MADE IN AMERICA????????

[Powerhouse]

Aside from the problem of many cars today being built in countries other than that of their brand, the question of what is foreign and what is domestic can vary with what country you live in.

American Vs. Foreign Automobile's numbers in the U.S.A.

So.... by American cars, I mean native to THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA by Brand...AMERICAN COMPANIES. Not built in the U.S. by foreign brands, even if they are built by American workers.

No monkey wrench here.

 

[Lincsong]

I have to agree with Scotrace; GM rebuilt the Oldsmobile brand then killed it off. Blame the ACCOUNTANTS; "it's too expensive to make overhead cam engines, push-rods are cheaper, kill Olds":rage:

I had the misfortune of buying a '93 Chevy Lumina brand new. The worst 7 years of driving.:rage: I hate Chevrolet and it will be a cold day in hell before I buy another one. Prior to that I had a 1988 Monte Carlo that I bought used and it burned oil, couldn't hold alignment and needed new shocks at 15,000 miles.

I currently have a 2000 Ford F-150 that I bought new and it runs perfectly.:eusa_clap

 

[Wild Root]

1946 Plymouth Special Deluxe P-15 four door six passenger sedan... made in Michigan at the Plymouth plant... was then driven to California in the 50's or 60's... it's 100% USA! I've owned a Toyota, a Nisan and a Mazda... the Toyota was a good car till it started to have problems... they have a long life but, when it's the end, IT'S THE END!!! I have sworn off foreign cars, I will only drive vintage American... yeah, you all know me... just born way to late! lol

I'd love to see quality come back to American made... it used to be the best!

For me, I'll only buy Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto or Chrysler!

=WR=

 

[J. M. Stovall]

American Vs. Foreign Automobile's numbers in the U.S.A.

So.... by American cars, I mean native to THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA by Brand...AMERICAN COMPANIES. Not built in the U.S. by foreign brands, even if they are built by American workers.

No monkey wrench here.

Your thread is titled "Made In America?", mine was[huh]

 

[Terry Lennox]

All this information can be found on the web to car sales in the USA. And since the title is Made in America, that would include a lot of "foreign" brands. You should rename it to American Brand Cars.

You're numbers will be off and not valid if this is a real study.

 

[Serial Hero]

I currently have a 2000 Ford F-150 that I bought new and it runs perfectly.:eusa_clap

weren't those recalled?


Currently my wife and I share her ’03 Toyota Matrix, until I can get a new car. Good car, but I feel it’s a bit under powered.

My car; a ’95 Chevrolet Cavalier ran great until it hit 130,000 miles, then it just fell apart.

When I do get a new one it will most likely be ether a Toyota or Honda

 

[Viola]

Haven't got a car at the moment. I plan to buy American used. Very used, with my budget. If something shifts I'll get a Toyota pickup. My only prejudice is against Fords. At this point, Toyota is more American anyway.

Viola

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

A 1982 Mercedes-Benz 300SD turbo Diesel is my normal daily driver, but until I get a few problems taken care of (it's in remarkably good shape for 23 years and over 300,000 miles) I'm driving my '92 Ford Ranger pick-em-up. The Ford runs well, but manual steering, no A/C and a hard-riding suspension does get old on the daily commute.

 

[Roger]

1998 Navigator and 2004 Lincoln Town Car bought used.

 

[Sefton]

I avoid driving as much as possible,but when I do need to I use my wife's '97 Honda. I have owned a few autos in the past the best of which was a 1966 Ford Galaxie 500 (4 doors) which was built like an aircraft carrier,but rode like on air once you took her on the highway.

 

[Lincsong]

weren't those recalled?

There was a recall last year on the cruise control switch.

 

[Air Boss]

I drive a 2005 Scion xB (made by Toyota), wife drives a 2003 Kia Sedona Van, and number one son has my 1993 Chevy. Before that he had my 1989 Mercury. I have also owned a Ford, Oldsmobile, and Mitsubishi and have purchased new and used. I have no brand loyalty, rather I buy what meets my needs at the moment.

 

[MissMissy]

My husband works for Toyota Motor Manufacturing and their vehicles we buy here are built in North America. Toyota takes a very holistic aproach to buisness, build them in the area they will be sold and give back to the community and evironment. Toyota also makes Lexus and I believe some of those may be imported though. The new Toyota Tundra that will be rolling off the production floor next month in the new San Antonio facility out performs any vehicle in it's class by quite a bit. I guess it's huge, when I think of a foreign truck I always think of one that is pretty small, but this new one isn't.
My grandfather had a bumper sticker in his back window that said "Buy American" but inside the car it read backwards "yub nacirema" which I always thought had a Japanese flair to it! Anyways, you should feel good about driving a Toyota because they are built by Americans and Toyota really cares about our planet (right down to the electricity they use and the paper they use, my husband says there are only a couple of printers for hundreds of employees). They are aggressivly testing other fuel options too.

 

[Powerhouse]

just to clear things up... This is a question of brand preferance.

This poll is just meant as a curiosity of mine. I am interested in how and why trends change. I am not "anti-foreign". That is rediculous. I just wondered why most people are in favor of cars of foreign brand. I know there are many Americans employed by these corporations in America, great, because so many American brands have had to close up shop and left MANY Americans unemployed. It is a true that American car quality is not what it used to be compared to foreign brands. Those old American corporations are going down the tubes. I wonder why...

The title, "Made in America????????", is meant as a rhetorical question. It is not..."IS YOUR CAR BUILT IN AMERICA WITH AMERICAN PARTS IN AN AMERICAN FACTORY BY AMERICAN WORKERS THAT EAT APPLE PIE FOR DESSERT?"lol

This is a question of brand preferance. Thanks much.

 

[Pilgrim]

This poll is flawed because to be accurate at all, it needs to allow at least two clicks, perhaps 3. I'd bet that at least half the lounge members own multiple cars, and many will own both foreign and domestic cars.

The poll does not ask for brand preference - it asks what you own.

We currently own all of the following:

1958 Fiat Roadster, bought used in 1968
1983 280ZX Turbo, bought used in 1990
1991 Chevy Camaro RS Convertible (used-2004)
1994 BMW 325i (used-2006)
1997 Chevy Blazer (used-2003)
1999 Chevy Blazer (used-2002)

The only cars from the list above with less than 100,000 miles on them are the Fiat (48K) and the BMW (92K). All the cars with over 100K run fine.

So tell me, what's our brand preference?

General info: Chevrolet hasn't built a car I like to look at in the last 10 years, but their trucks and SUVs are OK. IMO when they dumped Odsmobile, they should have moved the Olds body styles to Chevy and dumped all the Chevy body styles. I have hopes for the new Camaro. Pontiac really disappointed me with the GTO - I couldn't tell a GTO from a Chevy Cobalt in a parking lot. I really want to like the Chevy HHR, but it just doesn't flip my switch. Chrysler did MUCH better with the PT Cruiser. (I've driven a PT and liked it, too.)

Ford is no better. The one car they've made recently that I'd like to drive is the Mustang. Aside from that, their trucks and SUVs are "Eehh".

Chrysler is the only domestic manufacturer that has done anything interesting in styling. I've worked on enough Chrysler AC systems and know enough about their transmissions not to be jacked about buying a Chrysler product, though. Their pickups make the same impression on me now that they did 20 years ago when I was selling cars - the bodies rattle and fall off, but the drivetrains are solid and hard to kill.

However, I'm NOT one of those who think domestic cars stink (although I think most of them are uuuuugly). I think any car made today will run at least 150K miles with proper maintenance, and many will run much further. The two Blazers we own have the well-proven Vortec V6, and that's a great motor (it's a small-block V8 with the front two cylinders removed).

I do think that people give up on cars and let them deteriorate when they get tired of driving them, and that provides an self-fulfilling excuse for them to sell and replace the car.

 

[Viola]

Pilgrim, when it comes to body styling, I rather like the PT Cruiser and the new Charger.

Chevy's sedans are indeed unenticing. Except for the Corvette, of course. I will happily await the Camaro, however.

Ford's Mustang is nice now that you can tell it apart from a Taurus instead of that fugly late '90s boring-box thing they had. Corvettes are still sexier.

My all-time "chick car" moment was for a Mazda Miata but most of my friends and my dog won't fit. I still kinda "lust in my heart" ala Jimmy Carter. lol

Viola

 

[Powerhouse]

We currently own all of the following:

1958 Fiat Roadster, bought used in 1968
1983 280ZX Turbo, bought used in 1990
1991 Chevy Camaro RS Convertible (used-2004)
1994 BMW 325i (used-2006)
1997 Chevy Blazer (used-2003)
1999 Chevy Blazer (used-2002)

So tell me, what's our brand preference?

Well... 3 Chevrolet's...so your'e preference, as far as what you own, is Chevrolet. So general preference would be different...if one could afford any car they wanted, well... I think most drivers would be driving something different. Is your 280ZX considerd a Datsun or Nissan. My friend Cpt. Blackie used to drive one and loved it...he could never remember what make it was. He is senial though.

Yes modern cars are UUUUGLY Indeed. Chrysler has made an attempt at styling lately...but still nothing I would buy. BUT THAT'S MY OPINION. All my cars range from 1931 to 58, with the exception of my 87 Plymouth, a reliant automobile which I use for commuting to work, definately nothing to LOOK at.

Also good point about routine maintenance... too many people forget to take care of their automobiles resulting in premature replacement.


How do you add more selections to the poll? I would have liked it to be setup differently. Yeah, this isn't accurate at all. I guess that's why I am not a copywriter. Hahaha

 

[Pilgrim]

Could always try a different poll.

The '83 280ZX was the last year of Datsun in the US. It became Nissan in this country after that.

I can also state - and this should be pretty evident from my car list - that I really don't care whether a car is foreign or domestic. The manufacturers play so many games within the allowable content and site of manufacture rules that it doesn't matter - and I've never felt that "buy American, regardless of merit" made sense.

We've actually been Audi drivers as our primary family cars since 1987, and only picked up the BMW this fall. The 280ZX is my toy, and when I finish a resto job on the 1958 Fiat Roadster, I'll probably sell it. I've owned it for 16 years now, so that won't be easy.

The Chevy Blazers are pretty much "appliances" as cars. They do nothing exciting, don't have any unusual merits, they just run and perform and don't break much. That's always been Chevy's strong suit. But they're rather boring to drive. The Camaro is more fun, but it's my 17-year-old daughter's and she's really enjoying it.

Commentary on an example of why the domestic car manufacturers have lost so much market share:

I remember stepping into a state-owned car in the early 1990's - a Pontiac 6000 wagon. I sat down, and the first thing I noticed was that reflected sun glare from the dashboard made the speedometer invisible. Dumb design. I then adjusted mirrors, and needed something from the glove box. I opened the glove box and found that 40% of the opening - on the driver's side - was blocked by a huge latch mechanism. To reach into the box, I had to slide over and reach around the passenger side of the latch. No way a driver could do that while the car was in motion. Stupid!!! Finally, I started the car, pulled the column-mounted auto gearshift into Drive, and thought to turn on the radio. The large end of the gear lever was completely blocking my view of the radio face! To tune it, I had to lean over so I could see the radio. Idiotic!!

In the first 30 seconds I sat in that car, I had discovered three unforgiveable design flaws. The next words out of my mouth were "No WONDER GM is getting its butt kicked all over the world!!!"

 

[Powerhouse]

HAHAHA :eusa_clap Very true, poor design... what were they thinking?

I drove a bone stock 57 Chevrolet(283 Powerpack with PowerSLIDE) for about 6 years throughout college and afterwards. It was kind of fun to drive just for aesthetic reasons. It was, and is, a "driver". I would fix it more and more as time went along and money was easier to make. It is a great driver now, yet I am so bored with it. After all the repairs it drives like a 57 chevrolet...which I like, it's nothing fancy. I took people out in it all the time and they always were amazed at how simple it was. That's just what it is, simple.. a car... not a video game or giant stereo system. Hahaha. It is depressing to see what happens when poor designs and cutting corners to save money destroys a brands image. They are NOT the same brands anymore... oh well.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

"IS YOUR CAR BUILT IN AMERICA WITH AMERICAN PARTS IN AN AMERICAN FACTORY BY AMERICAN WORKERS THAT EAT APPLE PIE FOR DESSERT?"

Thanks, Powerhouse -- that really made me chuckle!

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