[Bydand]

Originally Posted by daddythreepointoh

This is going to make people mad, but it just seems to me that Michiganders have more "our foreign car sucked and our American car runs like a top" stories than I have ever, EVER heard anywhere in the country.

Must be a coincidence.

Must be, I lived in Maine for 20 years and that is where most of my good luck and that of my friends have been when it comes to vehicles. You must not spend time where people and/or the environment work their vehicles. Go to Northern Maine and 90% of the vehicles you see on the road are from a domestic automaker, more so than here in Michigan.

[daddythreepointoh]

Originally Posted by Bydand

Must be, I lived in Maine for 20 years and that is where most of my good luck and that of my friends have been when it comes to vehicles. You must not spend time where people and/or the environment work their vehicles. Go to Northern Maine and 90% of the vehicles you see on the road are from a domestic automaker, more so than here in Michigan.

I've just spent time where people drove their vehicles....ALOT. And that was my honest experience...all my life, and also with whomever, over the years, I have talked cars with.

[PhilJohnson]

The 70s. Funny thing most people forgot that the Big Three made cars since then. Most of the bad rap came from half hashed together small cars and smog controls that didn't work right from the factory. I found most big 70s era domestics are just as reliable as anything else from other decades. Heck my 77 Ford F-100 went 260,000 before the transmission gave up the ghost. Personally I think most foreign cars are over-rated and I get tired of hearing about the Japanese and their mythical quality. I have seen more 90s era Toyota Tracels languishing on the back lots of dealerships with blown out motors at low miles than any other car. How about the recall that Toyota put out for 95-2000 Tacomas for rusted frames? Heck you go anywhere where there is salt and it is mighty tough to find a foreign pickup that is older than a 95 that isn't busted in half. I think the quality is more on perception than actuallity. People expect a foreign car to be good so they gloss over little flaws and sometimes big ones. I had a fella tell me once that the only thing that went out on his 2 year old Toyota was the head. Dealer told him it was perfectly normal to replace a head at 36,000 miles. I have heard stories about dealers fixing things and not charging owners for the repairs so they don't tarnish the Japanese image of quality (not a bad idea imho). I have heard people rag on the Pontiac Vibe while others praise the Toyota Matrix (same car different trim and grill). I have had the worst luck with Mistubishi. Other end of the foreign scale was a little Suzuki Swift I had with 225,000 miles on it. Great little car, easy to work on too. Foreign cars are for city slickers who only have to go 10-20 miles one way to get to anywhere. Almost every rural area I have been to including the one I live in domestics out number the foriegn jobers two to one.

[Dr.Jim]

hmmm.....IMHO American cars just simply arent as stylish, and dont drive as well as the european cars.
America loves plastic interiors.

Whats interesting is that take Jeep for example,....the Jeep Grand Cherokee that is sold overseas has a completely revamped, more upscale interior so it will sell in the overseas market. Ofcourse, we here in the USA do not get that option,......we get the typical: plastic.

Ofcourse,...please....this is just my opinion regarding style,......havent been much for american cars in the 30 years I've been driving.
I will say this though, I drive a Jeep wrangler. Its the only vehicle I know of (shy of a Defender) that does what it does as well. Hate the plastic,....love the capabilities. It is my 3rd wrangler.
Also had a BMW X5, which simply drove better than any american made SUV. A VW, which was great, and my first car a 1971 Triumph Spitfire,....well....it was "fun"....

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Dr.Jim

hmmm.....IMHO American cars just simply arent as stylish, and dont drive as well as the european cars.
America loves plastic interiors.

Whats interesting is that take Jeep for example,....the Jeep Grand Cherokee that is sold overseas has a completely revamped, more upscale interior so it will sell in the overseas market. Ofcourse, we here in the USA do not get that option,......we get the typical: plastic.

