'Buy American' No Longer Black And White In Auto Industry

Newhouse News ^ | 12/14/2007 | Peter Krouse and Robert Schoenberger

[PissAndVinegar]

Ok - I gotta ask - what about Subaru’s turned you off?

I love both of ours! Economical, well built, low maintenance, AWD (need in NYS), fast and fun IMO. The interiors are cheap in many but that’s not much of a factor to me.

[Flashman_at_the_charge]

I'll have one of these. Just as soon as my lottery tickets come up. :-)

[imdref]

No longer? This has been the trend for 20 years or more.

FWIW, About 4 years ago I bought two Hondas, one was made in Ohio and one in Alabama, both had mostly U.S. made parts.

[imdref]

I still have my heart set on a Veyron. :-)

[woodbutcher1963]

Have you ever seen an Acura NSX ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_NSX

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NSX-T-Location-is-Accurate-Cars-in-Nashville-TN-37086_W0QQitemZ330194712226QQihZ014QQcategoryZ5337QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Petronski]

What an idiotic title!

It hasn’t been black-and-white for at least ten years.

[org.whodat]

Does it have a diesel?

[Liberty2007]

Does it have a diesel?

overseas market does. yeah greenies, you want us to use biodiesel but you guys have relagated diesel in big trucks only. Btw I probably wouldnt get a diesel I hear those are not part of the lifetime drivetrain warranty...thats the big seller for me

[Liberty2007]

Hopefully they will get the kinks out. We looked at one when we were test driving this summer. When I researched problems with them I found that the feds may make Chrysler recall almost 150,000 of these because they mysteriously shut down when they reach 55 mph. Scary! I have no regrets with our choice. I love my Titan.

I rented a caliber for week they are escentially the same car. I had no problems with it at all, I did test drive a Patriot recently, I liked it alot, the quality of the interior is the only sour point. The dash appears to be the same type of plastic that is on my 2001 Ram's dash, it is busted all to hell right now.

[Retired COB]

Think about that for a minute. Why shouldn't American auto makers move all their plants to China? All the profits would come back here, right?

It just could be that they want to have a few people left in this country that earn enough money to buy their products. There's a fine line here, and they may have already crossed it.

[Flashman_at_the_charge]

Whilst not as technologically advanced the Hennessey Venom did beat it in a 0-200mph shootout so I'd have to go with grunt over grace.

PS: If you're not done daydreaming yet you can always choose your Veyron colour combination here on the configurator, which is a lot of fun. :-)
http://www.bugatti-configurator.com/

[KarlInOhio]

I don't cast aspersions at Canada. I cast aspersions at GM, Ford and Chrysler for swinging it so that foreign built cars count as American built cars. They want to use variations in currency, labor laws, tax laws, etc. to their advantage, but still get to claim that cars built in Canada are American. Nope, Canadian cars are just as foreign as Mexican, Yugoslavian, Japanese or Chinese cars. If the big three were honest, they would include Canadian content with the rest of the world on the content section of the car's sticker.

[org.whodat]

The 3.0-liter V-6, which has been used in the Grand Cherokee overseas, is a Mercedes engine that is arguably the most advanced small diesel made. When you start — and particularly when you stop — the engine there's no vibration that shouts "diesel." The same couldn't be said of Mercedes' previous diesel car engine, the 3.2-liter in the E320.

Was suppose to be available this year in Us, that's why I ask, don't worry about warranty!

[JamesP81]

Yeah, I’ve heard of the NSX. I’ve also seen that a 1992 model costs around $30,000. Thanks, but I’ll take a newer Corvette for less money that also has more horsepower than the NSX. Acura is a Honda company...remember what I was saying about Hondas having outrageous resale prices?

[N. Theknow]

Ok - I gotta ask - what about Subaru’s turned you off?

Poor engineering in the Legacy was the reason. Before that my wife and I had 8 Subarus. Only thing that had a 4-wheel drive which we needed for our driveway in winter.

Last Legacy the cup holders were in front of the air conditioning vents so my hot coffee got cool really quick. Also could not see the clock/radio display if you had anything in the cup holders. Hit a bump and it spilled Coke (liquid variety) into the dash and it gummed up the heating/AC vents. Big bucks, $800, to fix or have the vents work either in the dash or on the floor as they would not move. Light went out in the radio/clock display. No replacement lamp option, just a big bill, $650, to replace the entire radio/clock.

[-YYZ-]

I’m sad to say (as someone who has owned several fine Nissan proucts in the past), but many Nissan models from the last 10-15 years have pretty awful reliability records. They’ve had some serious engine problems with their 2.5 litre 4 banger (bad head gaskets, pre-cats breaking down and showering metallic bits back into the engine through the EGR system), and also some with their V-8 models. No major tranny issues that I’m aware of (unlike Honda, Ford, GM, Chrysler), but a number of other quality and reliability issues. My ‘96 Sentra was pretty good except for eating an alternator every 60k miles or so, and some corrosion issues. Overall Nissan’s quality and reliability just isn’t in Honda and Toyota’s class.

OTOH, as you say, they actually make some interesting vehicles. Honda’s and Toyota’s cars are dead boring these days, with a few exceptions like the new Accord coupe. Still, boring is not such a bad thing for a daily driver - as long as it’s comfy, reliable, and drives well (my Accord has a good balance between ride and handling, IMO) that’s all I really need.

[JamesP81]

I’m sad to say (as someone who has owned several fine Nissan proucts in the past), but many Nissan models from the last 10-15 years have pretty awful reliability records.

Yeah, the new 2.5L 4-cylinder has a very bizarre EGR system in it that, I think, is designed to not cut down on power like most EGR systems do, but it's turned out to be a basketcase. I've also heard of the problems with their V-8 vehicles. However, my 97 Sentra's odometer crossed 180k yesterday, and it still runs fine. Also, the VQ35 3.5L V6 engine has an excellent track record. This is the engine used in the Maxima and the 350Z, both of which are very good cars.

Still, boring is not such a bad thing for a daily driver

Speak for yourself. My dad has a 1996 Corvette that is pristine. It's also the most comfortable car I've ever rode in, believe it or not. It has the old small block 350 in it, an engine which would be difficult to destroy even if you tried.

[JamesP81]

I'll also add this: I would not, under any circumstances, pay more than $7k or so on a car that I didn't truly enjoy driving. I won't spend that kind of money on something I don't really want. If all I'm paying for is transportation, I can spend less than $7k and get about a 5 to 6 year old import compact car in good shape and drive it for another 5 years at a minimum. If reliable transportation is all I need, it would be insane to pay more any more than that when reliable transportation can be had for so cheap (unless it's a Honda, of course, referring back to those awful resale prices).

Any more than $7k or so, and it'd better make me smile when I turn the key.

[-YYZ-]

“Speak for yourself.”

Different priorities, I guess. In any case, I’m not willing to give up too much quality or reliability to get into something more interesting. I’ve actually considered buying a V6 Altima coupe with the 6-speed manual recently, but I’m still paying for my current car and it still works well, so the heck with taking the depreciation hit on another new car.

My ‘96 Sentra, btw, is not in my possession anymore, but I did sell it to a guy I work with. It has over 200,000 miles on it and still works really well, although it is starting to rust out (southern Ontario winter road salt mostly to blame, I imagine). AFAIK, that car is still even running on its original battery, despite it having been drained dead a couple of times.

[imdref]

Thank you!!