12th May 2016, 19:07

The foreign versus import argument is tiresome and warrantless, especially these days. Yes. I now own a Tacoma, classic Mercury and now a 5 year old Chevy Volt.

The Mercury is basically 100% American made. That is the only truly American made car know. The Tacoma is 60% domestically produced, the rest from Japan. The Volt is 45% domestically produced with the bulk of the rest from Korea, Japan, and Austria.

Today's cars are like computers. They are stuck together with an assortment of components from a few major parts suppliers such as Bosch, Delphi, and other companies. When we talk about cars today we are talking mostly about intellectual property, because the physical construction is of an international nature. It's been this way for a long time too. So thus to me it seems really silly to drag out such overly simplified comments about this car or that just because it's foreign or domestic: they're often sharing parts made by the same companies!

And no, I also don't buy that cars have gotten worse. Quite the opposite. I'm 38 years old and I can recall a time when a car with 100,000 miles was a bragging right. These days any car from any manufacturer is more or less expected to go 200,000 miles or more without a hitch. As technically complex as my Volt is, all that's gone wrong in 70,000 miles has been a faulty MAS airflow sensor that took 5 minutes to replace. On the other hand my dad owned an '84 Buick Regal that self destructed in 6 months; we've come a long way as far as cars.

12th May 2016, 23:45

Your dad was probably fine with the 1 year manufacturer's warranty. I kept my cars 3 years back then with minimal issues. Usually just tires, brakes, bulbs and oil changes.

13th May 2016, 04:16

Read this same comment on different threads. I really want to know what "furrin'" means.

13th May 2016, 09:11

Somehow with the dip in the economy again, we like ordering a domestic manufacturer built in a domestic plant. Not building a foreign car here and mailing the big check overseas to enrich their economy. Our latest is a $71k Corvette in our garage. Hope it helps out. A Chevrolet made in the U.S.A. that is running multiple shifts in Ky. My point isn't that it's a Corvette on this review whatsoever. It's from here and made here, which is the real point. I know it's a global economy etc., and I could still be buying a few foreign cars as well. At the moment I just don't relish spreading the dollars around. I like it on this side of the globe. When our economy has a significant rebound, we may look around. There's certainly plenty worldwide to choose from.

13th May 2016, 19:32

The word "furrin'" on this and other threads is used as satire. It refers to the way some Americans supposedly pronounce the word "foreign". Such people also supposedly view foreign cars with contempt and will only buy American cars and encourage others to do the same.

14th May 2016, 14:01

Oh- I get it. One of those rural south slang terms. Still never heard it pronounced that way though.

14th May 2016, 18:43

I thought it was some isolated southern dialect that disappeared long before the advent of the modern day motorcar. Never heard it utilized in modern day America.

16th May 2016, 03:43

I was watching a very old movie once. I heard a ferener is from another state. An alien pronounced owl ee n is from another country. Very rural southern antiquated expression. As far as cars they would call it "foreign jobs". All these expressions are likely in the Smithsonian today. Everyone today knows exactly what car brands are out there. Like having a modern day BMW plant in the Deep South. I simply don't care for Toyotas anymore over major issues we had. Doesn't mean I dislike the nation or culture. But it's a way I guess to excuse current quality concerns. We are expected to overlook and keep buying the import hype from former better ownership history.