Posted on 01/13/2009 10:41:37 AM PST by Red Badger
I hopes so, but not 3 or 4 years ago.
I own an oil-related company and buy lots of trucks. All the fleet Fords (heavy duty springs, white, stripped to A/C, radio, plastic flooring, vinyl sears, but with off-road skids pads etc) came from Mexico.
We primarily went with Toyota and some Nissan Titans, only buying Ford for the F-450s and the like.
You consider the UAW and the $400 Million they spent to elect a Kenyan to the highest office in the land American???????
That reminds me, how did the Titans work out for you? My client bought a couple for much the same work and they’ve held up outstandingly well.
Far better than the Fail-150s they replaced.
The Titans did really well, mechanically.
Later read.
I’m assuming better than the “domestic” products they replaced, correct?
You really are ignorant about trade aren’t you? In order to sell cars in China, you must manufacture in China...plus China owns a piece of the company...they are still communist despite what some of you seem to think. In order to get cars in Germany, you have to manufacture in Germany-Mexico is the same despite the much loved NAFTA...now why don’t you pay attention (seriously don’t mean to unkind or rude) because if you are going to call for the death of an entire industry and bash American products while promoting foreign made goods, you ought to know what you are talking about. I get sick and tired hearing from people who know jack about the auto industry spouting off about American products- come on, you think the Tundra is a great truck-enough said.
Actually, I don’t think much about the Tundra one way or the other. Go through all my posts - I don’t ever recommend it to anyone.
As for “have to build cars in Germany to sell in Germany,” then why is it that one of the best selling cars in Germany is built in Belgium (Audi A3), another one is made in Slovakia and Spain (VW Polo) and another is made in Spain (Opel Corsa)?
Of the top ten cars sold in Germany, half of them aren’t even made in Germany!!!!
As for China.... pray explain, then, why the second-best selling Buick in China isn’t made in China or the US, but in Australia?
Someone here doesn’t know jack about the car industry. And it’s not me.
Ah-more union derangement syndrome. UAW workers are American that you disagree with...many believe the GOP has sent them to hell already-unfair trade hell-you know union guys are really family people. They have far more in common with the GOP then Dems...but this is another voting block discarded by the GOP who now find themselves in the minority. Reagan had a word for the blue collar worker-mostly union-Reagan Democrats.
If Obama had to depend on union voters to win this election, we would be inaugurating President McCain. The unions are on the ropes-huge decline in union numbers. We ought to start thinking about how to win voters back instead of pissing off voters in battleground states.
Audi and Opel have plants in Germany. In fact Opel is about to get a bailout from Germany. GM has plants in China...you get the picture. All the companies you describe manufacture in Germany and sell in Germany even cars made outside of Germany...Same with GM in China...we have plants in China. Thus we can sell in China-even some cars not made in China.
Now let’s look at Korea...Korea has been kicked out of China...they can’t sell Korean cars in China-no plants. China felt they were a threat-bye bye Korea. You see I do know jack about the auto industry. Although, this comment on my part was rude...you made a reasonable post. I should have responded more politely-mea culpa, mea culpa.
I apologize if I was unpleasant, but I am sick and tired of hearing the big three bashed relentlessly by some conservatives...I have worked in the Auto industry 25 years and I get impatient when I post something that is completely true and people refuse to believe it because they hate American cars so much.
Here’s the truth about Toyota quality...by the way the tailgate falls off because the Toyota morons don’t understand how people use trucks-they stand on the tailgates...they didn’t reinforce them and used cheap materials...kind of the usual thing for Toyota these days. They are living off their past good reputation because the cars are really crappy now especially the Tundra. If you google Tundra quality, you will see other issues in the last couple of years.
The Tundra, really it sucks. Don’t buy it. I’m not just saying this...because I work for GM either.
http://www.tundratalk.net/forums/toyota-tundra-news/32830-toyota-tundra-hit-two-more-quality-issues.html
Last Tuesday the Toyota Tundra was kicked off the Consumer Reports “Recommended” list for achieving below average predicted reliability scores from its own owners. It appears, however, that the Tundra’s week is about to get worse. With the help of Mike Levine from Pickuptruck.com, we’re following two separate stories about Tundra quality issues that have surfaced recently. The first involves the Tundra’s transmission, with at least ten owners at TundraSolutions.com reporting that their trannies experience rough shifts that make the truck feel like it’s riding over rumble strips. The ‘rumble strip’ transmission issue has been acknowledged by Toyota North America and traced back to the torque converter not disengaging properly. Owners report having their transmissions replaced with new or remanufactured ones, though Toyota told Levine that going forward the automaker would only replace the torque converter itself. Toyota did not say, however, how many trucks are affected, just that the transmission problem is not a safety or design issue.
The second quality issue sprouted up this past weekend, also on TundraSolutions.com, and involves tailgates that have been failing or, in some cases, even falling off. The most common experience seems to be the tailgate itself forming cracks and the metal buckling when under load. One owner reported that his tailgate failed when loading an ATV into the bed for the very first time. The tailgate being such an integral part of owning a truck, members of TS have begun an online petition, which they hope will force Toyota to recognize the issue and do something about it. The petition has attracted 125 signatures so far. Levine from Pickuptruck.com has also asked Toyota about these potentially failing tailgates and is waiting for a response.
Yes, the Toyota Tundra has had a very rough week, but it’s no more difficult than the time Tundra owners spend with trucks that don’t work as advertised.
By the way, we laughed ourselves silly about the Tundra tailgate-truly a rookie mistake. We had the thing in to look at it...and the stupid thing broke in a matter of days during our testing. Word is that American engineers working for Toyota tried to tell Toyota this would be a problem, but American engineers are viewed as stupid Americans and not listened to much.
Here’s the other story about Honda...not everyone likes their cars...these are owners.
http://seductiveautosports.tripod.com/honda%20haters.htm
See my post concerning Japanese quality...I would say Toyota and Honda have some crappy cars...go figure. Hope you don’t own a Tundra...the transmissions suck and the tailgate falls off. LOL
You may make money on Toytota stocks...not likely in my opinion- but the fact remains this is not profit...the profits are at Toyota headquarters in JAPAN.
The first vehicle I ever bought was a 1985 Toyota SR5 2wd. I put 110,000 miles on it, then sold it to my mother for $500. It still had the original belts and hoses on it, and they looked brand new. My mother drove it for 2 years, then gave it to my sister. She drove it for 3 years and gave it back to my mother, who drove it for several more years, then sold it to a fellow for $500 when it had about 200,000 miles on it. As far as I know, he's still driving it. In all the time it was in my family, we never had to do anything to it beyond routine maintenance.
Well, since my F-150 is a 2004 model and Nobama was in Junior High then, the answer would be no.
I chose the best vehicle available for MY needs. I'm sure if I would have bought a Toyota (inferior product then and now) the UAW would have still made exactly the same investment in Nobama.
They make a crappy product, plus they fund the DNC.
I refuse to buy crap and fund them.
It’s hard to say. We didn’t have problems, but then, we didn’t have the new models to compare to.
The younger hands certainly preferred them, and keeping them happy is important.
American cars have improved, they’re pretty much even with the Nips now. Of course they still have to fix their reputation from 25 solid years of shipping crap. Even with the quality improvement I never find the fit and feel of the Detroit 3 to be satisfying. Meanwhile my 92 Sentra, which is no longer mine because I got sick of looking at it so I gave it to my BIL, has over 240 thousand miles on it and is still reliable enough for the occasional trip to Phoenix.
Either way, people buy what they chose. Blaming the customer has never improved sales.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.