"American" cars?

[Harry P.]

99% of American car buyers want a car that has all the latest gadgetry, and a warranty. Not only do they not know how to work on a car, they have no interest in doing that. Guys who can buy an old car and make it their daily driver make up a microscopic segment of the car buying public.

[Guest Johnny]

Many need to come out of the dark ages. Categorizing everything accomplishes nothing except giving something to make a liar out of you. Cars are probably the most dangerous of all subjects, be it country of "origin" or just make.

Better to just buy something you like, fits your need or that handles like a dream. Even the makes at the bottom of quality surveys are MUCH better than anything from the past. They all can even take corners!

Why does a daily driver need to be a G Machine that most drivers are unser qualified to drive any way?

The old cars corner just fine if you are driving in a safe and reasonable manner.

As far as better than in the fast. Well that is one's own opinion and you know what they say about opinions!

[Jairus]

99% of American car buyers want a car that has all the latest gadgetry, and a warranty. Not only do they not know how to work on a car, they have no interest in doing that. Guys who can buy an old car and make it their daily driver make up a microscopic segment of the car buying public.

And why is that Harry?

Any car from 1940 on up can be maintained and driven as a daily driver costing a "microscopic" amount compared to the over the top costs financing a $30,000 machine will today.

I think your 99% figure is made up and is actually much lower by 25%. About 50% of all statistics are made up anyway. Haha

Gadgetry is only fun until it fails to work... or a better gadget comes along. Which will happen in about one weeks time from .... now!

But the truth is, that most of those on this thread are younger than 30 years old. That means that they are pretty much at a disadvantage having grown up in an era where a college degree is required to plug in the computer and work out the problem to any car made before 1987. This makes opening the hood a sweat inducing factor that they are just not able to deal with.

Edited July 4, 2012 by Jairus

[Nick Notarangelo]

A american car? isn't that a moot point in this day and age,yes it may have been built here but follow the parts and I bet most of them came from over seas.

[mikemodeler]

Toyota employs more autoworkers in the US than Ford does, but Ford is considered a domestic company and Toyota is foreign.

I work in the auto parts business and quite honestly, getting worked up over the whole domestic/foreign thing is worthless. Parts are made globally and supplied to manufacturers around the world.

The important thing, if you have been paying attention to our economy, is the jobs that are available to AMERICANS ! Buy a Dodge pickup and you keep Mexicans employed, who do not spend their money in our country, while if you buy a Toyota Tundra, workers in San Antonio Texas contribute to their local economy and pay US income taxes.

My Camry and my wife's Hyundai Santa Fe were both built in the US while my Dad's Buick was built in Canada yet I am the bad guy for having a Foreign car, in his eyes. Never mind the fact that the Chevy Equinox we traded for the Santa Fe had LESS domestic content than the Santa Fe!

Thanks for the topic Harry.

[Harry P.]

I think your 99% figure is made up and is actually much lower by 25%. About 50% of all statistics are made up anyway. Haha

Ok, I admit I pulled 99% out of thin air. But my point is, the vast majority of today's car buyers want a car that has today's technology and features. Unlike guys like you, they do want (and expect) GPS, a dock for their ipod, a backup camera and park assist, etc., etc.

It's true when you say that today's generation doesn't want to deal with yesterday's technology, but that's true of all generations. People always want the new thing, the latest gadget. Back in the early 1900s, when electric starters replaced cranks in cars, do you really think most people said, "gee, I wish they kept the crank?" Of course not.

Jairus, if you prefer a 50 year old car to a late model car as your daily driver, that's fine... for you. But believe me, you are in a tiny, tiny minority.

[mistermodel]

just buy a used car ,than it doesnt matter,your not supporting companys that will fail again

[Danno]

Here you go Harry...

Did you know six out of ten people...don't believe in statistics?

And four out of three people have trouble with fractions.

[Longbox55]

What about the Subaru... Everyone loves Australia right ??? Muhahaaa!!!!!

Actually, the Subarus sold in the US are built in Lafeyette Indiana, in the same plant complex that the Camry is built.

BTW, the correct US parts content on the Camry is closer to 99%.

