10th Oct 2009, 17:24

12:27 Who signs your paycheck and do you need to survive, or can your company thrive on imports to pay your mortgage car payment etc.

10th Oct 2009, 19:22

12:27 & 15:52

Thank you both for stating what needed to be stated in this thread.

I find it appalling that someone is actually accusing Americans of being disloyal to their country simply because they drive an "imported" car. I also find it quite ironic that the person using "patriotism" as his argument drives a Ford Fusion which is made in Mexico, while he insults drivers of Camrys & Accords, which are built here in the USA by Americans.

(My personal opinion is that they guy might be a Ford Dealer or Salesman) anyway, I find his views to be quite offensive.

10th Oct 2009, 22:58

6:38 buy what you like. If you feel like a Ford, buy one vs a stranger on the Internet that wants to keep his job in America. I would like to see my company remain open to and minimize import buying, not just cars. Some reduction is better than nothing, and I like seeing every order we can get vs unemployment benefits.

10th Oct 2009, 23:09

12:27 I buy vehicles because of best warranty, performance, handling, features and benefits. Does any of these factors have relevance when you buy? I doubt anyone buys with no test drive, and say I am shopping for a new import only due to business practices. I buy on applications, a need and best drivability, overall driving enjoyment with a 100000 mile non excuse warranty like I lacked with recent imports that failed. Major drivetrain failures.

11th Oct 2009, 07:25

If the person who wrote the above statement really believes it, I feel very sorry for him/her. This statement has NO basis in reality.

11th Oct 2009, 12:32

This is VERY confusing logic. Are you saying that it IS OK to egg on the destruction of American jobs and industry? How can that statement have "no basis in reality"? Every time we buy a Japanese or German car we promote the destruction of our own industries. How can that have "no basis in reality". It happens every day. It is VERY REAL to those who are losing their jobs, their homes and their healthcare because you choose to promote foreign industries.

I don't work for any car company. I'm just a loyal American who is tired of my fellow citizens having not the slightest concern about our jobs, our children's welfare or our future. In addition, ALL modern cars are about the same in reliability, though Ford and Buick top the list (not Toyota or Honda) and domestics offer far BETTER warranties, so the "imports are better" mantra is nothing more than a lame attempt to salve our guilty consciences for destroying our own neighbors way of life.

11th Oct 2009, 15:37

Well I assure you that I am a true American and I am dismayed to read such statements (as the one above) that make Americans look like so shortsighted.

Most Americans are fair people who understand that the world does not end at our borders. Most of us see statements like the one above and shudder with just the thought that such intolerance could actually still exist in a free society such as ours.

Most of us have at least some inkling of how a free market economy, and how a global marketplace works. We also realize that there are no true domestics or imports, that "The Big Three" have outsourced jobs, and also have joined in partnerships with overseas companies.

As far as the "Patriotic American" - My dad was a decorated veteran of World War II, and he would shake his head in disbelief if he read original statement that I quoted here.

To expect our citizens to close our markets and buy only what this person considers domestic products (actually the Fusion is built in Mexico) flies in the face of what our country stands for.

11th Oct 2009, 20:04

Okay, what does this even mean?!?

Who signs my paycheck has NOTHING to do with driving an import or not. I am sorry Americans are living in a dreamland that keeps their little bubbles inflated. Time to wake up people. The US auto industry is horrendously managed and really deserves to fail. To keep supporting this, just to save your little world, is pointless. It is all going to come apart and it is inevitable so living in a fantasy world that things will return to "normal" doesn't really make sense.

Maybe your house will double in value in the next three years too... yeah right!! Trust me, I am hanging by a thread in my job and selling my house, but that is how it is. Why would I care to support a business of failures. If I failed at my job, I'd be fired and so should you, but it has become the great American way to get bailed out no matter how lame your business is. I am sorry but I just don't agree with that practice.

You think patriotism is supporting crooks who rip off all of us and then ask for more of our money to survive. GIVE ME A BREAK!!

PLEASE tell me why that makes sense!! Please give me a valid argument, besides saving your butt from unemployment. Unfortunately, that isn't good enough for me. Hey, maybe the government will bail out all of us if we all fail, like these big companies. Again... yeah right!!

11th Oct 2009, 20:13

The 100,000 mile warranty was invented by import companies like Hyundai. Now Suzuki uses it and Kia. US companies didn't adopt it until after they saw it was helping sales on the imports.

Thing is I buy based on performance to dollar ratio and warranty. There are many imports with all of the above that outperform any domestic so I am not sure what your argument is on that one. Maybe you haven't shopped enough foreign brands.

I don't shop based on purely business practices. However, I won't go to the length of seeking out products from lame companies that I know have overinflated prices to cover the costs of their inability to run a lean and highly productive business. Domestic car prices are ridiculous compared too many imports these days. The only area America competes in pricing is in the small car segment unless they pile on the rebates to get people to buy their cars.

11th Oct 2009, 21:19

I did not write that comment, but concur with it as well. I am in total agreement; my last imports, and I bought 2-3 at a time for my family. We have 1 Honda left and that's it.

11th Oct 2009, 21:26

"Why would a vet find offense with us that all I know drive domestics?"

Simply because you do not know every single vet in America and what they drive. I've said it before and I'll say it again, my uncle got back from Iraq not long ago. He sacrificed many things for his country over there (including seeing his best friend, and one of his comrades, killed) and now that he has returned, he has been informed that he will be returning to Iraq within the next year, and that after that he will be moved to Korea (separating him from his wife and two daughters.) He drives a Toyota Camry. With all that he is doing to keep you safe, I think he would definitely be offended to know that you are calling him unpatriotic because of the car he drives.