whats your take on buying american made cars vs foreign cars?

Question

whats your take on buying american made cars vs foreign cars?

Answer 1

For me American is foreign, and if I wanted to buy a car made in my home town, I would have to put my name down for a Morgan and wait 10 years.



I had this dilemma when the British still had a mass car industry in 1982. The British car I really wanted, a Morris Minor, had not been made for over 10 years, when Lord Stokes of Leyland told us the Marina was a better replacement! I was after a versatile, unstylish, cheap, fun car with four doors, removable seats, an open top with a lot of character. The British didn't make one any more, so I had to settle for a French car (the Citroen 2CV). I still drive one today, which is now 21 years old.



Now, Morgan is about the only British-owned, British-made make of car left. Am I responsible for the demise of all those great marques like Austin, Morris, Rover, Triumph, Jaguar, Land Rover, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Wolseley... .... .... and on and on, which have either gone or been taken over by foreigners?



It was obvious to everyone outside Alaska that with the China glurping up the world's oil, and with the sub-prime bubble set to burst one day, there will be less demand for thirsty SUVs and more for simple cheap fuel-economical transport that America was once renowned for.



The answer must be for Ford, GM and Chrysler to keep up-to-date with likely market demands, and make cars to meet them, instead of leaving it to the Japanese.

Answer 2

I don't buy into the "buy american" nonsense. I will put my money into a car that is quality built out of quality materials. I feel like the interiors from chevy's and ford's are made out of melted down happy meal toys. And that's not worth my money. If the "big three" decide to make their cars more appealing and built to a higher standard of quality, I'll buy them. But I'm not going to blow 30 grand on a crappy car just to help the economy.

Answer 3

You make a lot of assumptions that just aren't true. I think you need to recheck your facts and leave your aging perceptions at the door. The biggest hurdle the Big 3 have today isn't quality or interesting new products, it's changing old perceptions that refuse to look at new products with an open mind. First of all, there are many Chevrolet's that can go 100,000 without as much as a tune up. The factory recommended oil change interval on a new Malibu is 10,000 miles. A good friend of mine bought a Malibu in 2005, He has almost 90K miles on it and it has never once been in the shop for a non-scheduled service. Second you're comparing some cars that are thousands of dollars more than the average Chevy. Even the smallest, least expensive Acura (the TSX) is $8000 more than a comparable Malibu. The Lexus ES350 is over $34,000 a price difference of over $13,000 compared to the Malibu. You simply can't compare these cars fairly to the American sedans when the price difference is so huge. $13K in your pocket can buy a lot of maintenance for that Chevy. And when you begin to compare similar vehicles, Malibu, Altima, Camry and Accord you won't see differences in quality, durability or reliability the way you assume. The technology across the board has gotten so good that there is almost no measurable difference between what Chevy or Ford puts in their midsized sedans when compared to Toyota or Honda. When was the last time you actually drove a brand new Ford? Let's look back a few years.... Here is the 2005 JD Powers ranking for Quality. Where are all those Honda and Toyotas you assume are at the top of the list? Entry Midsize Car Highest Ranked: Chevrolet Malibu Hyundai Sonata Volkswagen Jetta Premium Midsize Car Highest Ranked: Buick Century Chevrolet Impala (tie) Pontiac Grand Prix (tie) Full-Size Car Highest Ranked: Buick LeSabre Mercury Grand Marquis Ford Five Hundred In 2007 Ford Motor Company garners five top model segment awards-more than any other automobile corporation this year, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Initial Quality Study And here are the facts about Ford for 2009. * Ford surpasses Honda in initial quality and remains in a statistical tie at the top with Toyota. * Ford customer satisfaction is equal to Toyota and Honda. * Ford has five segment leaders: Ford Mustang, Taurus, Taurus X and Ranger, and Mercury Milan. Finally, there are few cars built that won't go 300,000 with a proper maintenance routine. No car on the road today will do it with no maintenance at all. Do some research, drop your old outdated perceptions and take a look at what American car makers have to offer.

Answer 4

YES I DO!

Check out my blog...

http://madeinamerica.weebly.com/



and for those people that think..why bother to buy american or "I dont buy into that american made"...they need to move to CHINA!!!!! STOP ACTING LIKE YOUR AMERICAN!!!!

Answer 5

I will buy domestic vehicles because it comes down to helping an American company, who will likely invest in other American companies as opposed to a foreign company who will likely invest in more foreign companies. I don't want vehicles to become like everything else where you cannot find an American made version (such as clothes and electronics).



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You had a good post until that.



What do you think about super-American GM building plants and also making US market parts in China?



The Chevy Equinox has a 3400 v6 made in Shanghai, China and a Japanese transmission. The Saturn Vue had a Honda 3.5L v6 for a few years.



If GM was making a profit in the USA, I guess you would have a point there, but they don't and you do not.



I guess that big 3 money does not stay here in the USA after all!



Long live multi-national corporations with stockholders of many different nationalities.

Answer 6

Some American cars are up to quality with Japanese or European models, however, very few American cars are as refined and tight as foreign models. American designs just can't keep up with foreign makes, for a few reasons, one, most foreign companies spend more time and money on development of the new models, while American companies cut costs all over cars. I own both American and foreign cars, but I will say that the foreign cars are better over all.

Answer 7

actually most american cars are made in other countries and someforeignn cars are made here un america so that makes no difference where its made how its made well i'm all for american muscle myself but it ur looking ito helping economy foreighn hybrids are better Brazil uses gasohol with is basically corn i think we should use that or e85

Answer 8

Domestic vehicles being inferior to imported vehicles was common knowledge 20 years ago. Now, most of the domestic vehicles are as good of quality or better than many of the imported counterparts. Toyota for example has always been considered top quailty, but as the company has grown, it gets harder to weed out defects. As a matter of fact, several reports have said that Toyota's quality has gone down over the last five to ten years compared with General Motors or Ford because they have grown so big. Some of the best engineered, assembly-line vehicles over the last few years have come from Detroit...the Chevy SSR being a good example (ask anyone who has bought one, and they will tell you that it is the best engineered vehicle they have ever seen).



To answer the economic aspect of your question...it depends on what you buy. Many Chevys and Fords are made in Canada and Mexico, while many Toyotas and Nissans are made in the United States. You have to look at the window sticker and it will tell you the percentage US made, where the engine was made, and where the transmission was made. When buying a truck a couple years ago, the Nissan Frontier was 75% American made and the Chevy Colorado was 85% American made and I liked both pretty much equally when I test drove them. I strongly considered the Frontier, but Chevy had 0% financing at the time so I bought it (and my dad also reminded me that I was applying for a job at a place with a heavy union presence which I later got, so I should get the Chevy). It also depends on how you feel about unions as the domestic brands are made by union workers whereas the foreign brands built in the US are not union. Typically union workers receive better compensation and benefits than non-union workers, but on the flip side, when unions become too powerful, they can drag a company down which is what the UAW has done to the big three. $1500 of the price of every GM vehicle goes to pensions and benefits for retirees.



I will buy domestic vehicles because it comes down to helping an American company, who will likely invest in other American companies as opposed to a foreign company who will likely invest in more foreign companies. I don't want vehicles to become like everything else where you cannot find an American made version (such as clothes and electronics).



Edit: Yes the big three outsource (unfortunately) and invest internationally, but they also create many jobs not directly related to building vehicles (parts, suppliers, retailers, service, etc...). That is why 3 million jobs could be lost if the big three (or even GM which may bring the other two down) down. I also stand by the statement they are MORE LIKELY to invest in American companies whereas the Japanese companies will more likely invest in Asia.