Buy American

self | 7/28/2003 | Martin O'Reilly

[jbg]

"I highly recommend the AMERICAN JEEP!"

Made by a German company, so no different than buying a Toyota or Honda made in the US except the Japanese are better allies.

[RaceBannon]

Your Honda was built here, that's why.

[Dan from Michigan]

I drive an Explorer. I got a good deal on it. I bought it from my Dad.

[tom h]

It's incredulous to see you actually ask this questions. I'm a patriot but I'm also not a fool. My Mercury Villager has been plagued with problems since hitting 90 K miles. My four Japanese and German cars ran like dreamboats well past 120-150 K.

Patriots make good decisions, not bad. Patriots don't throw good money after bad quality products. Sorry, buying foreign cars doesn't make me less patriotic.

[Roughneck]

You are 20% right!

80% American parts and mfg. better than japanese cars and I used to be absolutely sold on japanese cars.

[dark_lord]

It is possible to get good American quality, but you have to look for it. My Saturn is almost 10 years old and the only thing I have had to do for it other than oil changes and "winterazation" is (a) replace the tires (once), and (b) replace the battery (twice), and (c) replace the wiper blades (several times). Anyone who hasn't been to a Saturn dealership, go check out the service department. Comparing to the disgusting service departments at other dealerships, the Saturn service departments tend to be like your living room with continuous hot coffee and free snacks, plus a play area for the kids.

[snopercod]

So does BMW - in Greenville, SC.

[Huck]

I buy used. I recently purchased a Subaru from an American private citizen (not a car dealer.) Car runs great. As far as I am concerned, I bought American.

[Alberta's Child]

I own a Mazda SUV that was built by Ford and is nearly identical to the Explorer. It's got 210,000 miles on it and still runs almost as well as it did the day I bought it in 1994.

I've had enough luck with cars lasting a long time (regardless of who makes them) that I'm wondering if "luck" has anything to do with it. Change the oil every 5,000 miles or so (doing it every 3,000 miles is actually a waste of money, unless you do a lot of heavy towing), change the transmission fluid every four oil changes (20,000 miles), and -- most important -- when you buy a new car, spend the extra money for an upgraded cooling system that includes a separate radiator for the transmission fluid.

[MD_Willington_1976]

Personal experiences with cars...

1990 Subaru Legacy AWD, built in IOWA, 204400 miles, built like a tank, $2400

1990 Chevy Cavalier,$3500, built in Ontario,128000 miles....sent to auto wrecker

1977 Toyota Corolla, $650 CDN + 1 Bottle Lambs Spiced Navy Rum, 350000 km's (350000 Kilometers = 217490 Miles), all original drivetrain. Sold to a friend from High-school (Grad 1994) she still drives it daily...

I also have owned;1974 Honda civic,(paid $100 sold parts for $500) 1980 & 1982 VW Rabbit (bought both from impound $200 sold for $800), 1980 Ford courier pickup (frame was so rotten that I gave it away). Currently drive a 1990 Toyota pickup that just hit 100000 miles, the most I have spent on servicing it is $250 CDN.

[Clara Lou]

I have a standing agreement with American manufacturers: Make a decent product at a decent cost, and I'll even pay some extra for your stuff.
Whole-heartedly agree with you. (Ford executives agree that Toyota Camry is a finer product that the Ford Taurus.) When Ford or amy other US company makes as fine a product, I'll be glad to buy. Don't expect me to purchase inferior products just because they are US-made.

[Mr. K]

stop wasting bandwidth

most 'foreign cars' are made in american factories nowadays. even the unions dont complain about this anymore

[38special]

Just say No to Rice!

[Psalm 73]

Not me, I drive two Mercury's (not at the same time, though - that would be gluttony).

[Murtyo]

I think I started a decent discussion, I can't go thru' all the posts here but I think this post illicited more responses that most posts to FR. I think it's interesting and somewhat informative. Ties into nation sec. issues, foreign ownership of US Manufacturing Base, the huge and growing trade deficit, the strong dollar (policy), the Fact that foreigners (eg the Saudis) hold so much Dollar Denominated US assets.

[BMiles2112]

I buy old, used American because it's cheap and easy to fix. My old beater S-10's got 250,000+ miles and it runs great. Gets 28mpg, uses no oil, with original engine, trans, etc. Granted, I've had to replace about 15 other things, but parts are plentiful and fairly cheap if you do the work yourself.
If I were to buy new, I'd probably buy a "foreign" car for the reasons shown above, but used GMs, Fords are about 60% of the cost of a comparable Toyota, Honda.

[Alberta's Child]

It's a good thread, judging by the responses. Threads like this usually get bumped off the front page of FreeRepublic, though, because they are posted simply as a comment by a Freeper. If you want to get a lot of exposure to a thread like this, you might try to post an article or a link to an article about this subject. Maybe an article from an auto industry magazine that goes into some of the odd arrangements that these manufacturers have, like Fords and GMs being considered "domestic" cars even if they are built outside the U.S. and Honda and Toyota being called "foreign-made" even though they are built in the U.S.

[RonF]

My first Toyota (1979) was made in Japan and imported. My Voyager was probably made in Canada, but its design and construction was according to American standards.

[Alberta's Child]

Toyota just announced last month that they are going to open a new plant in Texas to manufacture light trucks. In El Paso or San Antonio, if I remember correctly.

[yonif]

If I ever buy a car it will be from an American company (apart from Ford, which I will never buy).