Automotive Forums

Robert Farago:
I've often been accused of having it in for American cars.  That's probably because I do.  Ever since my first car, a Ford Pinto station wagon, I've been disgusted with the quality, ride, handling and general refinement of American-made cars.  <br /><br />The first time I got behind the wheel of a Mercedes, I understood quality.  The first time, I drove a BMW, I understood ride.  The first time I drove a Porsche, I understood handling.  The first time I saw a Ferrari, I understood art.  <br /><br />So here we are, more than twenty years later, and the status is still quo.  American cars are praised for their quality, yet I've driven nothing made in this country-- I mean by one of our Big Three automakers-- that makes me think that Detroit "gets it".  There's no American car I know of that can live up to its foreign competition in [an admittedly subjective] measure of quality. <br /><br />Chrysler has some good stuff, Caddy has some better stuff, but close your eyes (on a closed course with a professional driver) and you'd never think for a second you were anywhere but in a Yank tank.  In the main, American cars still float and drift alarmingly and offer-up gobs of model airplane plastic.  They still feel drive, look and feel cheap.<br /><br />Have I been so traumatized by American cars that I've become reverse xenophonic?  Someone please tell me what American car can meet or beat a 3 Series or Lexus in the overall sense of here, by God, is a well-made car that handles like a dream. Will this American car nightmare never end? <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />        

This guy dosent know crap we are already in a depression so lets get money out of the american economy by purhasing foreign cars and give to the ***   good idea bud.
"Chrysler has some good stuff, Caddy has some better stuff, but close your eyes (on a closed course with a professional driver) and you'd never think for a second you were anywhere but in a Yank tank.  In the main, American cars still float and drift alarmingly and offer-up gobs of model airplane plastic.  They still feel drive, look and feel cheap."

That sounds really wrong American cars are CHEAP ok now think toyota cars are made by chinese children.  Their engins might work better if it wasent put together with twigs and bubble gum.  

Stat: The most deaths in a car have been in foreign cars for their lack of saftey and their cheapness.

So if you want to die in a wreck go ahead buy a foriegn car  

amen!  

"Honda has addapted the most functional service intravals of any other automaker and has had it as far back as i can remember. Honda reccomends services every 7500 or every 10000 miles depending on which car."

Yeah if it lasts it that long

come on man  

I own an Impala and I test drive BMW's mercedes volvos lexus infinity and acuras on a regular basis (I am A mechanic) a premium set of shocks and michelin mxv4 tires 300 horsepower and leather in the Impala will make you feel that the luxury brands are overpriced and if you properly maintain them you will find them grossly overpriced (even do it yourself) you get what you pay for and thats a name  

amen brother  

the majority of the comments are short sighted not to mention ignorant,
first off, the morons who claim that buying an "american made" car is somehow doing something better for the economy then buying  Toyota or a Nissan is ridiculous...so lets say your out shopping for a new car, yu got your bonafide patriotic flag wavin off the antenna, you are  thinking if i buy a ford it will save some dudes job here in the states..but what the idiots dont know is Toyota has plants all over the united states as well as distributors, vendors, etc....and guess who works at those plants?.... johnny  used to work at the ford plant until the unions strangled them out of business so he got laid off...and went to work at the Toyota plant instead... now johnny still needs to feed his family...so while your wavin yer flags and sporting your union bumper stickers...Americans still need  support in the jobs they have.

as for the quality of domestic verses foreign...it cant be disputed...so again the idiots come out of the woodwork...with questions like "have you ever tried to buy a water pump for a Toyota??: outrageous!!!..um no i havnt because toyota water pumps arnt something you have to buy all the time so i have no clue...but im sure someone with a buick or ford or chevy can rattle off the prices of all kinds of replacement parts, because they are always in the market for them...DUH!!! this falls under the reliability factor.

as for unions, they suck pure and simple, they brought down the auto industry by diverting funds to union demands instead of using the money in R&D to compete with the foreign automakers, to put it simply, ford is going under along with its vendors (like dana) because of the demands of your precious unions ( for the good of its members of coarse )...whos next?...just watch the airline industry...eastern was put on the chopping block, now delta is in the same boat...back to cars...
if your going to spend 20 thousand bucks on a car, what are you getting for your money?...look at the markets, hell look in the paper...anyone find a 3 yr old toyota for sale?...its rare...but you can find domestic's for sale all day long ( sort of brings a whole new meaning to fords claim as "the best selling truck in America" )best selling because everyone is getting rid of them.
no people, things will never be as they were....look forward and buy SMART buy reliability and quality whoever it may be...and remember, just because something comes over on a container ship, doesnt mean the guy in the crane lifting it doesnt need his job.  

adfafd:
"Honda has addapted the most functional service intravals of any other automaker and has had it as far back as i can remember. Honda reccomends services every 7500 or every 10000 miles depending on which car."

