Buying American Made Cars

Discussion in 'The Cocktail Lounge' started by ScooterBrandon, Oct 6, 2015.

  1. ScooterBrandon

    ScooterBrandon Senior Investor

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    https://www.cars.com/articles/the-2015-american-made-index-1420680649381/

    Ever see those guys with the bumper sticker "Out of a job yet, keep buying foreign!"
    Funny thing is, you NEVER see those stickers on Toyota's or Honda's.

    Why is that funny you ask, well Toyota and Honda make their vehicles with MORE American labour then the so-called "domestic" brands!
     
  2. baudwalk

    baudwalk Senior Investor

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    The massaging of statistics of cars and parts "made in America" is almost, in my opinion, silly these days. Facts and figures are bent to fit the thesis proffered by the writer.

    Model concepts designs, platform sharing and assemblies are now global in scope. Not so decades ago. Ford, GM, Chrysler, Willys and American were the USA standard bearers when I started driving (learning on a 1948 Willys Jeep), but as we moved from the 1950s evolution occurred. Willys closed in the early1950s; Jeeps eventually reappeared as part of the Chrysler brand. American finally closed up ship in the early 1980s, I think. With the acquisition of Chrysler by Fiat, one could make the argument that the USA is down to two home-grown and owned companies in Ford and GM.

    For me, the early invaders seemed to be the British and Germans. The MG, Triumph -- I hated those British Lucas electrical systems and carbs -- and VWs seemed to show up in significant numbers in the 1960s and 1970s. If anything, the later invasion of the Japanese vehicles and the resulting competition gave the USA companies a significant push to improve quality control.

    One of my car tales occured In the late 1980s. Flying around the country, looking at universites, one very dark and very rainy night the airport's rental peeps dropped us off at a covered stall with a Japanese car within. I think it was a Nissan but whatever was -- all Japanese brands suffered from the same disease -- all the stupid controls were labeled by silly little indecipherable icons. It seemed like an eternity to start the car, but I never could get the headlights and wipers turned on. We crept around a dimly lit lot to the office, left the family in the car, and dropped the keys for the mystery car on the desk. "Gimme an American car, puleeze... with labeled controls. I think it was a Pontiac we drove off in, after horsing around with paperwork. "Don't you want to save some money?" "No..."
     
  3. pwarbi

    pwarbi Senior Investor

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    I think if people had the money then they would rather buy a car that's synonymous with their own country but the fact is the foreign brands are usually a lot cheaper.

    Here in the UK for example, to buy a British car then the cost will be significantly more expensive and were it comes to money, sometimes sentiment as to go out of the window.
     
  4. TheApollonian

    TheApollonian Well-Known Member

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    Yeap globalization has worked for us and against us-- outsourcing labor is a cheap practice definitely but in this case the yen has beaten the dollar. It's hard thinking about conservative practices when we work for a system that relies on capitalism.
     
  5. JR Ewing

    JR Ewing Super Moderator Staff Member

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    My very first vehicle was a small pickup truck my parents bought me in HS - it was a used '78 Ford Courier they bought me in '85 or '86 or so. I learned it was considered "Japanese" the first time I went to an auto parts store to buy parts for it. The engine was apparently made in Japan.

    Several years later, I bought a used Ford Escort when I was in college. It was considered "German" for similar reasons.

    In more recent times, I have owned American, Italian, and German luxury cars... but I prefer "Japanese" in terms of reliability - I'm partial to Lexus for luxury/sport, and I also like Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.
     
  6. Susimi

    Susimi Senior Investor

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    It's all about getting the right bang for your buck these days and manufacturing just goes to the best place that will do it for the right price and it's obviously good for some, but not others.

    In the UK we used to have a massive car industry where many home brands were made and exported and even up until the late 90's we were still involved with production a lot. Now-a-days though I think we only have a couple of home brands that we manufacturer in this country, the other companies have either demised or been sold off and are built in a different country.

    I thin it's quite good that over in the States you've got one place where the car is made. My dad bought a new Ford Mondeo last year and we were told that the body was made in Spain, it was then shipped to Germany to have the electrics and engine fitted, it came to the UK for registration or something, back to Germany for something else, before being shipped back into the UK.
     
  7. Corzhens

    Corzhens Senior Investor

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    We have no local car here. My car is a 2013 Mitsubishi Mirage which is a Japanese made car. My husband's car is a 2012 Ford Escape, an American made car. Comparing the 2 cars, the main difference is the price. American cars are more expensive than Japanese cars. I guess if American cars will be sold in equally fair prices maybe they can compete popular Japanese cars here. The top 3 cars here in terms of sales are Toyota, Mitsubishi and Honda. Following them is Nissan and Ford.
     
  8. baudwalk

    baudwalk Senior Investor

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    For whatever illogical reasoning transferring across the brain synapses, we have purchased new Fords since 1965 with a sidestep to a VW and an MGB in the early to mid 1970s during the gas shortages. Mustangs from 1965 to my wife's 2007 mint convertible, Thunderbirds in the in the 80s and 90s.The 2006 Escape was a great vehicle, 120k miles with 1 set each of tires, brakes. But we really like our new 2015 Ford Edge Sport with all the toys. First time with SiriusXM, voice command everything, and the turbo boost engine gets 29 mpg on longer trips, 20 mpg locally. And it's large and high enough to see the road ahead.

    Seriously, I'm convinced that a good reliable trustworthy dealer is more important than the car brand. In 50 years of new car ownership, 5 years with the first, 10 years with the second and now 35 years with the current dealer. (Moves prompted the dealer changes.) I know all the sales (only 2 were my sales guys) and service peeps, they and the owner know me. I don't have to worry about extra work, and niggling on service charges. Whatever minor pricing differences there are might be on buying new and trading in at our dealer versus one of the loudmouth "c'mon down" dealers shouting loudly on TV, a few dollars aren't worth haggling about. Works for me and my state of mind, maybe not for you.
     
  9. pwarbi

    pwarbi Senior Investor

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    The dealer is the important factor that often gets over looked, but with more and more people these days looking at buying second hand cars privately through places like eBay, then I can see car dealerships sadly dying out and while a few years back most towns had a dealer people could trust, now it seems to be limited to the big cities.
     
  10. JR Ewing

    JR Ewing Super Moderator Staff Member

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    Well I have noticed that some cars I've owned were very high maintenance and very unreliable - even new ones. And others were just about as reliable and worry-free as the sun coming up every morning. It seems as though the Jap brands have been very reliable in my experience, while the others have not been so much.

    I rarely keep cars more than 3 years or so these days, but I like having to do little more than change the oil every few months, and I really cannot stand to have a car that always has something malfunctioning - electronics, battery, alternator, AC, power steering, etc, etc. I don't like the stress and inconvenience of having a car leave me stranded somewhere or not start in the morning. To say nothing of having something go out while I'm driving and have the car die in heavy traffic like a brand new GM model did to me some 10 years ago.

    I live in a pretty small city where everyone pretty much knows everyone, so dealers and other business people tend to be pretty straight shooters for the most part. But I've learned to research and draw on prior experiences before I buy.
     

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