Do you notice foreign car drivers more? (tailgating, hybrid, MPG)

[pirate_lafitte]

Originally Posted by 4WDGreg

...it's like eating Florida oranges in California. It's like smoking Cuban cigars in North Carolina, going to New York and cheering for the Red Sox. It's just bad form, and it's very insulting.
Personally, when I see foreign cars on the road, I don't extend courtesies to them that I do for others, such as moving over when they want to pass, letting them merge into my lane etc. You'll recognize me on the highway, because I'm the one who points towards the other lane when you're tailgating me, waiting for me to pull over so you can pass.

How rude. I personally think cars such as Nissan are better. My family has experience. My father bought a 2001 Chevrolet Suburban brand new and it has had problems since it was bought in 2001. My father also had a very old Nissan from the late 1980's. It is 20 years old and it has withstood the test of time. That car was driven across the USA and so much of what I call abuse was put on that car. It only had a few problems considering it was driven frequently for 2 decades and it is still usable. The Suburban started having problems when it was bought and it hasn't been used nearly as much.

[burgler09]

I pulled up next to a guy in a Ford yesterday who's bumper sticker read "Scr3w your foreign vehicle"

[nycjefftrain]

Originally Posted by pirate_lafitte

How rude. I personally think cars such as Nissan are better. My family has experience. My father bought a 2001 Chevrolet Suburban brand new and it has had problems since it was bought in 2001. My father also had a very old Nissan from the late 1980's. It is 20 years old and it has withstood the test of time. That car was driven across the USA and so much of what I call abuse was put on that car. It only had a few problems considering it was driven frequently for 2 decades and it is still usable. The Suburban started having problems when it was bought and it hasn't been used nearly as much.

Again...this is subjective. I have heard this about ALL cars, foreign and domestic.

Frank the tank(btw, awesome name!!) what you said is true bc people buy what catches their "eye" and is easy on their wallet. The domestic SUVs and trucks still catch the "eye" whereas the foreign ones don't so much. Opposite is true with the sedans. Interesting point about the quality image. I completely agree with you. For anybody who actually does the research(OK..I get the DORK award for reading Consumer Reports and JD Power & Assoc.) many domestics are on par if not better than the foriegn makes. But most people don't do the research. They ask their neighbors what car is good and they go with that. The marketing depts at the 3 domestic automakers are the ones that will have to figure out a way to overcome this image.

Also, the when I say foriegn I mean the Asian brands. The European brands have always been alot like my ex...high maintainence!!!

[dakwilk]

I am TRYING to buy an American car, but it isn't easy. I am looking for a minivan or crossover that is a hybrid. Why can't anyone make this type of vehicle? I know the Ford Edge has a hybrid version, but it's too big for my needs. Most likely, I will have to abort my hybrid wish.

Also, according to Consumer Reports, the Asian minivans win out by far on safety. I want to buy American, but it is difficult to find what I need.

[nycjefftrain]

I really like the new Chrysler selection of minivans...I thought they were always rated high on safety or they would of sold so well all these years.

[OhEdo]

Originally Posted by dakwilk

I am TRYING to buy an American car, but it isn't easy. I am looking for a minivan or crossover that is a hybrid. Why can't anyone make this type of vehicle? I know the Ford Edge has a hybrid version, but it's too big for my needs. Most likely, I will have to abort my hybrid wish.

Also, according to Consumer Reports, the Asian minivans win out by far on safety. I want to buy American, but it is difficult to find what I need.

If the Ford Edge is too big for you, what about the Ford Escape hybrid? I actually really like that father-daughter commercial where the pre-teen girl doesn't want her father to take her to the mall in the Escape because she won't look cool in a regular gas-gulping SUV. Then her father says it's a hybrid, and the daughter doesn't believe him at first because it looks like a regular Escape. The commercial makes a good point that 1) it doesn't have to look like a Prius to be a hybrid, and 2) nobody (except for a few hundred cab drivers in NY who use them) seems to know that Ford makes an Escape hybrid. Doesn't Saturn make a Vue Green Line (i.e., hybrid) as well? Both of these vehicles are compact crossovers of the Rav4, CRV and Rogue ilk so they don't sound too big for you.

