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My dad was a GM guy (the now defunct Oldsmobile) so naturally I followed suit. But my mom bought a 73 Plymouth Duster so I also had an subliminal partiality for Chrysler. Back then it wasn't so much politics as Cubs vs. Cardinals, Yankees vs. Dodgers kind of thing.
Years later it is all about politics. I wanted to buy a crew-cab pickup, and everyone told me, buy a Toyota Tacoma, so I did. I like a manual transmission, so I found a crew cab Tacoma with the 6 speed amd bought it. I was disappointed. Cheesy interior, crappy paint job, and massive clutch failure at 33,000 miles. I junked it and bought a Dodge Dakota, which I'm happy with. But now, thanks to Obama, Chrysler is Italian owned, and I don't like what they did to UW student Amanda Knox. I love the new Fiats that are being imported, cute as hell, but no way am I going to buy one.
Several years ago I bought a Buell motorcycle, made in USA. I was never a fan of obese, slow, gas-guzzling Harleys, but when Buell came out with some reasonably performing bikes, I fell for it hook, line, & sinker. Then Harley pulled the plug. (sorry about the mixed metaphors).
Anyway, how does politics figure into your car buying experience?
I look at ratings, the purpose of the car and reliability. Sure, there are certain brands that I prefer over others, but when you drill down to the reason why, it is probably most often relating to reliability. I hate taking my car to the dealer for any reason. It wastes my time, is often a cost I don't want to deal with and the less often I have to go through that process, the better. I think older generations go for the politics, union stuff, etc. Because none of that matters to me.
Yeh, it doesn't. I wanted to purchase a new Passat, and was happy that it was being built in the USA...was also a fan of the newer Buick Regal, which made me think it'd be great to own an American car (even though it was made in Germany). Either way, I didn't buy either vehicle, ended up with a Mexican built, German engined Jetta...but am very happy with my purchase nonetheless.
With bikes, I buy what I like...and I liked the Buells, but not necessarily because it was American made...just a cool bike.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Politics doesn't come into it. I wanted a new Ranger pickup because it was the only one left that was really smaller and I knew they were going to be discontinued soon. The engine was made in Germany, the transmission in France
so it's a multi-cultural truck.
None. I found a good deal on a car that had been on my purchase radar. So I bought it. I'd normally prefer not to buy a UAW-built vehicle, but I guess due to their production contracts, dealers end up with excess inventories of those models, which they are eager to sell.
But at the end of the day, K.I.S.S.: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
Politics certainly doesn't factor into my automotive choices, but in the interest of accuracy I'll point out that if it weren't for Obama, Chrysler—and GM—wouldn't exist at all today.
I'm not saying that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it is a fact.
Like others, it doesn't factor in for me. I buy what I like the looks of, is reliable, and can afford. The first two of those pretty much wipes the traditional "American" manufacturers off the table (except for some Ford models). And I'll echo that many of the companies with the largest manufacturing presence in the USA these days are so-called "foreign" manufacturers (i.e. Toyota, Hyundai, etc.). I think it was the Toyota Camry that was rated as the "most American" car of the year last year because the vast majority of it's parts and manufacture are from the US.
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