I would dearly love to see a Russian Lada in a Ford parking lot. "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
This entire subject amazes me.
Foreign cars are just plain better. Better engines, better performance all the way around.
When I can get 300,000 miles on one car and only 150,000-180,000 on another....which one am I gonna choose.
The whole discussion is laughable. Sorry, but the big three deserve to bleed out.
In related news, salaries of executives at the Big 3 are still 5 times higher than their foreign counterparts.
I would put a $20 000 tax on all imported cars, tomorrow.
I’ll be turning over 260,000 on my Accord this week with no major repair.
I thought they quit making cars in Detroit years ago. Most of the newer plants opened in Tennessee and Kentucky. Toyota wanted to open a factory in Michigan and IIRC Gov Granholm torpedoed it.
When folks go to buy a vehicle, they shouldn’t overlook ones made in America - like Mercedes, Toyota, Honda, BMW, even Hyundai.
Of course, if you want to consider a foreign made car, you can look to GM or Ford.
I know how the economy works, and I don’t buy the hype about foriegn cars. I haven’t owned an import (or ones that are made in the US out of convenience) for over 20 yrs. I have a Ford with over 250,000 mi on it, and a new Dodge Caravan.
All the rest is hype. and it’s hype that you’ll pay an extra 10K for.
I know the story line, about domestic cars being crap, and that they’re all made in Mexico, etc. Well, it’s not so in many cases. It’s just something we tell ourselves to feel better about buying another country’s supposed “better” product.
btt
Cars, cars, cars!
You know, there are a lot of people who don’t buy cars ... they buy trucks!
Name me a foreign manufacture’s truck that will pull 10K with no problem? How about a fifth wheel trailer or gooseneck trailer? And please, don’t make me laugh if you bring up the wussy little Tundra.
My old Cummins diesel has over 250,000 miles and my new Dodge 4500 pulls like a freight train even with 3 yrds of stone/dirt in the dump bed.
When you need to get some work done, American manufactures have the only choice.
Now ... you can have my little VW Jetta TDI turbo diesel when you pry it from my cold dead hands! You gotta love the 51-55 mpg it gets for the long “no work” trips.
I would dearly love to see a Russian Lada in a Ford parking lot.A problem with most companies is that they don't understand that what they view as "customer loyalty" is just inertia. The majority of people do not like to change. You may lure a few people with your ads but the majority will come to you because their former supplier ticked them off royally.
And once they leave they tend not to come back.
American cars suck. I always buy Toyota or Honda.
Remember the Gremlin!
Rebates are the worst gimmick ever. They simply raise the price by a couple of thousand dollars and then “give” some back to you.
I have a friend who is a mechanical engineering intern at one of the Big 3. From what I have heard, their spending habits don’t reflect the reality of their financial situation.
For instance, my friend and one of his coworkers wanted to go to an auto show in Detroit, and they work between Cleveland and Columbus in Ohio, somewhere in that neighborhood. The show was in the middle of the week, so they just planned on calling out “sick” so they could go. However they told some middle-management type from Detroit they were going to go, and he told them to just say they were coming up for a meeting with him, and he would have the company pay for it all. Heck they didn’t even have to go visit this guy while they were there.
They got a company car (an SUV none the less) for the 2 of them, recommendations on 4 star hotels, food and the works paid for, all to go see a car show. They stayed at a cheaper hotel, but the reality is that any company that spends money on useless stuff like that is going to end up in trouble sooner or later.
I have 4 vehicles. 3 Chevys and one Honda.
Chevy 1 has 523,000 miles on it, still driven several times a week.
Chevy 2 has 265,000 miles on it. Runs great and is very reliable.
Chevy 3 has 145,000 miles, daily driver and everything works on it including ice cold AC.
The Honda is ok for local jaunts, but not a great road car. Reliability lacking in AC system and drive shafts. On its 3rd set of drive shafts and it has 70,000 miles. It is a total nightmare to work on this vehicle due to all major components being inacessable. Chasing parts can be a full time job on it as well.
I pass a junkyard often, and there are a lot of late model foreign jobs in it. They appear to outnumber the late model Big 3 cars...............
Labor costs are by far the biggest expense most companies have. If the US automakers' labor costs were at fair market level instead, they could invest much more in better engineering and research.
I also bought a Honda Fit in November to save gas (I was driving a Ford Aerostar that I inherited)I save $225 a month on gas - over 60% of the payment. It's manual, quick, and more fun than I imagined! Honda simply makes good cars.
However, I've saved the best for last. I have a 1988 AMC Jeep Comanche with over 400,000 miles on it. I did blow the engine (My fault), and replaced with one from a junkyard, and it's still going. I rarely drive it now, and am in the early stages of getting it back in mint condition. It was made in Canada!
I highly recommend a Honda to anyone looking for a great car! LLook at the Fit if you need something small but roomy. I took the family (4 of us) to Florida in it, and we were all comfy. Vic
Two years ago I had to sell my 1981 Honda Squareback Station Wagon, with 491,000 miles (original) because I needed room in the driveway. I sold it for $250 to a man who wanted it to pull his motorcycle trailer around. I saw him driving it around the other day and just waved and smiled.
Can’t imagine someone telling a similar story about American made car built after the late 60’s.