Ofcourse,...please....this is just my opinion regarding style,......havent been much for american cars in the 30 years I've been driving.
I will say this though, I drive a Jeep wrangler. Its the only vehicle I know of (shy of a Defender) that does what it does as well. Hate the plastic,....love the capabilities. It is my 3rd wrangler.
Also had a BMW X5, which simply drove better than any american made SUV. A VW, which was great, and my first car a 1971 Triumph Spitfire,....well....it was "fun"....

What material do you think the interiors of foreign cars are made of? Or that upscale Jeep Grand Cherokee? It's all plastic dude. PVC, Polycarbonate, Polypropylene, Polyurethane, etc..

Even wood grain interior is just thin layers of wood molded over plastic.

[talbet]

Because when people who own Toyota or Honda's only put wipers and tires on their cars for 180 thousand miles people get sick of running their Chevy's into the garage for major repairs every year. Now who wants’ at car from a bankrupt company? GM was the master of planed obsolescence and it is coming back to haunt them. Greed is not good, temporary gains sometimes result in long term loss.

[talbet]

Originally Posted by Dr.Jim

hmmm.....IMHO American cars just simply arent as stylish, and dont drive as well as the european cars.
America loves plastic interiors.

Whats interesting is that take Jeep for example,....the Jeep Grand Cherokee that is sold overseas has a completely revamped, more upscale interior so it will sell in the overseas market. Ofcourse, we here in the USA do not get that option,......we get the typical: plastic.

Ofcourse,...please....this is just my opinion regarding style,......havent been much for american cars in the 30 years I've been driving.
I will say this though, I drive a Jeep wrangler. Its the only vehicle I know of (shy of a Defender) that does what it does as well. Hate the plastic,....love the capabilities. It is my 3rd wrangler.
Also had a BMW X5, which simply drove better than any american made SUV. A VW, which was great, and my first car a 1971 Triumph Spitfire,....well....it was "fun"....

I had a Triumph also, it was cute and fun but was the biggest pos I have ever had. I would never own another English car again. Garbage. Parts were hard to get and you sure need parts.

[wagonman76]

Stylish is an opinion. I happen to like the styling of the 80s and early 90s cars more than any others, particularly GM.

I work on my own vehicles so cost and availability of parts is my main concern. Years ago I checked rotors for a project. Brake rotors for a 90 Lumina and similar era Mitsubishi Eclipse are very similar dimensions, same brand. $70 for Eclipse, $15 for Lumina. A girl at work had a rotor chewed up on her Hyundai Sonata. NOBODY here had one, the nearest one was in Grand Rapids, and it was $90. Similar year GM car it would have been on the shelf at any local parts store and been a fraction of the price. Any time I have needed parts for my American cars, they are always on the shelf and are reasonable. I have always been told that foreign cars run longer without problems. But when they do break, good luck finding someone to fix them, and lube up and bend over.

Newer American cars it is probably mostly a wash because so many have foreign parts.

All my American cars have over 200k and I would drive them anywhere. I don't baby them, but I do maintain them.

[alliteration]

Thats weird, I drive a Neon, which is supposedly an "American" car and a majority of the major fixes I have had done on it, all of the parts had to be shipped in from Japan or Mexico or somewhere else, and its been ridiculously expensive. I will never buy another Chrysler vehicle. I have more than 180,000 on it, which I guess is alright. The only problem is, is that for the past 60,000 miles, I've pretty much been nickeled and dimed to death over this thing. Its still cheaper than buying a new vehicle, but its a major headache climbing into your car and just knowing that one of these days something else is just going to go wrong. Also, out of every Chrysler vehicle we've owned, my car has the most miles of any of them, all have pretty much died around 120k.

[malamute]

Buy American, you'll really be helping the citizens of Mexico a lot.

Mexico: General Motors' Production Plans Strong at Ramos Arizpe Plant

SALTILLO, Mexico — General Motors is making world headlines for its bankruptcy filing today, but here in Mexico, the plans for production of GM products make sunny news. Next month, GM will kick off production of the new Cadillac SRX here, primarily for U.S. buyers.