30th Aug 2010, 18:21
I disagree completely. Have you ever looked at the underside of an American compact car? The frames are usually far thinner than the import frames and they're almost always stamped together or simply tack welded in spots. The import frames also have far better engineering and possess full welds along the seams of the subframe. I personally have seen domestics simply bend under their own weight. I even owned one (a'95 Neon that simply bent under its own weight). I'll never forget the '91 Ford Escort we had... one of the welds in the unibody snapped and the whole car bent inwards almost immediately after purchasing it brand new. Choose to believe that if you want but it really did happen.
30th Aug 2010, 13:19
Not in my experience. Imports have outscored every domestic in every category, and I have never once had a single major issue with one of my import cars. GM has only earned its "going out of business" status over the past 20 years. They were the most mismanaged, counterproductive company in our recent history... maybe just in our history all together. If you think companies that have been run into the ground, produce high quality products, then you have a lot to learn about business. Not one of the import companies, other than those owned by a domestic larger company, has ever been going out of business, requiring $billions to survive. Imports earned their high rankings because they are better vehicles, period!
I know many, many mechanics, and all of them praise imports as longer lasting, better built cars. Most of them own domestics such as old muscle cars and such, but they are mechanics so they can work on them. Apparently that is a requirement for owning a domestic car. Seems like everyone who is a domestic fan on this forum is a mechanic. Hmmmmm.