9th Mar 2011, 15:29
Again - I find an argument that ALL imports sag while somehow ALL domestic cars are absolutely perfect in every way incredulous. If that were the case, then all the domestic branded Japanese built cars would I assume sag as well? This isn't an argument at all about technical merit. It's the same old re-hashed anti-import rhetoric that pops up all the time. It doesn't matter if something is Japanese, American, British, German, or Italian. All of them are machines, and they all have their own varieties of both good and bad models. Whether they are imported or domestic has nothing to do with anything.
I have NEVER seen ANY car - either foreign or domestic with a sagging frame. I have seen a few beat up work trucks with some slightly bent frames, but that was due to them being overloaded and abused, and had nothing to do with the design of the vehicle.
10th Mar 2011, 13:37
Agreed. I've worked in a tyre shop and a garage serving thousands of cars over the years, both imports and domestics. There's simply nothing called a sagging frame on a car unless it's been in a high speed accident and not been repaired properly thereafter. I'm reading the same tales several places. Usually the wording is exactly the same, so probably it's the same person posting this stuff. In the rare cases a car can't be aligned, it's always due to extreme wear in the suspension in high mileage cars, or people that have bumped into a stone or similar damaging the suspension, and it's got nothing to do with the body or the frame itself.
11th Mar 2011, 17:34
Just not true. Our Mazda had a badly sagging frame at 80,000 miles, and could not be aligned. It had never been in an accident or hit anything. My friend's Toyota has 54,000 miles, and he was just told that his car would require frame straightening in order to get a proper alignment. He is an excellent driver, and has never hit anything either. This is pretty common I understand with Japanese cars, due to the much tinier, flimsier frame components that are used in order to save money.
14th Mar 2011, 10:44
ALL cars that are sold in the US are required to pass strict safety regulations. That goes for foreign and domestically produced cars. There is absolutely no such thing as a car having a "tinny" or "flimsy" frame just because it happens to be Japanese. Either way, making such a claim isn't at all based on any fact or anything remotely tied to technical merit.
14th Mar 2011, 15:55
If you know anybody that has a newer car with only 54,000 miles on it with a sagging frame, this would be close to sensational. So my challenge to you is; back this claim up with facts, and no tales about "I know this, I know that". Having worked in the motor industry in various jobs since 1985, what you are telling is simply not possible. Further, what puzzles me is why people are posting info that's not rooted in reality.
16th Mar 2011, 02:21
What exactly is a 'badly sagging frame'? These cars that you are talking about are cars that could withstand 50 mph collisions or roll overs at 60-70 mph, and all passengers would walk away almost unharmed, as witnessed by me and my family. How can cars like that have a frame so flimsy that it can't even support its own weight when it can take that much punishment in an accident? New cars have very stiff frames and bodies that could take a lot of punishment without breaking, so your claims sound like hot air to me.
9th Mar 2011, 11:46
"ALL cars and trucks will eventually go out of alignment. It's a fact."
Well, not in my case. I've NEVER had an alignment on ANY of my domestics... EVER. That includes 3 with over 200,000 miles and one with over 300,000.
On the other hand, my Japanese import's subframe sagged so bad that it could not be aligned without frame straightening. My friend was just told that his 2-year-old Toyota had sagged so bad just from the car's weight that it would require special shims to get a proper alignment. My nephew hit a curb at 10mph with his Mitsubishi and bent the entire front subframe. Japanese cars use very thin and flimsy material in all parts of their cars, including sub-frame members. That is why I now drive Fords exclusively.