[Danno]

All "German" VW Beetles are made in Mexico!

See how mixed up this is?

The only VW available domestically that is manufactured in Germany is the Tiguan crossover. (It is also made in Russia, China, and Viet Nam!)

The VW Jetta is made in Mexico. European versions are made in Germany.

The VW Golf, GTI and GLI are made in Brazil.

The VW EOS is made in Portugal.

The VW Touareg is made in Slovakia.

The VW 21st Century Beetle is made in Mexico.

The VW Routan is made in Windsor, Canada with its Fiat/Chrysler siblings.

My VW Passat, on the other hand, is made in Chattanoga, Tennessee.

All of them are available in almost any community in the USA from a local dealer.

[Lownslow]

i could care less about merican brands anymore i learned the hard way about their true "reliability" the engine was strong couldnt say the same for the rest of its components. which is why i now drive a Volvo 850.

only new cars i plan on buying in the future, neither are American or high end but they sure are appealing

[Jairus]

Bottom line is: drive what you like and forget where it's made.

Unless you really care.

[Jantrix]

FOX.....

You have ONE AMERICAN vehicle listed....When the $$$ stay here Then I will buy that...until then I will drive my Ford.

I think the misconception we have today, is even considering the big three to be "American" companies anymore. They might be based here, but that doesn't make them American. They are truly global companies now selling cars, buying parts, operating factories everywhere. Their money doesn't "stay" here. It's kept all over the world.

The idea of Buy American doesn't mean what it used to. My PT Cruiser built in Mexico doesn't put food on the table of Americans anywhere. But my Dads Scion XB was built in Tennessee. A blue collar American has a job because the Japanese realized what a cost savings it is to cut out the transportation costs.

[Chuck Most]

The important thing, if you have been paying attention to our economy, is the jobs that are available to AMERICANS ! Buy a Dodge pickup and you keep Mexicans employed, who do not spend their money in our country, while if you buy a Toyota Tundra, workers in San Antonio Texas contribute to their local economy and pay US income taxes.

.

But there's one thing you're overlooking there... even if you buy a car built anywhere but in the good old US of A...

You bought it at a US dealer. The dealership made money off of it, as did the sales rep, who earned a commission by selling it to you. The car is going to need oil changes- so you take it back to the dealer, the local ten-minute place, or go to the parts store to pick up oil and a filter if you do it yourself. Speaking of parts... any vehicle will need them eventually. So you head on over to the local parts store and get them there- thus putting money in the parts store's coffers and paying the employees. So even if your car is a an import (I'm defining an import here as anything not built in the US), your purchase of it is supporting jobs here in this country. Yeah, the guy at the US auto plant probably isn't too happy, nor would be the guy who took it from the factory to the dealer, but since the same after-purchase rules apply to any vehicle, you really aren't cutting too many people out of the pie.

And if you bought an imported car, somebody had to drive it off the ship or transporter truck and take it to a distribution center, then transport it to the dealer... those are American jobs too, right?

[Lownslow]

this topic is redundant considering where our models are made

[Guest Johnny]

You mean to get around the tariffs. Been talking to a congerssman about getting a bill that would establish tariffs on all products produced here by foreign companies.

I don't care where they make it it is an import if the profit is going out of the country!

[Harry P.]

this topic is redundant considering where our models are made

Now that's funny! And true!

[rmvw guy]

Made it back from the cook out where we had good old American pork loin wrapped in bacon, it doesn't get any better than that! Been enjoying the fireworks on this thread all day, Thanks Harry. Still wondering, how many "Model Cars" are made right here in the good old USA?

[Harry P.]

Made it back from the cook out where we had good old American pork loin wrapped in bacon, it doesn't get any better than that!

Pig wrapped in pig! Yum!

[rmvw guy]

Pig wrapped in pig! Yum! :DForgot to mention is was cooked in a smoker, yum!

[2002p51]

I once worked in the parts department of a large Ford dealer in San Diego. Everyday I would restock the shelves with the parts we got in from the warehouse over night to replace what we sold the day before. The labels on every box and package said "Genuine Ford Replacement Part" and "Made in XXXX". You can replace the x's with every single country in the world! And I mean those parts where made all over the world.

