18th Feb 2009, 15:37

17:48 Thank you very much for being one of the few of us that make any sense at all. Well put... welcome to American economics. I will not be pressured by patriots into buying a tinny, cheaply made GM or Ford when I can buy a much more reliable, much higher quality Toyota. It's that simple. I trade my money for good products, not sub standard ones simply because they're made by so called 'American' companies.

18th Feb 2009, 16:29

I know supporting American products has gone out of fashion, but the tired old argument that domestic vehicles are not as good as Japanese vehicles is simply, blatantly not true. Domestic vehicles offer far better warranties than ANY imports, GM produces cars that consistently appear in "10 Best" lists, Ford has the highest rated vehicle in the U.S. in reliability, as well as the best sport coupe and best SUV.

In addition, as stated in comment 14:44, GM builds more 30+ mpg vehicles than Honda and Toyota combined, and with a much better warranty. Please explain why I should damage my own country's economy by sending my money to Japan.

18th Feb 2009, 17:13

Built in the US isn't too hard to find... as long as you mean assembled in US. Trouble is, that's not the same as made in the US. Usually stuff that's assembled here is assembled from parts made elsewhere. You wouldn't consider an item you built from imported parts to be made in the US would you? Especially electronics are troublesome to find. They ARE assembled here -- final assembly. They just aren't made here. Moreover, to be consistent, you need to find a US owned company making their products here out of primarily US made parts. Good luck... you're gonna need it. Or it's back to the garage.

18th Feb 2009, 17:16

Sorry dude, but not end of argument. First, anyone can not put in the full facts behind the numbers used. Like I noticed that you only listed the number of direct employees of the "Foreign" manufacturers, yet you list all of the direct and indirect employees plus all the employees not in US plants. Did you forget that "Foreign" Manufacturers also have parts plants and dealerships in the US, not to mention some of those parts plants make parts for both US and "Foreign" vehicles. Matter of fact, just up the road is a parts plant (Korean Owned) that makes parts for GM and Hyundai. Matter of fact, last year I was told by a employee of that parts plant that there was a problem with a Malibu part and the fixed used was scotch tape.

Second, you will notice that I always listed "Foreign" in quotes, because it really doesn't seem to have any real merit. See you said Big Three (not all that big anymore) and I assume you mean GM, Ford, Chrysler/Dodge. Yet two of these are part Foreign owned and the other was completely Foreign owned. Chrysler/Dodge was owned by Germans, Ford is part owned by the Swedes, and GM is in bed with so many foreign countries it is just funny to call them an American. This doesn't even touch on the fact that all of these companies are public traded companies (yes that includes Toyota, Honda, GM, ford, and any other you can think of) meaning it is impossible to know which nationality owns which company.

So I can only assume that by your "Foreign" comments that you mean where the company was started. So you should be happy to know that Toyota and Honda where founded on an American's ideas and designs that were purchased from him after he was rejected by Ford and GM.

22nd Feb 2009, 12:43

Sorry but the best warranty from a vehicle manufacturer for the last 10+ years belongs to Hyundai. Your next statement needs so more information with Top Ten list does GM consistently appear on? Which publication and which vehicles does Ford have best in reliability?

4th Aug 2009, 21:47

You all say that your helping the country by buying domestic, but do you really know where your domestics are actually made? Most are made in either Mexico, or Canada. If they're made there, then it must be Mexicans and Canadians who are building them. How is that helping Americans?

The American car companies don't care about you, the customer. No car company does. They're all bent on getting more and more money by selling you something.

I'm a mechanic myself, and I want people to buy domestic because domestic cars break more often, giving me more work. But for myself, I drive imports. They're of higher quality, reliability, and let's not forget resale value. So get real people. You can love Chevy or you can love Toyota, but neither one actually cares about you. As long as your buying, they're happy.

And there's proof of this. The Big 3 decided to give all their workers pensions. The Japanese automakers didn't. So if Honda builds a car with a $16,000 budget, they can build a car with that amount of quality. If Chevy builds a car with a $16,000 budget, they can only use $14,000 of it to actually build the car. The other $2,000 goes to the retired autoworker now living off his pension. Chevy can't win. They're always behind on their budget. To me, it's pretty clear which is the better choice.

5th Aug 2009, 11:19

You might have missed some college economics on reinvestments not shipping profits overseas to the parent corporation.

Funny, mechanics I know hate working on import front wheel drive and high parts prices. People bicker and complain about repair costs. I like a 100000 mile warranty, am sure you don't. What's your opinion on import repairs over 100000 miles? That's when I saw a lot of heavy bills on A/C heater cores, front end work etc, and sold.

5th Aug 2009, 21:22

The July sales figures are in. Ford thoroughly trounced Honda, Toyota and Nissan in sales of both small cars and small SUV's. The word is FINALLY reaching people that buying from foreign companies hurts us all. We should all be thankful more people are re-discovering their patriotism. Hardly a week goes by that I don't persuade some Japanese vehicle owner to go test drive a Ford, GM or Chrysler. This far none of them have bought another Japanese car.

6th Aug 2009, 09:48

I'm a mechanic, and I think even many mechanics are taken in by ad hype from Japanese manufacturers. No one who has actually worked on a Japanese car can claim they are better built. The components are smaller, flimsier and much more plastic is used than on American cars. The part costs are higher, and items such as brake parts generally wear out twice as fast as on a domestic. I've seen domestics still running and driving great after 300,000 miles with virtually zero repairs. I've never even SEEN a Japanese car with over 300,000 miles, though there may be a tiny number out there (usually on their second or third engine or transmission). Why pay more for a less reliable vehicle with a poor warranty when you can buy a domestic and be worry-free for the first 100,000 miles (and usually the SECOND 100,000 miles as well).