What is the best American car make, in your opinion? (trucks, sports car)
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Come again, Mr. Weasel? Are you really talking about Consumer Reports? CR doesn't accept advertising money from anyone, period. They have no advertisements other than for their own publications.
Bad word use there - they solicit "donations" from companies to help pay for their services, etc.
I had a 2006 Chrysler 300 with a Hemi. Most solidly built bullet proof car I have ever owned. Other will tell you Chrysler is crap.
I had a 2002 Monte Carlo SS. Had several problems. Chevy fixed every one without batting an eye. People will tell you GM is crap.
I currently have a 2010 Taurus SHO. I bought it used with 22K miles on it. It has a transmission problem (I would argue it has had from day one) that Ford refuses to repair because they say they cant duplicate. People will tell you Ford is the best of the three mentioned.
Point is that for me, the one I WOULDNT buy is a Ford. Others will ONLY buy a Ford given the choice.
Welcome to globalization and why should the bolded even be a concern if it’s being built in America?
Again remember the Almo when you hop behind the wheel of your Mexican built Chevy. (Sarcasm) poking fun at the Pearl Harbor comment.
Because for every 1 final assembly plant there are hundreds of plants suppliers own to build those parts. So if a part is built in the US then those jobs are in the US, too. If the part comes from overseas then that is where the jobs are. (And where the profit goes...)
BIG difference...
Let me be clear about my stance on this. I do not buy Asian products whenever possible. I do, however, buy Euro products. This is primarily due to my history of being in the auto business and seeing how those Asian countries have taken advantage of us and we're too stupid to do anything about it.
If it was fair competition then I would have no argument. The domestics and the Euro's have always had open markets between them and compete on a level playing field. That is not the case with the Asians as they close their markets to US and Euro imports, get loads of money pumped into their companies from the government to pay for new programs (Prius), and are generally slimy and crooked at every turn.
This is just one article that shows the difference in how certain companies operate:
Because for every 1 final assembly plant there are hundreds of plants suppliers own to build those parts. So if a part is built in the US then those jobs are in the US, too. If the part comes from overseas then that is where the jobs are. (And where the profit goes...)
I hate to break it to you, but not all profit goes back to GM head offices in De-toilet.
CR does not accept money from corporations, period. If they ever accepted so much as one dollar, or a free sample, they'd be instantly discredited.
That's the point. They are crooked as hell and hide under the shield of being a "non-profit" company.
(At least when it comes to cars, anyway.....)
How would you know, anyway? What experience do you have working with them? I spent several years working with directly those yahoos.
Unfortunately, even though their reports are statistically insignificant due to the tremendously small sample sizes they collect, it is still influential and therefore we had to try our best to increase our ratings with them. Problem is, they are not very forthcoming with the data unlike JD Power who will actually give you copies of every survey if you want them. With Consumer reports the more you give the more you get back, and the more "help" you might get. Get it?
Now maybe this was some rogue manager looking for a bribe...who knows. We obviously never said yes and cut a check to anyone to see who it would be payable to.
These reliability studies are a complete joke but I will say JD Power is at least impartial. (Unlike Consumer Reports who bribes companies to get better ratings. I was in the room when they bribed my boss when I was working at Ford Motor Co. They basically said if gave them more advertising money they would help us out with the ratings.)
I find that really disturbing. I do subscribe to CR and hope that is not a common practice.
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