[kaypurdue]

Nice loyalty.....

Oh dear, let me explain

I'm a contractor for VW/Audi. I'm not eligible to lease cars at the company's very favorable rates for employees, and they do not pay me enough to be able to purchase one of their cars. So I drive what I can afford, hence the 2002 Honda that averages 35 MPG (a necessity for a 38-mile one-way commute), which I purchased about a year before I started here.

I'm hoping within the next year or two to have enough bills paid off, and/or earn enough money to buy something newer.

[iamweasel]

Originally Posted by kaypurdue

Oh dear, let me explain

I'm a contractor for VW/Audi. I'm not eligible to lease cars at the company's very favorable rates for employees, and they do not pay me enough to be able to purchase one of their cars. So I drive what I can afford, hence the 2002 Honda that averages 35 MPG (a necessity for a 38-mile one-way commute), which I purchased about a year before I started here.

I'm hoping within the next year or two to have enough bills paid off, and/or earn enough money to buy something newer.

That makes sense - there is nothing wrong with that scenario. I have the same opinion on their side, too, where if they expect you to drive their cars then they need to give you a full time job with them.

I've had contract employees working for me in the past and I could care less what they drive in that situation. The ones that I've hired full-time, though, I made clear that when it came time for them to get another car I strongly suggest they get one from our company.

BTW, VW has at least 2 cars you can afford which are cheaper than a Civic: The Beetle and the Rabbit. The Jetta is close, too.

[Virginia1]

With my fiance living in Flint and her father a retired GM man I really have to keep my opinion to myself about the unions. I agree I think in the past they had a purpose, and I assume that purpose was to make sure the big bad boss was giving them a fair shake on wages and benefits. I have never worked for a union and really would not want to. Remember the UPS strike a while back, well I took a part time gig during the Christmas rush to the help the driver, we talked about the strike, and during our conversation, I assumed that during the strike he was getting decent pay from the union while he was out of work.....well to my surprise he was only getting $50 a week. I may be naive about what the union does for you, but who gets all the union dues and what do they do with it. I guess I come from a school of thought that you have to look out for yourself, do your own retirement, educate yourself as best as you can, be flexible in time of crisis, don't depend on government and you won't blame them when things go wrong, if you want to do depend on government go to Cuba and see what happens with ya when you complain.

[kaypurdue]

...they do not pay me enough to be able to purchase one of their cars...

Let me rephrase... they do pay me pretty decently, but I have a number of other things on my budget plate that take priority before buying a car. Namely, my husband is currently unemployed, we have a lot of debt (five credit cards... life came at us from all directions for a couple years), and I have to pay full cost for my health insurance (no dental or vision). We live in a tiny apartment and both drive used cars... he drives an "American" vehicle, a 1998 Cavalier, but I have no idea where it was actually made. We're workin' on it, and getting by.

There, that should boost my job security a bit

[bobbyo]

You won't have a problem driving an import in Michigan, just don't think your parking that thing in my driveway!

[M TYPE X]

VW/Audi North America HQ in Auburn Hills has a lot of non-VW vehicles in the lot. A lot of these people are transplants, not lifers, like my aunt at Ford (until she accept the early retirement offer).

For those of you with inquisitive minds: the Shell station wash in Schaumburg, across from Motorola HQ, is bad. The roller fell on my car, trashed the hatch assembly, and shattered the entire rear glass. I had just picked up my girlfriend at O'Hare, flying in from Japan, but no one was in the rear "seat."

Never had a problem with conveyor washes with rollers/brushes. The $1 wash in Troy, Michigan on Maple Road is great. However, I'm scarred for life now, so it's do-it-yourself wash bays and/or automated touchless washes now for me and my "luxury import."

I like my summers at the lake, winters at the ski area, rocking down I-696, and of course eating at Big Boy more than anyone else I know.
I don't like Michigan's awful economy, asinine union workers (unions in theory are great, but in practice ... see the above stories), and I don't think I would ever marry someone from Michigan.

