18th Jun 2007, 16:57

There is a mint condition Accord sitting in Henry Ford's museum and an 86 Taurus also. I think my attention would gravitate towards the Honda.

18th Jun 2007, 17:43

Are the imports BMW's, Mercedes? Or are they late model Toyota/Hondas with engine, trans issues, malfunctions, engine sludging, premature brake failures for starters? This is on late model vehicles and simply unacceptable... quality has taken a real downturn in my opinion. At some point people will become more savvy and not be immediately drawn to mfrs. over gas scares and fuel economy. I spend a bit more on gas with my domestics, but have yet to have any severe malfunctions, multiple transmissions as mentioned earlier in my comment. I am saving money with domestics, better durability, not wasting my valuable time dropping and picking up my imports, more featues, better ride and better warranty. I was an import fanatic myself at one time. The domestics didn't change me it was my brand new imports failing repeatedly on me. It sours the stomach and gets old real quick.

18th Jun 2007, 21:16

Pretty funny how these 'domestics' are so much better than the Honda's that are rated better in every publication in the world. Which 'domestics' are those by the way? Could it be the Fusion made in Mexico? Maybe it's a Chrysler, whose headquarters are in Germany? Or is it GM's Aveo, built in South Korea, which has exactly 4% of its parts made in the U.S. while the Toyota Camry has over 80% of its parts made in the U.S.? Ha Ha. Here some real facts for you: Hyundai, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and Subaru combined produce one third more vehicles in the U.S. than GM, Ford, and Chrysler combined. Explain to me again why the 'domestics' (lol) are better? Is it their much lower resale value? (Wonder why that is?) No it's not because the Toyota cost more to begin with, I'm talking about a Toyota and a Ford that cost the same to begin with. Toyota and Honda took 6 of Consumer Reports' top ten most reliable vehicles last year. But you don't believe them right" ha ha. O.k., what about Road and Track, Car and Driver, Edmunds, CNN, Forbes, and...well, any magazine you care to read? Don't believe any of them either, right? What do they know? Yeah, the domestics are slowly getting better, but still nowhere near the quality of a Toyota or Honda. Sorry.

18th Jun 2007, 21:25

Yes, my attention would also gravitate to the Honda, wondering why that bland, nondescript piece of crap was allowed to rest among classic cars. Actually, I would just assume that it belonged to the janitor, and wouldn't start when he tried to leave work. Somebody would really have to be starved for stimulation to get excited about a Honda Accord.

18th Jun 2007, 22:44

My attention would immediately gravitate to the 1963 Ford/Lincoln Continental JFK bubbletop limo more so than just a 1983 Accord at the museum. And any number of more interesting Ford vehicles present as well.

19th Jun 2007, 13:15

In the 140,000 miles my 95 Buick didn't need it's tranny replaced. Yes, it's still running.

Surely they'll say it is just a fluke it should have died 100k miles ago.

19th Jun 2007, 21:40

Tangible value might mean value of life even more so than just being economical... my wife and I owned Accords in the late eighties and throughout the 90's purchased new. Looking back I can honestly say that some of them I could not even tell you what year they were and its not senility as I still fairly young. What I realize now is more than commuting to work or just getting around. I now drive new domestics and realize what I was missing. A lot more comfort, more features and a vehicle I enjoy driving more. To me quality of life now is of even greater importance than being driven by economy and always being practical is not really as much fun at times. However I have a longer warranty now and my vehicles have been less trouble prone than my last Hondas. Resale was better in the past Honda to Honda... I think Car Fax repairs are great as a buyer, but they sure bring it up when you sell. The entire history comes up all warranty and any other mechanical issues as well.

19th Jun 2007, 23:24

Yes I would gravitate towards the 86 Taurus. I am from the Bible belt and anything foriegn is unacceptable!

20th Jun 2007, 15:47

21:16 What is better about Honda? They don't drive, perform, ride (comfort) or handle better than my 2007 domestics. I know...economy. I do live in the northeast and prefer 2007 GM. Compare the warranty as well.

21st Jun 2007, 00:52

Wow, I used to own domestics and they were not pleasant at all to drive. where did you get that idea? I owned high end GM's like Buicks, and Cadillacs. Yes they might have rode comfortably, but once their value was shot and they nickled and dimmed us we got rid of them forever. We now drive Honda Accords and Civics. They actually have more features. Some of my Buicks would not even have the features these Hondas did. No power mirrors, windows, etc. My little Civic has all of these and as far as I am concerned, Hondas in the eighties had them too. same goes for Toyota. In my family our Toyotas and Hondas have gone well over 250,000 miles and still can be traded in for some value. I just traded my 94 Accord with 258,000 miles on it and got 1k on trade, They sold the damn thing for 3-4 times more. I think it is a joke to drive a domestic and say I was missing anything in my Honda. Well I know you are lacking publicity, common sense, wisdom, and being practical by owning your "new" 30 year old design domestic. Maybe your new domestic has a feature that a 1989 Honda or Toyota lacked, but a 1990 Honda may have had. GM and Ford are so far behind the competition that it is not funny anymore.

21st Jun 2007, 13:01

If you had a Buick that didn't have power windows, it must have been at least 25 years ago, and that wouldn't really be a fair comparison to your new Civic now would it?

And as far as Toyota's all having these features... uh no. I know someone with a 2001 Toyota pickup, and besides being a gutless wonder, it doesn't even have power windows. It isn't even a stripped down model, it has auto trans and A/C!

I also know someone with a mid level '04 Corolla with auto trans, A/C power locks and no power windows. So no not all imports have that stuff.

Your comments about domestics are way off base. What proof do you have that new American cars are based on a 30 year old design? I am not 'lacking common sense or wisdom' by driving a domestic', I'm just not part of the 'sheeple' crowd who buys whatever Consumer reports tells me to.

21st Jun 2007, 15:41

Obviously you have not driven Buicks for a very long time if you had models that didn't even have power windows or door locks. I highly doubt that even a "stripper" Skylark from the late 90's would lack those features. Maybe you should compare a new Buick to your Honda instead of your 1980 something model. Just like Honda and Toyota, GM has improved quite a bit in the last 20 years.