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Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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It is AC's awful reputation in terms of reliability. The Toyo Camry doesn't look like a 1966 Mustang but sells great because it is considered to have iron clad reliability
I've got a 1991 Camry that has 260,000 miles and is going on its 4th president with few maintainence problems
I had a very good looking 1994 Oldsmobile Acheiva that had problem after problem after only 150,000 miles. It;s engine was also designed where even minor repairs HAD to be done at a GM dealership - even changing the spark plugs! Toyotas are more like the old Volkswagens: t car of the common man that is easy and cheap to repair with a solid, yet simple design
I don't understand how people say that American interiors look cheaper than the imports. My Mom's Toyota has the same cheap plastic that's in my Chevy. At least my door panels have padding, unlike her's which is hard as a rock.
Ever seen the interior of an E46 BMW 3 series or M3 after a few years? There's a rubber coating that starts to peel off of the steering wheel controls among other areas, it's nasty! Volkswagens are terrible about this. Many past modest Japanese sedans relied on a compressed corrugated base as for their door panels. Albeit not cheap looking per se, the cars overall had as much personality as Terri Schiavo.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DailyJournalist
Japanese car quality is going down hill more and more as the years pass. In a few years they will be as bad as Korean cars. Buy American, I know no body can build a better car than us. The American car companies need to lengthen their warranties to inspire confidence.
As a former car broker whose dealt vehicles of every origin, I cannot help but question the credibility of this statement being a close minded bias. From the sounds of it, seems you haven't even given them an opportunity to see how well they stack up. Have you actually tested any late model Hondas, Acuras, Nissans, Infinitis, Mazdas, Toyotas, or Lexus'? Late model American cars have come a long way but to say Japanese have fallen off, doesn't exactly coincide with the largest Japanese manufacturers still outranking sales and recording the least amount of losses than the big three.
The fact of the matter is that most people who drive modest American sedans and compacts are owned by Hertz, Enterprise, or their local government. I'm glad to see they're starting to make a genuine effort to change that.
it isn't the exteriors that bad, it is the interiors of domestic cars that are horrific. absolutely poor interior designs, ergonomics, material quality, and build quality.
agreed. actually, the interiors on the new (07 and up) Mustangs is pretty nice for an American car - especially an American Ponycar. the interior on my wife's 98 Dodge Durango isnt tooooooo atrocious.
I was going to mention that, too.
Many imports have just as much plastic as American cars. And what is this "better quality plastic?"
that is true too. i think that most Japanese cars have similarly tuperware looking interiors. i think that the difference would be that on some American models like Corvette or Cadillac, you would expect a little more.
that actually looks pretty cool. it's not what i'm into, but it would be a cool looking car. unfortunately, the production model would most likely look way crappier than this concept.
It featured a 13.6 liter 830 cubic inch V16 producing 1,000hp and managing twenty miles per gallon. Would have been nice to see an American Veyron fighter.
Cars U.S. automakers produce are ugly! A Cadillac or a Lincoln used to be beautiful! But not anymore. How many years did it take the companies to realize Americans like the retro look. The Mustand is a beautiful car, and has sold well. Now, Chrysler has the Challenger, and GM has the Camaro. I Cadillac should stop trying to look like a foreign import and start looking like a Cadillac again. Town Cars are suppose to be big and luxurious. I remember the Lincolns of the 1970's. They were the most beautiful cars on the road.
I agree.... you cannot even buy a really big Cadillac now. Now they look like a midsized import now.
Even some of the luxury imports are toning down in some cases. The new Acura RL (which is supposed to be the biggest, most luxurious Honda/Acura made) is not very large now. The 96-02 RL was even bigger than that.
Ironically I have had/have imports and American. I have had alot of 80s-90s Camrys and all were excellent, but ironically we also have a 1997 Oldsmobile Achieva SL sedan that was grandpas. I will admit we have had alot of crappy 80s-90s American cars, but this car has suprised me. It now has 171K miles (which I thought was impossible for an American car ) and it still runs very well. We have had to replace the solenoid and water pump once, but other than that, the engine and tranny are original and still work very well. It has gone through alot of brakes though and the back ones caused problems for awhile and now there is a clunking from the front wheels... I think its a bad strut, but its a good little work car, which is all I use it for now to keep the miles down on my old classic American cars, my Benz and Lexus.
I agree, its hard to work on... ours is a 4-cylinder and everything is crammed in there. I do think the earlier Achievas had more problems than the later ones, which may explain why ours has not has as many problems. Still cheap build quality, as this car is filled with interior noises. It was fine when we inherited it at 105K miles, but we had to drive on a 2-mile gravel road once and after that, the interior noises started.
In comparison, my 1991 Lexus (216K) and my 1988 Mercedes (154K) are 100% squeak and rattle free, as were all of my 80s-90s Camrys.
Quote:
Originally Posted by censusdata
It is AC's awful reputation in terms of reliability. The Toyo Camry doesn't look like a 1966 Mustang but sells great because it is considered to have iron clad reliability
I've got a 1991 Camry that has 260,000 miles and is going on its 4th president with few maintainence problems
I had a very good looking 1994 Oldsmobile Acheiva that had problem after problem after only 150,000 miles. It;s engine was also designed where even minor repairs HAD to be done at a GM dealership - even changing the spark plugs! Toyotas are more like the old Volkswagens: t car of the common man that is easy and cheap to repair with a solid, yet simple design
now aint that strange. americans are big and fat (1 in 3 obese). they like great big fat cars, but they like little bitty skinny women. to stand in front of them. whats up with that.
Japanese car quality is going down hill more and more as the years pass. In a few years they will be as bad as Korean cars. Buy American, I know no body can build a better car than us. The American car companies need to lengthen their warranties to inspire confidence.
I know... I have recently rented a 2008 Honda CR-V and a 2009 Toyota Avalon and the interior material quality is well below what it was on my 1980s-1990s Hondas and Toyotas. Alot of hard plastic, but I think the Avalon at least had a padded dash top. Most cars these days have that cheap hard plastic dash top.
Sad really... even my old 1981 Toyota Cressida had super high interior quality. Every interior panel was nicely padded. My 1991 Lexus LS400 has a nice quality interior... most every panel is padded. The newer ones have alot of hard plastic.
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