7th Aug 2012, 10:24

Most Americans probably don't realize that most of the imported brand cars and trucks sold in this country - some of which are exported overseas - are made in the US. Rehashing the same worn-out argument about American jobs, when in reality we make more cars than ever, is a moot point.

8th Aug 2012, 08:05

Just because cars are assembled here, does not mean we keep the money here. A bit of it may hire some people who lost jobs from the thousands here before with multiple shifts. Add the tax concessions by the states, and it's just throwing a bone. Sure it's great that some are working. In the end we all pay, and the quality of life keeps diminishing. It's great some states got some work back. But look at the country as a whole. Thousands of jobs are going away daily, so it does strike a nerve when you gloat over an import. I guess their corporate based headquarters are enjoying the bulk of the profits on each vehicle sold though.

8th Aug 2012, 12:06

Sending our money to Japan is a "moot point"? No wonder we are becoming a third world country.

8th Aug 2012, 20:59

There are more people out of work, irregardless of where cars are shipped. I think no one feels that manufacturing and employment are at their highest solid growth. If I buy another Japanese brand, it will be used and pre 1995 vs a 2012, as I am tired of engine and transmission replacement issues with our home at low mileage ones, bought new.

9th Aug 2012, 11:07

Here we go again with the non-stop circular argument about jobs at a foreign company in the US versus one at a domestic company. What has never been properly answered or fully acknowledged in any of these conversations is that yes, an American worker who works in a factory - in America - is an American employee,and therefore gets a paycheck and uses it to buy things like cars, houses, TV sets, and taxes. If the only difference is that the corporate headquarters of the company he/she works for happens to be located in another country, then that's not really much of a point.

If the argument is that the US should be a completely insular, totally self-sufficient, closed-borders economy where we should only buy American-made goods made in American factories, and no imported goods are ever allowed, well that's been tried and in some countries still happening. This sort of thing is generally referred to as a planned economy, and it doesn't work. In fact, during the start of the 1930's depression, an attempt to do something like that was tried: The US put tariffs on imported goods, and in the end the other countries did the same, and the depression grew worse.

International trade and international companies, either buying or selling goods in other countries, or using domestic labor to produce foreign labeled goods, is nothing new. It's been happening for 1000's of years. So why cars would be any different is a mystery to me. It's probably because cars are more or less a traditional symbol of American industrialism, and many attach patriotic symbolism to them. To make the point even more clear, do people make such passionate arguments when it comes to things like can openers and garbage cans? Why not? We make a lot of other things for other non-US based companies, and nobody ever gives it a second thought. Cars - like just about anything else made today - are comprised of a soup of international and domestically sourced components, using drivetrains from all over the place, with designs coming out of studios in California, Detroit, China, Europe, and elsewhere. The employees who work for these companies live all over the world. The people who buy and drive these products do so as well. As a result, the world demands higher quality and better innovation, and as a result of this more or less international competition, we - the consumer - reap the benefit of those efforts. If we were in a planned economy, we would probably be driving really crappy cars and buying poorly made appliances, because there wouldn't be that sort of competition.

So in the end, I'm sure the same counterpoints will be made - some sort of generic statements about foreign and domestic cars, vague anecdotal stories, and other forms of proof to back up whatever argument. So be it. We live in an international economy. That's the way the world spins.

10th Aug 2012, 11:34

Sure, 1929 and early 30s is just the time to be buying as much as possible made overseas. Use to be soup lines, and now it's unemployment benefits. The import manufacturers here have only hired a small percentage; not what once was present here. It is a very good point about all the states that had manufactured cars, and the workers bought locally. I am seeing many other industries besides cars that are closing up and have downsized many people. Or merged and did away with half of them and reduced to one shift. Buy whatever you want, you ultimately will anyway. Just be prepared that in many areas of the country, there are many more thousands, once in manufacturing, that were buying homes, electricity and goods, that are now jobless. More home defaults, and most people in my area are not doing well at all. We lost 2 large domestic car plants, and our taxes went up and homes went down.

12th Aug 2012, 09:17

Goods made long ago, appliances as you say lasted for decades. They were before planned obsolescence. It's now calculated as a throwaway. You say repair shops in towns where you could buy a new brushes for a vacuum for example. There was more steel in products.

I just bought a fan and a vacuum; very cheaply made. My thoughts are it's a result of foreign labor costs. We used to buy appliances made in America; now it's mostly China.

I have a 42 year old GM in my garage with a full frame, not a unibody. I have read of sagging and twisted frames on here. My car doesn't sag, and is worth 10 times what it cost in 1970.

I had some Toyotas in college that rusted apart in the Northeast. The engines and trans were still good; it is the unibody that was unsafe. It rotted to pieces. I don't think most are going to sink a lot of money in a Toyota; it is similar to the story above on appliances.

I disagree that America is building crap, and in 2012 I would buy a new Ford. I hit the 100k mark on Toyota, Nissan and Hondas, and pulled out my wallet for front end work, timing belts, heater cores, numerous brake jobs, failed A/C, power window, and even a sunroof motor. Import parts I found to be higher.

I did get a free Snapple and a car wash with Honda. But somehow figure I paid for them.

Anyway, test drive a 2012 Ford before you gripe. I love mine.