[Dragline]

I think something has been forgotten here.

It's a simple little thing that has gotten overlooked throughout this entire thread.

Back in days of yore, cars were not quite as necessary as they seem to be now. Some families had ONE only. There were times when a family car was passed on through a couple of generations. My own Grandfather bought a 1964 LeMans [326 4 speed] off the lot, then drove it for 26 years!!!! Garaged it every night and i can tell you this. It STILL looks like the day it was purchased. Still in the family [my brother Rick now owns it]. and it's only on its 3rd clutch. You can eat off the floor if you like and that brings me to the thrust of this post.

My Grandfather clearly loved that car. We all did and do. He took care of it and the local garage did all the maintenance for him. He was a carpenter not a mechanic so he took it to the pros.

But the fiction is that over time people were sold on the "gotta get a new car every 2-3 years" thing. This is and was always great marketing on the part of the car companies and only stupid people who buy into being told what to do are to blame. I have purchased ONE new car in my life and that was for my wife when we married in 94. We got her a new Jeep Wrangler. She had the car for 10 years before it finally gave up the ghost on her. For me my first car was a 71 Duster, after that it was a late 70's Monza, a mid 80's K car [i know], but that car ran strong and was reliable. During this time I owned about 4 different H-D's but my main bike was a 73 ULH, of which is the basis for my current rigid chopper.

I also had a Pro Street Vega for a couple of years [Lots of trouble in that car], an 86 IROC [which I miss terribly] an S10 and the Audi. A few years back I bought a creampuff 88 Omni with literally 45,000 miles on it. It was so mint it still smelled new. I actually GAVE that car to a fellow worker here in Maryland when i made the deal for the Cavalier I now drive.

I'm not certain how many foreign parts were on any of those cars. They needed repairs at different points and I bought them from NAPA and maybe AutoZone so there were probably lots of repair parts that were offshore made that I put on them. I workd in a garage for 17 years as the only mechanic and all I ever worked on were Volvo, Audi, Mercedes, Saab and Astons, the odd Jag and 2 Rolls Royce [Long story] The used car lot I worked at only sold Euro since that's all the clientel drove. My boss would buy them at auction during the weekends and i would get them up to snuff Mon through Thurs and take local jobs Fri and Sat. I did this for those 17 years so I may be out of touch with the rest. But I also did warranty work for Chevrolet and their Subaru subsidiary and i know a thing or two about those cars.

The Chevy's were usually good cars in the 80's with the WORST interiors known to man. The Subarus generally fell apart but the motors were decent. I've worked on Accords and Camry's and while they run well when maintained, the quality of the rest of the car was always pretty bad. But, they were easy to work on. I put a clutch in a 83 accord in about an hour or so once. That was tear down and test drive. That was amazing to me since clutch jobs are usually 2-1/2 hours.

I realize I'm out of touch for the most part. I've not worked in the garage in now over 12 years. I do however work at NAPA where I sell parts every day. I sell more jap chassis than anything. I get to see them as i pick em off the shelf and the parts are flimsy and downright poor looking to me. And we sell Altrom parts which are top o the line Jap made replacement stuff.

My next car may be a Jairus special. Over 40 years old, easy to work on and solid as a rock. I'll even make sure the lighter works.

Bob

[moparfarmer]

While people were talking about beer companies and liquor companies. Do you know that Crown Royal is produce in the first stages in Gimli Manitoba Canada? People say its the best of that kind of alcholo....

[Jantrix]

Well said Bob. We have turned into a very disposable society and the fact that nothing is built to last anymore is the reason for that. Nearly nothing that is manufactured today is meant to be repaired. Remember when we'd take the TV to the repairman or he'd come to the house? Now it goes out to the curb and we're on our way to Best Buy. Cars are the same way now. I've yet to have a car hit 150k miles since my 75 Olds.

[mistermodel]

If the Canadians were all up tight about buying Canadian owned car companys only as some americans, we would of been out of luck when bricklin closed.