[Dexterguy]

I would like to give my $0.02 on the Toyota Prius, one it is the ugliest car that I have ever seen and I would never ever pay that much money for a car like that. Two, for all you enviromentalists out there this car does the EXACT oppisite from saving the earth. Toyota strips tones of copper from northern Canada every single year to make this "earth saving" car. I believe in climate change and global warming, and trust me this car is just as bad or worse for this reason of stripping Canada's natural land and wild life.

[iamweasel]

Originally Posted by Dexterguy

I would like to give my $0.02 on the Toyota Prius, one it is the ugliest car that I have ever seen and I would never ever pay that much money for a car like that. Two, for all you enviromentalists out there this car does the EXACT oppisite from saving the earth. Toyota strips tones of copper from northern Canada every single year to make this "earth saving" car. I believe in climate change and global warming, and trust me this car is just as bad or worse for this reason of stripping Canada's natural land and wild life.

The Prius is a joke - plain and simple. Good 'ole Toyota is laughing all the way to the bank on that one.

Anyone remember the Toyota Echo? Well it was a small car that got 35-40MPG as a non-hybrid. Well, Toyota comes out with this Prius and all the Tree Huggers come out and buy one thinking they are getting some great product. Well the Prius averages about 40MPG which is barely more than the Echo and it costs $10K more than the Echo! Now the Echo has been discontinued because people bought the Prius instead.

Toyota is laughing at us right now...

[iamweasel]

Originally Posted by theboysmom

Dh and I both drive foreign cars. I've got a Honda and he's got a VW. Often times, Dh swears that people at the gas station give him dirty looks when he's done nothing to deserve it. He's most certainly not a uber sensitive person so it's funny that he would comment on this.

So do you think it's possible he's being shot sideways glances because he doesn't drive "American"? And I put that in quotes because to be honest, I don't buy that crap. I looked at a Ford before I bought my Honda three months ago and the salesman touted that one good thing is that I would be buying "American" (I told him I was also looking at Hondas too). I looked right at him and was like, buddy, let's be real here. I saw the sticker on that car out there and it was made in MEXICO.

Mods-- Oops, I meant to post this in the main MI threads, not the city forum. Please move when you get a chance. Thanks!!

Please don't take this the wrong way - but where a car is physically assembled has very little to do with supporting country X, Y, or Z.

Assembly labor, in the overall cost & revenue equation, is a very small component of the overall value chain. As far as supporting the local economy you are MUCH better off buying a Mexico-built Ford than an Ohio-built Honda. Why?

Assembly labor only makes up about 10-15% of the cost of a vehicle. Material cost for parts purchased from suppliers or internally makes up about 75% of the vehicle. A Ford made in Mexico still has 90% US parts while a Honda made in Ohio has about 10% US parts. In addition, the profit from a Ford stays in the local economy while the profit made on a Honda goes back overseas.

The domestics still generally get their parts from US-based suppliers. (They are trying to do more outsourcing, though, but it has been a slow process...) For example, the 2009 F-150 that will be coming out this summer has 90% US-based parts, 8% from Canada and Mexico and 2% from other countries.

The Asians still import most of the parts but they get to classify some of them as domestic because of pre-assembly. The US Government's domestic content calculations are a complete joke and an insult to those of us in the industry.

For example, Toyota can import a shock, spring and a few other suspension parts from China and ship them to a US warehouse across the street from their plant. They get assembled by non-Toyota workers into a "shock module" and then that piece gets sent across the street to the Toyota plant. Since the final assembly point of the "module" is the US, the dollar value of the shock module is considered domestic content even though none of the parts actually came from here. Tell me how that makes sense?

[theboysmom]

Originally Posted by iamweasel

Please don't take this the wrong way

Don't worry, I didn't. I'm new to the boards, but I've noticed a lot of ultra snarky 'tude and rudeness (not to mention tons of negativitiy). I'm not the type of person to get all bent out of shape by anything anyone says online and I don't think that sitting behind a laptop is my excuse to act like a beeyootch. Lol, long-winded way of saying that while I may disagree with a post, I never take things the "wrong way" on any message board!

I never would have thought of it that way. I honestly saw the sticker and was like "Pffft! Whatever." So, thank you for that explanation. I didn't know any of that. Interesting!

But I still *heart* my little CRV. And will continue to buy cars based on what works for me and my tastes. If that someday happens to be a domestic car, then great, but it's not a requirement.