16th May 2011, 12:19
True. The cost of maintaining our imports was much higher than our domestics, as was the initial cost. The imports also required far more repairs, all of which cost more for both parts and labor. There is simply no way you can own and maintain any import as cheaply as a domestic car. All current owner surveys, which are based on actual owners experience with their cars, clearly show Ford as number one in reliability (now ahead of Lexus) and GM right behind. It will take a while for the urban myths about imports being more reliable to die, but sooner or later people will see that American cars are by far the better choice.
16th May 2011, 09:41
Absolutely false! Nearly every import is at or below the cost of their domestic competition. Have you even looked at the new Focus yet? They get well into the $20K's range pretty quickly when you start adding options. They are pretty much the most expensive small car on the market now. Look at GM's Volt at $40K; the Prius is essentially the same car and is $15K less. Domestics are way overpriced, as their labor costs demand it!
As far as my experience with import maintenance... Well you use the same oil in them, and the same coolant and other fluids that get changed out, so the costs are the same. Last I checked, the tires work on both domestic and imports, and you can even find the same deal on brake pads and rotors if you try a little. Since I never have repairs on them like I have on ALL of my domestic vehicles, they cost SIGNIFICANTLY less to own for me every time.
Insurance is pretty close with my company. In fact most of the time imports are slightly lower due to their abundance of safety features, some of which are not found on domestic cars in the same class range.