1st Oct 2010, 03:19

"People somehow ignore the fact that Japanese companies funnel all of their profits out of the country."

Wrong. It's the other way. It's GM that's funneling money overseas by building production capacity elsewhere. At least Toyota is building production capacity in the US, investing here. GM has been downsizing for decades, shutting down factories. A money spent on a Ford or GM product means more money to be invested abroad. 90% of the increased production capacity for GM lately has come in countries like China.

1st Oct 2010, 07:02

Maybe if the topic stayed on Camry vs GM, and not bashing the domestic auto industry, it would be the case. There are those that have bought a small car or 2, such as a Camry for their kids in the drive, and still own domestic sports cars as well. I have had a mixed import domestic ownership myself.

1st Oct 2010, 09:36

Gee, now BMW and Rolls have joined the recall train. BMW's have leaky brakes? That is a safe thing! Guess Toyota isn't the only one having issues huh?

1st Oct 2010, 13:45

Any car regardless of price will have mechanical issues. With 2011, it's ridiculous not to have a 100000 mile warranty standard. I drive a lot, and got tired of no warranty at low miles with mine on my Japanese imports. I did like Acura over BMW amenities in all fairness.

1st Oct 2010, 17:39

Check the facts. GM has repaid 100% of its loan, plus interest. A good book on economics can help people to understand the difference between stock options and loans. And NOTHING in the past two decades?? How about car of the year (Malibu) beating Toyota in reliability and sales, building the world's fastest sedan (Cadillac CTS) and having Corvette sales soar 300% in Europe after it blew away foreign competition costing 5 times as much??

The latest J. D. Powers ratings show Ford and GM having more cars ranked in the top three than any Japanese auto maker. The car sitting on dealer lots the longest is the Toyota Camry (World Recall King), and the vehicle moving off lots the fastest is the Chevy Equinox. And at last report, only 9% of U.S. auto workers were employed by all Japanese firms COMBINED. That IS a "handful". If you prefer stabbing 91% of your neighbors in the back financially by sending your money to help Japanese tycoons buy yachts, you have that freedom. It's too bad you choose to do it. You are only cutting off the future of our children.

2nd Oct 2010, 09:04

"Any car regardless of price will have mechanical issues. With 2011 its ridiculous not to have a 100000 mile warranty standard. I drive a lot and got tired of no warranty at low miles with mine on my japanese imports. I did like Acura over BMW amenities in all fairness."

In all fairness, the GM 100K mile warranty is completely bogus. It is the same 5 year warranty that the imports offer. If you are one of a VERY few that actually drive so much over the average 60K miles in 5 years, then this is a better warranty. For me it makes no difference as I only would use the average miles. If I buy a Honda, Toyota or a Chevy, they are all warranted exactly the same for me. This is just a lame marketing ploy by GM to make them look like they are backing their vehicles better than the imports. Apparently this strategy is working, as so many people go on about their "superior" warranty. Ahhhh, the power of advertising!

Ironically I have only ever needed the warranty on domestic vehicles. All of my imports have never been brought in for any warranty work over the past 26 years I've owned them. I was unfortunate to have GM vehicles near the end of their pitiful 3/36K warranty, and it cost me big time! I'd rather go with cars that I don't need to worry about how long the warranty is, because I know I'll have to use it. With imports, I don't even think about the warranty, because for me it has never been used so far.

The ONLY cars that have true 100K mile warranties are Hyundai, Kia and Suzuki.

2nd Oct 2010, 10:34

How is a written standard 100000 mile warranty bogus? And lots of people commute long distances in small imports; at least that's what I have read on here many times. To live in the suburbs and commute where it's less expensive to live vs cities in the econoboxes. I have co workers that commute easily an hour plus one way in these little cars.

My warranty was up in 2 1/2 years and then repairs hit. If anything, the small cars rack up the mileage to leave work and drive long long drives home. I maintain if you have a great car and it's so well built and no warranty is ever needed, what's the problem? It would not cost the manufacturer a dime to give it as standard. Why not make it 150000 miles standard; if they are so great and no issues, it would be not a penny more for the manufacturer to stand by it. Saying it's not needed is a cop out unless you feel if the warranty is never needed. Let the manufacturer put the great car in a written standard warranty for the many that commute distance every day. My friend has over 70000 miles on her 3 year old Prius, just so she can have her kids in a better school district. And I drive similar.

2nd Oct 2010, 13:40

Maybe you prefer to send your money to Italy owned Chrysler and stab 50% of your neighbors in the back.

3rd Oct 2010, 09:00

If I lived in Italy, I would buy a new American made Corvette instead of Ferrari. Sales are up 300 percent over Ferrari due to the great reliability of this American supercar that does not need to be in the shop every 4000 miles. But the original review is about the Camry. And the original reviewer summed it up.

3rd Oct 2010, 09:22

This statement has no basis of fact, nor does it make any sense. First of all the future of our children has already been cut off by greedy companies like the domestic auto companies, that have driven the economy down the drain. You'd rather teach your children that incompetence is to be rewarded by support? You'd rather they learn that thievery and deception are acceptable ways of life? Huh, that makes sense I guess if you want to continue to live in your little bubble and think things are just fine and dandy out there. I guess you probably have a job still and think the recession is over. Think again.

Poor business practices have caused a monumental failure of our economic system. Much of what has failed is permanent and will never return. Fat CEO's making millions every year is the norm in our country. The company I got laid off from has still got multiple VP's and CEO's, and they have no work left. They have deals, though, and can't be let go easily. Even when the company is going down, they have to hold onto these repetitious overpaid people... This is what has happened in nearly every business, especially the auto business. The unions have destroyed the domestic auto business. They will eventually be forced to outsource more labor than they have here in the U.S. just to be able to afford building cars anymore.

The global economy is all we have left really. To start cutting off imports would only speed our demise, as everyone else around the world would surely cut us off as well, and we'd be done. We have no base to be a self sustaining country anymore, as we hardly even manufacture anything here anymore. We wouldn't even be able to build cars anymore, as many of the parts are foreign based, and would no longer be available to us.

I can't believe people still think the economy is so black and white, and supporting America is the solution to all of our problems. We caused our own problems with greed, plain and simple. It was not Japan or Germany or Italy, but ourselves! It started with our own banks, and then Wall Street, and it has escalated ever since, infecting every type of business, large and small. I still see stories of scams and deception in business just about every week. It's not getting better that's for sure.