20th Sep 2011, 14:52

If you have 1500 dollars laying around for a used 1992 Camry, I say go for it. It is the topic of this specific review. It's not an earth shattering buying decision.

20th Sep 2011, 15:11

The only problem with that argument is that a lot of Toyotas, Hondas, and Nissans are in fact designed in the US, engineered in the US, and built in the US out of parts from American companies. So in that case, if the argument is that you shouldn't buy an import because of an outdated assumption that American workers throughout the corporate strata don't share in those profits, then that would be an incorrect assumption, plain and simple. I can rattle off a whole slew of "Import" cars that are more American than any American car. Guess what? There are engineers, designers, upper level executives, salespeople, part manufacturing companies and so on whom work for Japanese companies, who are American, and who get a paycheck. So if the argument is that we should buy cars that support our fellow Americans, then I couldn't agree more, and that is why my next car will be a Toyota.

20th Sep 2011, 18:04

Comment 12:17 makes a very good and true point, which no one ever seems to pay the slightest attention to. The last time I looked, Japan was not one of the states of our union, so I assume it is still a foreign country. The lion's share of all money that goes into engineering, building and selling Japanese cars goes to Japan (not the U.S.). Why this is so hard for car buyers to grasp is amazing. I'll stick with Ford and GM. I have not the slightest desire to enrich Japan's economy.

21st Sep 2011, 07:05

If it is built outside the U.S.A., it would have been built using a labour force, which is, believe it or not, not American.

21st Sep 2011, 09:35

Again, one more time. It's not the assemblers that create, design and spec out the quality of the parts that make a car. It's the parent based corporation that says how thick the steel is, the components and the drive train. Who spins the bolts or welds is irrelevant. The parent company approves and specs out the parts that we drive and sit on. When you have multiple failed transmissions or engine sludging for example in your new Japanese car, do you fault the assembler, or who designed and signed off the parts that built them?

21st Sep 2011, 11:17

Good, you do that. Filling up the pockets of Ford, GMs greedy management and owners, buying over priced and sub standard vehicles, usually built overseas and/or with a high content of foreign made parts. You do that, and I'll buy the vehicles that actually represents the best value and that have the highest quality.

Talking about 'engineering content' of so called domestic cars, you often have to look deeper into things. Because many 'domestics' are partly or entirely designed and engineered overseas. Like the Chevrolet Aveo being completely designed, engineered and built outside the US.

So how does that help the US economy? How does that help YOUR economy?

21st Sep 2011, 11:20

Well, the pendulum certainly swings in both directions, and those who refuse to consider imported cars, also seem to deny the fact that an awful lot of the American cars out there were actually designed, engineered, and built overseas and imported to the US. Look up "Captive Import". US car companies have done this a lot, where a totally foreign car, sometimes which is sold even in the US as a Toyota, Honda, Nissan, or whatnot gets a Chevy, Ford, or Chrysler badge stuck on the front. The only distinction between it and its foreign underpinnings is the badge - which itself may have also been made at that same Japanese, European, or whatever factory.

Also - if everyone had the same attitude that we can't support other economies, then the entire global economy would crash overnight and we would be thrown into a deep and probably permanent depression.

But even if you were to never-ever buy a foreign-branded vehicle, then your desire to support only American interests would never be met, because the American cars you buy will be filled with parts made by various international companies from all over the world. Likewise, the drive train, interior, or exterior, or one of the many other parts that makes that car were likely designed, engineered, or developed from teams based in international locations. If a drive train for a domestic car was designed in say - Germany, then exactly where do those engineers live? In Germany where those workers buy groceries, pay taxes to the German government, and buy goods from German stores. So even though the GM or Ford engine they worked on might later be manufactured for one of those products to be sold elsewhere, those who buy them, regardless of where they live, will in turn be doing a small part towards supporting the German economy.

Ahh yes.. The modern global economy. It hums along and works like a well-oiled machine. The notion that buying "American" really means it's literally made in America is outdated and inaccurate.

21st Sep 2011, 11:29

Only some of what you said was valid. Who do you think the people on your list report to? Who approves the build and what parts are to go on each vehicle? Final word comes from the top. Since you are so Pro-American, pick an American branded vehicle that is based in the U.S.A.

21st Sep 2011, 12:25

I guess I am enriching the German economy, as everyone I know drives BMW's and Audi's, as does 50% of the business sector. The American workers who work for Toyota and Honda, and who may be your neighbors don't count. By the way, the original review here is for a Toyota Camry, so why did you read it. It leads one to believe your sole purpose is bashing.

21st Sep 2011, 17:37

I don't buy Japanese cars simply because they are made by foreign-owned companies. I don't buy them because they are not now, and have not been for years as well-built and reliable as a Ford, GM or Chrysler vehicle.

21st Sep 2011, 22:59

"A lot of Japanese branded cars are engineered in the US."

Care to expand on which ones those are? There are none, except for some American input into the Toyota Tundra.

22nd Sep 2011, 09:52

I have owned Honda, Toyota, Nissan, VW and Mercedes over the years, and for some unknown reason thought I bought an import. Wow, was I ever fooled. I thought in the 80's especially that I had the import cachet of owning a new Mercedes. At that time it was all about me. I am now glad that buying these cars enriched America and that I had absolutely no effect on the American economy. It's nice to know that these foreign based entities made sure that there was no economic loss whatsoever here.