21st Aug 2009, 00:02
21:26,
People like you are the reason this country is in the shape it is now. I don't know the nature of your business, but it sounds to me as if you may be shooting yourself in the foot. The fastest way to lose a customer is to dictate their purchases. If you can't provide decent service to consumers without being biased, others will. If I was a client of yours, driving an import, I'd take my business down the street. Good luck on your quest to dictate free-thinking adults!
21st Aug 2009, 09:25
You must live a sheltered life. I have driven many domestics, high mileage, same engine and transmission. Our second car, a Honda, had multiple transmissions and was junk. e.g you can't move a car, it's useless; first trans went at under 30000 miles.
21st Aug 2009, 20:39
I was ecstatic today to visit my friend at a local Ford dealership and see the response our "buy from American industry" campaign is getting. There really ARE patriotic people left, even among Japanese car owners. I was shown three very recent trade-ins: One was a 2006 Honda Ridgeline (traded in on a real truck, the Explorer Sport Trac). Another was a 2006 Acura (traded in on the top-rated Fusion) and a 2007 Honda Accord (likewise traded for the more reliable Fusion).
I've been forwarding this website to people as an example of the "Send our jobs and money to Japan" ideology. Thank you all for your contributions. I've gotten comments such as "I hope none of these people live near me!" and "People really BELIEVE this stuff?? (referring to ad hype from Japanese car makers). Another favorite comment was "Gee, I never knew we had that many Japanese immigrants here!" You guys are doing more to sell Fords and Chevys than the companies are!! They should pay you a commission!
21st Aug 2009, 20:56
This guy probably had all domestic vehicles that he bought second hand from somebody smart enough to get rid of them, and then he probably bought a Honda with a manual transmission and didn't have a clue how to drive it. You can't blame the car when you can't drive.
22nd Aug 2009, 01:35
19:28 has convoluted logic comparing another imports longer warranty against the domestic models. Then why can't Honda and Toyota do the same? I couldn't even make 50000 miles in mine without major issues.
I wonder how many people go to car dealers at 100000 miles plus. I found at 100000 miles our Hondas had big bills for front end work, heater cores, timing belts, air conditioning issues were some common issues for us.
We are finding our new GM models to be better than our latest Honda models with issue related repair woes. I refused to keep our newest ones. Maybe would have kept our ones 10 plus years ago with lower production as we had few issues.
22nd Aug 2009, 09:24
Personally I feel the "Cash for Clunkers" should have been only for the purchase of a new domestic car. There's plenty to choose from. If Japan wants to do that and spare our government (my taxes) that's totally up to them. They are likely ecstatic over the whole opportunity.
I am currently spending a lot of time setting up my employers overseas plants with cheaper assembly with my job. My company had 3 shifts and are currently down to just one. It's not an automotive related job. Another cost cutting move affected by the poor economy. There's far less environmental impact, less regulated by the government, little OSHA concerns, no real benefits vs. here so that's the train of thought. Build it cheaper.
I am now actively looking for another job as all this bothers me a great deal. I have a high paying job and am torn. Personal interest or my values. There's just less great jobs to "evacuate" to.
I am fed up with imports quite frankly. I just saw a video of an overseas company making manhole covers with workers in bare feet, no safety glasses in a foundry. I am not in that industry, but end users tend to buy cheap irregardless of worker safety when there are bids. Some major cities actually bought them in the USA. Does this bother anyone?
I'll drive a new domestic, superior warranty and shop from my local merchants. It bothers me to see my relatives and friends laid off... they are not all auto workers. I am not forcing any patriotic musts on anyone. It's clear to my family i'ts time to stop being disgusted and not send new car profits back to Japan. I would rather the money be reinvested in technology, designs in America than enrich the execs homes in Japan.
I am very impressed with the latest domestics and it may be a bit late, but I am still breathing. I want to make a difference today with new cars bought in our family. So new Honda-Toyota even if there are less paying positions replacing those lost in the USA. I'd like to see more buying domestics and reopen the plant down the street from me. A car worker making less than $20 hr cannot afford to buy the homes in my community. I guess they could rent though.
Just my opinions and I feel you can buy cheap today and pay for it tomorrow...... as there is no free ride anymore. One person can make a difference vs, only caring about what they own in their own driveway. I care about all my family, neighbors and friends in our community.... would not even venture to say ban ones business as they have an opinion they feel positively affects other. If you love your new Toyota, I'll disagree, but buy from your local company irregardless.
22nd Aug 2009, 15:26
The Honda transmission issues (as well as those of Acura) have all been with AUTOMATIC transmissions, not manual. Many Acura owners especially are having their resale values destroyed by the numerous transmission replacements that end up on their CarFax reports. Our one Honda had a manual transmission and it never had a problem. However everything BUT the transmission started falling apart as soon as the puny 36,000 mile warranty ran out. We have since driven only GM and Ford cars. None of these has ever had a single repair in over 100,000 miles of service.
20th Aug 2009, 19:28
It's quite obvious you domestic owners rely on your warranties to keep you car going.
I understand that domestics have better warranties, but the fact is, if they didn't have these warranties, nobody would buy them because they'd be fixing them so much. I've bought domestics before, and I've gotten the 100,000 mile warranty. Right after that warranty ran out, I began having problems. I drive my cars for much more than 100,000, so I don't want a car that's only designed to go that far. Domestics are designed to last as long as their warranty. This way, nothing goes wrong with them when the warranty is in effect, but soon after, things start going wrong, people bring them to the dealer to be fixed. It's a huge money maker for the company.
Domestics are built to be disposable, cheap transportation. And I hate to break it to ya domestic lovers, but the best warranty still belongs to Hyundai, with their 10 year, 100,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty.