Do you feel obligated to buy American?
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In the wake of the economic downfall, specifically the downsizing of the big major American car companies, do you guys feel obligated to support America by buying our cars like so many other people seem to think?
Is it honestly "right" to support something American that is, in all actuality, inferior to products that other countries have to offer (Japan, Germany, Korea... ect ect)? IMHO
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Buying a Toyota is still "buying American" if you will, as there are American workers assembling them. Nothing is "American" nowadays anyways as parts are imported and then assembled here. As for supporting one of the Big 3, Ford would be the only one I would openly support in purchasing if I had to. With the reliability of my Lexus, I think my next car will be a Ford again.
Mustangs problems: Cheap and easy, nothing major. Stupid example too: Changing spark plugs takes 20 min max.
Changing plugs on the Lexus is a 1+ hour job and it's very picky about taking the right plugs.
Lexus Problems: Expensive and annoying, still haven't fixed them all -
Eurofan;299536 wrote:
In the wake of the economic downfall, specifically the downsizing of the big major American car companies, do you guys feel obligated to support America by buying our cars like so many other people seem to think?Is it honestly "right" to support something American that is, in all actuality, inferior to products that other countries have to offer (Japan, Germany, Korea... ect ect)? IMHO
Other than Subaru, I really don't like the Japanese cars coming out lately... However, I love Fords 2010 line up... With this whole new Toyota Brake Failing ordeal, I think you will see more and more people buy American. Not because of guilt, but because of what you get for your dollar... -
Nope, i will buy what appeals to me, wherever it comes from... If a car company can't build cars that ppl want that's their problem, not ours... Besides there's probably more "foreign" cars made in america by american workers that "domestic" cars anyways...
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StangerBanger96;299538 wrote:
Buying a Toyota is still "buying American" if you will, as there are American workers assembling them. Nothing is "American" nowadays anyways as parts are imported and then assembled here. As for supporting one of the Big 3, Ford would be the only one I would openly support in purchasing if I had to. With the reliability of my Lexus, I think my next car will be a Ford again.
Mustangs problems: Cheap and easy, nothing major. Stupid example too: Changing spark plugs takes 20 min max.
Changing plugs on the Lexus is a 1+ hour job and it's very picky about taking the right plugs.
Lexus Problems: Expensive and annoying, still haven't fixed them allbubba;299540 wrote:
Nope, i will buy what appeals to me, wherever it comes from... If a car company can't build cars that ppl want that's their problem, not ours... Besides there's probably more "foreign" cars made in america by american workers that "domestic" cars anyways...Haha, so true.
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Are we talking just cars here or things in general? For cars, I buy what appeals to me. If I felt that an "American" car had what I was looking for, I'd buy it if the quality seemed good enough.
When it comes to car audio, I almost always buy American made speakers and amps...though sometimes I buy Italian speakers because that is where Zapco has theirs built. Subwoofers have always been made better in America than abroad IMO and the same goes with amplifiers....which is why I sell/use Zapco and Atomic.
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2 things here. First, are "american" cars actually made and assembled in America? I've seen a lot of new Chevy and Ford stuff that is made in Mexico. Personally, I'd rather buy from Japan than Mexico any day.
Second, where do you think all your tvs, cell phones, computers, appliances, clothes, shoes, etc are made? I haven't taken the time to research this, but I'm going to guess the answer is not in our country.
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I don't care where it comes from. If I like it, I buy it. I think that's probably the way most people are. If people aren't buying American products, then maybe American companies shouldn't keep trying to push their shitty products. Make something people will actually want to buy and that's probably what will happen.
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treimche;299548 wrote:
2 things here. First, are "american" cars actually made and assembled in America? I've seen a lot of new Chevy and Ford stuff that is made in Mexico. Personally, I'd rather buy from Japan than Mexico any day.Second, where do you think all your tvs, cell phones, computers, appliances, clothes, shoes, etc are made? I haven't taken the time to research this, but I'm going to guess the answer is not in our country.
Exactly.
Everything is globalized nowadays. Even products that say MADE IN AMERICA were probably made from parts that were shipped from China, Mexico, Japan, etc. Most things are "cheaper" to manufacture overseas and assemble here.
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zbrown;299552 wrote:
anyone have a sticky throttle of death?My wife's Rav has a throttle that is extremely hard to push down soft, if it had more than 50whp I'd worry about it though.
When you let off the pedal the r's go right down, so Toyota wouldn't do anything about it.I try to buy American if all things are equal, like evreyone said not many goods are made in America, just like beer is made here in the states but most profits go overseas. But to the op just stirring the pot, if American stuff is so junky, graduate high school and move to Germany.
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Yeah if you think German/European cars are so superior, then I guess one must consider how much money must be sunk into the average BMW/Benz vs the average Ford/Chevy to get the car 200,000+ miles. I'd wager a good amount of money that if you treated both equally, the BMW/Benz would take a LOT more money to maintain vs the Ford/Chevy. I'm sure Jim knows that, while the build quality of a BMW is VERY nice, it also requires some decent dough to maintain it.
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The thing I love is when ppl come into my work wanting to buy parts for their gm, and then they ask where the parts were made or rebuilt and when it says mexico on the box they don't buy it... Sometimes when they start bitching about made in U.S.A. i have to slip in that their car was probably made in mexico too, so the parts should be great for it... They usually get really pissed then, lol..
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StangerBanger96;299565 wrote:
Yeah if you think German/European cars are so superior, then I guess one must consider how much money must be sunk into the average BMW/Benz vs the average Ford/Chevy to get the car 200,000+ miles. I'd wager a good amount of money that if you treated both equally, the BMW/Benz would take a LOT more money to maintain vs the Ford/Chevy. I'm sure Jim knows that, while the build quality of a BMW is VERY nice, it also requires some decent dough to maintain it.Ehhh... a car is a car. Replacement parts are expensive for whatever.
It really just depends... I'd agree on the Benz front, that shit is stupid expensive. BMW's... not so much. My parents have sunk more money (like double) in to thier Durango then they have thier BMW for sure with equal amounts of miles on both. If you talk to them, they won't own another American made car for the trouble.
I've got like 160k on my sedan, still going strong. The coupe has like 120k without any major problems.
Honestly though, who cares where a car was made, the money gets spread all over the place, especially in today's globalized world, half the shit was outsourced to be made out of the country anyway. It's not like 80% of the shit we use everyday wasn't made in China, so I don't really get the hangup over where cars were made. Buy what appeals to you, and what can get you the best deal for your money, if American companies want your money they will appeal to consumers by building a better product. Competition in the market SHOULD make both products better... right? hhaha.
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