Yeah if it lasts it that long

come on man

it's a Honda you idiot,
do a little research, Honda ANYTHING  is rated as a premium... dont believe me? go try to buy Honda ANYTHING used. go through the newspaper and try to find a used Honda lawn mower...then find a used Briggs and stratton...better yet, count up how many 3 yr old Honda cars are for sale in the paper..then count up 3 yr old domestic cars...( better get 2 sheets of paper)  

You don't need to come on here and call the people who don't agree with you idiots. You can have your hondas and your toyotas. I have had major headaches with both of these overrated vehicles. I have a 1 year old toyota that I would love to dump on some guy who worships this company. The only problem is that it has depreciated $10,000! There are plenty of 3 year old hondas and toyots out there for sale. I am not some idiot who only buys American cars and then rags on imports having never owned one. I have owned plenty of them. And I can honestly say I have had more problems with imports than domestics. That is my personal experience. I kept thinking that the negative experiences i was having were isolated. So I would always consider imports when I bought my next vehicle (maybe I am an idiot for continuing to buy them). I have had problems with blown head gaskets twice (toyota), bad brakes (toyota and honda), Interior parts falling off (toyota and honda), paint peeling and rust (honda), Broken intake valve (honda), and three water pumps (toyota). Now I just got a letter telling me that my radiator may be defective in my newest toyota. I have also owned chevys, Fords and my GMC. Never had one problem with the Ford after owning it for 5 years. Not one problem. I sold it for an AWD toyota that was the worst car buying mistake of my life. My GMC is 9 years old and I have only had to replace an intake manifold gasket. I am sticking to domestic vehicles from now on.  

well mike  it sounds like you have been singled out to be nailed on the cross by the Asian car makers, if nothing else feel the love of being the exception to the rule and hope those odds carry over the next time you buy lottery tickets.( if they do please keep me in mind)

as far as your depreciation problem, im having a really tough time believing a Toyota depreciated 10 thousand in 2 yrs. could be you tried to sell it back to the guy who sold it to you? or could it be he saw a sucker coming and sold that Toyota with the  swampland option in phoenix for an extra 8 thousand bucks.... no offense.
your toyota/honda issues just dont stack up with the moral majority..if they did both toyota and honda would be experiencing losses that the domestic automakers are. but the data just doesnt support your opinion, toyota and honda are both flourishing while the big 3 are floundering...and its happening because domestic car makers are swinging by a short rope. as far as plenty of 3 yr old toyotas and hondas....i suppose "plenty" is the action word, but in relation to domestic they are almost extinct...grab a paper or a free giant nickle/big nickle/ whatever they call it in your neck of the woods and do a car count per page, count up the numbers of domestic and the foreign, i just did a 2 page count out of 50 total cars i counted 9 foreign out of those i counted 1 toyota the rest were a mixed bag, and no hondas

Im a fan of reliability and quality, ill cheer for the winning team whoever it is because its my hard earned money...if the domestic market took the lead in the back stretch id be switching my bets...but it aint gunna happen.
as far as calling people idiots....go back and read some of the tripe people wrote and tell me it comes from informed people, it has nothing to do with opinion.  

As I said before, those were my experiences! I bought the garbage toyota new for almost forty grand and tried to get toyota to buy the damn thing back and was offered 30 grand. And not in 2 years but in one stinking year! Go ahead and have a tough time believing it. It sounds like you have a tough time believing anything that contradicts your feelings.  You sound like an arrogant, angry, self centered person.... no offense. I never told you that you have to buy an American car. Or that you were a bad American for buying an Asain car. I just shared my experiences with domestics and imports. Go ahead and buy whatever the hell you want. As you said it's your money. But I like my GMC. And when it comes time to replace the toyota I bought, It will be with a GMC or a Chevy. It's my choice as a free American! Sad to hear that your happy that people are losing their jobs in this country. You sound like a great person. And thank you for calling me a liar. I really appreciate that.  

I agree that there are good imports. Will you see me ever driving one, HELL NO. Imports should be renamed to small plastic cant fit a 6 foot tall heavy male and be affordable to repair. Now i know most newer american cars are also "plastic" but when i think of an american car im talking about early 90's chryslers. I work at mcdonalds since there is no other jobs out there so i cant afford new vehicles and i also cant afford repairs. So all my vehicles were under $1000 and all have lasted for more than 150,000 miles and 3 over 200,000miles. The only reason my last one at 245,000 miles died is because i did a nutrual drop on the original tranny, Nice burnout but fried the clutches. Why do we love american cars. Well think how we americans drive, we sucks. We do jackrabbit starts, burnouts slamming on brakes. Nutrual drops, toweing other vehicles, driving at 120 on a 100degree day on 85mph rated tires. Our cars last very long for what we do, those around here that drive imports usually have to change cars every year or so because we just dont take care of our cars. Now for safety i wouldnt want to ever be in a japanesse car during a crash, they crumple way too much, some to reduce impact but thats only at 35, what about the crash that seems the happen around me the 60mph head ons on the highway. Ive been through one in my moms plymouth accliam and because i wasnt wereing a seatbelt i broke my leg. The other car was worse off, it was a Saturn (it my be american but to me its to much like an impoort, small, plastic, crappy from GM-ok i dont like gm either). well lets just say one of the passingers had head injuries and a split liver along with a broken ankle. and well most american cars interiors sorta suck that saturns interior blew right off its mounts, everything was throught around while the car i was in stayed nice and neet except where my leg hit the dash. Btw if you do drive imports just remeber to not drive like idiots out there, because when you do you just make my hospital bills bigger  

Whoa Dude...Take a chill pill!!! I'll buy any car that's reliable AND efficient. Unfortunately, American cars drink more gas and give less bang for your buck. If you want to drive that American made gas hog of yours and sell your soul to the oil companies, go right ahead. Just don't come whining to us about how American car are "just as good".

By the way...My Corolla was built in California, USA. American Built, Japanese Engineered = WIN, WIN for consumers and auto workers.  

most redheads, southern and midwestern whities drive american cuz its what they can afford and they trust american cars with their peasant lives.  

"Dr.Phil"  

yeha *** u phil, POS

imports are so much better than american piece of *** so much more reliable. anything ford or GM touches becomes pieces of *** up junk.  I used to like the landrover, now i hate it after BMW sold it to FORD and now look how *** up the LR3 and the rangerover is.