And I sure as hell am not going to buy a GM/Ford/Chrysler product because the neighbors "approve" only of them.
I am aware that imports offer less sporty type cars than they used to; they know produce Oldsmobile-type sedans and vans
made in Middle America for Middle Americans. Nissan and Toyota do it better than Chevrolet and Chrysler, to boot.

[AussieMale]

As a motor mechanic by trade i must say that the Japanese do a very good job in building cars ,when you compare them to most local built cars even here down under.
When i was still learning at collage one of my teachers worked for GM over here which is called GMH.

1 ) hope to hell your new car came off the line on a thursday afternoon he said.
we asked why,
2 ) It takes 3 days from start to finish to build a car back in them days so that ment it hit the line on a tuesday to be a thursday car.
3 ) If it was started on a monday you had many problems fixed under warranty , cuz monday is the start of the week n people in general are lazy till they get into the swing of things.
4 ) If it was started on a wednesday that ment it was rushed on a friday afternoon so everyone could get the hell out of there for the weekend.
5 ) Same problems if there were public holidays around , more warranty

It is my humble opinion that makes or breaks a car company & thats why ill stick to fully imported built cars only , as they dont appear to have these kinds of problems n take pride in there workmanship.

Im not sure if its to late for the local car manufactures or its just to hard to turn things around , we are having same kind of problems over here with layoffs as well.

[riario]

Japanese auto makers do not have to pay the taxes, import, selling, manufacturing costs here that U.S. automakers have to. They make their money here and take it home, pay workers less and therefore can sell for less.

Regardless of who made what part, U.S. auto companies cannot sell in certain foreign countries and if they can, pay hugh fees. They make some money there and have to leave most of it there.

Foreign autos have just as many problems, recalls, etc. as U.S. companies, you just don't hear about it. They have to notify owners by mail and not through the news.

Seriously, this is a free country and you are entitled to buy what you what here, as opposed to say, Japan, but the information people are getting or wanting to hear about parts made here or there and there not being a "true American car", is crap. If you are going to use that as an excuse, you need to do more homework.

[avalon]

Actually, people who drive Ford, GM, and Chrysler vehicles should be embarrassed. I drive a Toyota everywhere and am proud of it. Until those American car companies "get it", they will continue to loss market share until there's so little left of it that Toyota or Honda buys them out. Honestly, whenever I see someone driving in a Ford Fusion or Chevy Tahoe, or Chrysler Mini-van, I have to wonder what the level of mentality is of the driver. Oh wait a minute, I forgot, you see most of the employees of these companies drive the brands they make (I think it's some union rule).

[iamweasel]

Originally Posted by avalon

Actually, people who drive Ford, GM, and Chrysler vehicles should be embarrassed. I drive a Toyota everywhere and am proud of it. Until those American car companies "get it", they will continue to loss market share until there's so little left of it that Toyota or Honda buys them out. Honestly, whenever I see someone driving in a Ford Fusion or Chevy Tahoe, or Chrysler Mini-van, I have to wonder what the level of mentality is of the driver. Oh wait a minute, I forgot, you see most of the employees of these companies drive the brands they make (I think it's some union rule).

Funny how two of the three vehicles you singled out (Tahoe/Fusion) have been recently cited as best in their class - over the counterparts from Honda/Toyota. (From influential publications like Consumer Reports, JD Power, Strategic Vision, etc.)

The Tahoe, is by far, an exponentially better vehicle than the Sequoia. (Which, by the way, is the same truck they came out with in 2001. Don't we like to bash the American companies for letting products get stale?) There is a reason the Tahoe outsells the Sequoia by a 10 to 1 margin.

The Fusion outscored the Camry and Accord in their most recent quality surveys, enough so that it ended up on the cover of Consumer Reports. It also won independant road test comparisons by Car and Driver and Road and Track.

So tell me, what don't they "get" about those vehicles? I wouldn't be cought dead in a Camry or Accord as they are mommy-mobiles to me. The Fusion has some style at least. If you want to make that arguement at least pick on some vehicles that deserve it.