23rd Jul 2009, 09:02
Nice to have a decent warranty, better than most imports. I left Honda over major issues on a now 40k model.
23rd Jul 2009, 10:00
Untrue. The kids next door to us when I was growing up in TN had a Dad who worked at the Smyrna Nissan plant outside of Nashville. All the Nissans that came out of there had little Tennessee flag stickers on the windows. These cars were built in a community near us and Nissan poured (and continues to pour) money into the community. Last I heard Nissan is going to start manufacturing batteries and electric cars there.
The family next to us had their own house, 2 cars, and 2 kids in school. The wages he made at Nissan paid for their living expenses. So the opposite of what you're saying is true: When we bought a Nissan, it helped our literal next door neighbors. Somehow your argument doesn't really work.
I'm sorry for those in Detroit who lost their jobs. But had Detroit and the companies that employed them made better decisions and designed better vehicles, they wouldn't have lost their jobs. So if you want to look for blame, don't blame the consumer.
23rd Jul 2009, 10:01
With people thinking like this, it is no wonder our economy is in dire straights. REGARDLESS of WHERE a car is built, 91% of the auto related jobs in the U.S. were dependent on the DOMESTIC auto industry (as of May, 2009). Thanks to reasoning like that shown above, the number now is now closer to 86%. When people think 86% is no larger a number than 14%, our country is in dire straits indeed. People who actually hope for the destruction of 86% of U.S. auto related jobs need to look at what this kind of thinking is doing to tens of thousands of our friends and neighbors.
23rd Jul 2009, 14:09
Does the Nissan example have any lacking details? Is he management or an hourly assembly worker? Does his wife work and possibly make 3 times as much? Is he an investor besides an auto worker? You may not know all their financial details. I had an inheritance which affected or supplemented my job. My neighbors do not know and why should they.
23rd Jul 2009, 17:09
To the guy who said the Ford Fusion is the best selling car in America: The only place I've ever seen a Ford Fusion is on the dealer lot. I seen tons of Camry's and Accords though. I don't think you have your facts right. If they're so popular, why do we never see them?
23rd Jul 2009, 18:21
Well, I am going to keep thinking like this -
Stop trying to tell me what I can and cannot buy.
And I guess you will keep repeating the 91 vs 9%, or I guess now the 86 vs. 14% argument ad nauseam.
23rd Jul 2009, 20:37
My best friend works (in the U.S.) for a Norwegian company. That hardly means we help the MAJORITY of U.S. citzens by buying from Norway. Buying Japanese cars helps only 9% of our people in auto-related jobs. Buying domestic helps 91%. It is odd that that is such a hard concept to understand.
24th Jul 2009, 02:37
I'll give you a list of cars my parents owned, you make the decision.
My dad has a 1996 Bonneville. It's been a great car, after we replaced the blown engine at 30,000 miles. It now has 130,000 miles and is going well except for intake gasket leak starting.
The Bonneville replaced the 1986 Chevy Celebrity he had... it got wrecked by a Thunderbird running a red light at 186k miles.. We got it with a blown engine at 50k miles. We put a junkyard engine in it (2.8), which lasted 30k miles. We then put a new GM 2.8 into it, 50k miles later it cracked a head.
We replaced the head, and 10k later the other head cracked. Once we fixed this the engine was fine.. but we had problems with the brakes and axles up until the car got wrecked.
My mother has a 1999 Yukon. It has 102k miles on it... it's been reliable except for the 4L60E going out at 85k.
The Yukon replaced an 85 Suburban, which for its credit was trouble free (but was a complete rustbucket... even though it was garage kept.)
I owned a 2006 Chevy Silverado for about half a year. It was trouble free except for the cheap interior falling apart. I sold it at 26k miles.
My grandfather has a 1996 Pontiac Transport van. He bought it new and takes it to the dealer faithfully for service. He currently has about 165k on it. It's been trouble free but it's completely worn out. The intake gaskets leak, it rattles and squeaks, and the trans shifts soft. It will never see 200k, no way in hell.
My friend has a 2006 Chevy Cobalt. He bought it new, it has 38k on it now. So far the only problems he has had with it are rear brakes constantly warping and the shifter assembly broke (the button wouldn't release) (Go GM!)
My Grandfather had a Pontiac Parisienne Brougham, that he bought new. It had 265k on it when we sold it for $500. The original 305 blew up at 220k.
My mother leased a 2000 Grand Am for 3 years. Never had a problem with it.
So as you can see the domestics make a good product, but all you haters out there gotta realize that the imports are good, too, as these examples can attest to.
My mother bought a 1983 Sentra new. It held up to us growing up in it, my brother and I learning to drive in it, getting into a severe accident, and we never had a problem with it, ever. Yes the body and interior were shot, the car was abused hard. It was rear-ended in 1997, it had 128k on it. It never took anything other than normal stuff like tires and brake pads.
My brother had a 1987 Pulsar, which he took to college, and which I drove to great lakes, after my basic training. That car in all the years we owned it, had one problem in 240k miles... the alternator went out.
My friend who has the Cobalt also has a 1989 Nissan Sentra. It has 244k on it and counting, it doesn't use a drop of oil, it doesn't rattle, it doesn't squeak. Everything in it still works, it drives like a new car (but doesn't look like one... damn Japanese tin metal... LOL) It so far has needed one repair item... a clutch.
His father has a Toyota pickup with 240k on it... still has the original clutch, original everything. By the way, my friend used to have that "Japanese Scrap" attitude, not anymore.
I'm sorry to say that in my personal auto experience, so far in my life, that the imports won this round. Sorry to rain on your parade. They were all good cars, in case you're wondering, the domestics as well as the imports I've owned.
22nd Jul 2009, 19:35
"15:03" Finally somebody else who gets it. Like whatever you wanna like. It's really annoying how everybody is bad-mouthing domestics or bad-mouthing imports. Every car brand has its strengths and weaknesses. Imports provide quality, dependability, and value at a higher price. Domestics provide these same things, just for a shorter amount of time. If you drive your cars for 60,000 miles and then dump them, buy a domestic. It'll save you money at the beginning. If you drive your cars for 100K+ miles, buy an import. You'll pay more at the beginning but you'll save money on maintenance costs in the long run. For those of you who owned a Honda or a Toyota in the past and had problems, you got a lemon. You can't say an entire company is crap just because of one car. EVERY CAR MANUFACTURER PRODUCES A LEMON ONCE IN AWHILE.