22nd Oct 2010, 06:05
10:36 Most get tired or move up over time. If I used your theory, I would still be driving my 55 Chevrolet I bought for 400 dollars when I graduated high school in 1972. I could easily repair any part of that car quickly. My car insurance would be under 200 dollars a year with Haggerty today. But I have owned many imports and domestics since I bought some same car just for a color change or new features that came out. I remember some Accords looked exactly the same, just a different color.
22nd Oct 2010, 10:32
No way you can do that. Most GM vehicles have average or above average deprecation. 30%-40% deprecation in 2 years is the norm with most GM vehicles.
According to IntelliChoice, Lexus and Toyota is on top or near the top in more or less any class, whereas GM is usually ranked low in most classed with some few exceptions. Ie; GM vehicles have the lowest resale value (highest deprecation) of the major brands.
22nd Oct 2010, 16:28
Yep, and they told you what you wanted to hear, didn't they?
Go check out Detroit sometime. You know the great Motor City that the big three made such a thriving city out of decades ago. Yeah, it is now a wasteland and an embarrassment for America. The auto companies saved their money all right, but at what cost to this country?
To cut jobs in order to save other jobs is not an acceptable practice to me. These companies should be able to figure out how to be viable with 100% U.S. factories and workers like they were in the good old days when they were on top. There is no excuse for this lack of planning, and the "take the easy way out" approach. The only way this would be acceptable is if all of the vehicles that are produced in a certain country are for the marketplace in that country, like what Japan is doing here for the U.S. market. Then at least you are supplying jobs for the actual people that are buying your products.
It makes no sense to me that as a U.S. company, you build the car in Canada or Mexico, paying their workers to do the job, and then turn around and import the car back into the U.S. and expect someone else to buy it. Sorry, if this is the only way they can save jobs, then we should have let them fail. We used to be the biggest manufacturing nation in the world, which lead to our dominance. Now we send most of our manufacturing work out of the country to cut costs and continue the fairy tale lives we've all become accustomed to.
If (and it is a big IF) we are ever going to get back what we once had, our companies have to stop exporting jobs PERIOD! If you want to continue to support this lame practice of job exportation then, so be it. Yes, jobs have been saved for now, but they are continually opening new factories, so how long do you think things will favor the U.S. worker? Trust me, if there is a cost cutting measure, the big three will take it, and they could care less about the U.S. worker if it gets in the way of their bottom line!
22nd Oct 2010, 16:34
Original poster here: I'm not talking about buying a new vehicle off the lot here, I buy GMC Vandura vans for $1000 - $2000, use them for work and drive the heck out of them for a year, then sell it for $1000 - $2000 and buy a lower mileage one in better shape for the same price. I always get my money back, because these vans are made tough and require very little maintenance.
Basically I drive these cars for free instead of paying $400 a month in car payments, plus taxes, depreciation, and expensive imported replacement parts.
I'm not saying everyone can do this, but just stating my opinion. With the amount of construction materials I haul with my van, I would kill any import in less than 6 months, except for maybe a V-8 Toyota or Nissan, which would run me at least $20-$40k, then it would depreciate a whole bunch if I actually used it for work.
There is no better investment than a GMC product, no one is going to convince me otherwise, I've owned over 20 vehicles in the past 10 years, imported and domestic, GMC is the only sure bet.
I've owned 2 Hondas, 1 Toyota, and 1 Hyundai. I was really not impressed with the build quality, and had more problems with my $3000 Civic than my $500 Buick Century. I gave imported cars a few chances, and got ripped off every time, so no more imports for me! Too cheaply made...
22nd Oct 2010, 17:55
I hope my insurance company does not read your comments. My GM is currently insured at 9 times the price it cost new in '70 at full replacement value. Plus I paid to have it shipped.
22nd Oct 2010, 18:13
I sold my last Dodge (bought used) after 4 years for exactly what I paid for it. I also sold one of my last Fords (also bought used) after 3 years for exactly what I paid for it. I also sold my Dodge truck (bought new in October 2000) in January of 2006 for only $830 less than I paid for it brand new. People fail to understand that imports are sold for full list, and REGARDLESS of higher resale values, you seldom ever recover all that you paid for the cars.
Granted, I take immaculate care of all my cars and they are kept literally in showroom condition. Beat up junkers with dents, dings and never-waxed faded paint will drop in value like a brick, whether they are domestic or foreign.
Oh, and last year the BEST resale value on ANY vehicle was a GM (The Chevy Suburban). The lowest was on a Nissan. Recently a report in USA Today noted that the car spending the MOST time on a dealer's lot was the Toyota Camry. The fastest-moving seller was GM (the Traverse).
There are tons of myths out there about imports (all carefully spread by import car companies of course) but the truth is rapidly coming out. Toyota (The Recall King) just recalled ANOTHER 1.5 MILLION cars for brake problems. Honda also issued a brake recall. Watch for falling import resale values (coming soon to a used car lot near YOU!!)
21st Oct 2010, 19:54
The error of this comment has probably been pointed out AT LEAST 100 times on this site. But any way, here goes attempt 101+:
1) First of all, only TEN PERCENT of the American automotive work force works for FOREIGN MANUFACTURERS. Buying a domestic STILL helps 90% of those people.
2) AMERICAN COMPANIES enrich the AMERICAN economy... EVEN if they outsource. The PROFITS are invested in AMERICA. Buying wealthy Japanese car company officials new yachts DOES NOT help the AMERICAN economy... AT ALL!!
3) Outsourcing by U.S. auto makers has SAVED TENS OF THOUSANDS of U.S. jobs by cutting costs that allows more money for research and development, new designs, more facilities and more workers IN THE U.S. Before making statements based solely on Japanese car company ad hype, DO SOME RESEARCH. I DID.