japan every day.