Buying American Cars What Does It Mean?

7263 messages, Last post on May 27, 2009 at 4:31 AM

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What is this discussion about? Car Buying

With parts coming from everywhere, does "Buying American" have much meaning anymore? Is quality and price the bottom line?

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#3818 of 7263 Ford name changes by shadow99688 Feb 25, 2007 (3:25 pm)
Ford 500 isn't selling so ford is changing its name to Taurus Ford Freelander also isn't selling so ford is changing name to Taurus X. The sad part is there are people that will buy these vehicles because of the new name. Replies to this message: rockylee (Feb 25, 2007 5:00 pm) kc_flynn (Feb 25, 2007 5:56 pm) shadow99688 (Feb 25, 2007 10:47 pm) gee35coupe (Mar 03, 2007 9:17 am)
#3819 of 7263 Re: Ford name changes [shadow99688] by rockylee Feb 25, 2007 (5:00 pm)
Replying to: shadow99688 (Feb 25, 2007 3:25 pm) Yep....... Rocky
#3820 of 7263 Back in the 1980s by marsha7 Feb 25, 2007 (5:11 pm)
when I was in Detroit, where EVERYONE is familiar with the auto industry, even little old ladies on canes and crutches, I somehow remember a man in his 60s telling me that he would only own a Ford product like the Maverick, because of its inherent built-in quality (back when American cars were approaching junk even as a boat anchor) but could NEVER bring himself to buy a Mercury Comet because they were poorly made and had no quality whatsoever...if ever there were two cars that truly looked identical except for minor grille and taillight changes (maybe speedometer, too), these two cars looked the same even to non-car people... My reason for bringing that up is that all they have to do is change the name, and many folks who owned a Taurus years ago and were pleased with it will be very happy to have a chanve to, once again, buy a new Taurus and make themselves happy... To us automotive mavens here at edmunds, we laugh and mock a simple name change because we see right thru it...but when 16 million cars (plus or minus) are sold yearly, there are many folks who cannot tell a V6 from a V8, do not know what a turbocharger is, but can tell red from yellow from blue, and as long as it comes in blue, they will buy it, esp if it reminds them of their Taurus of years back... To you and me the name change is an insult...but then I never bought a pet rock or a chia pet, but they sold millions...hence, PT Barnum still lives among us, and he is working for FoMoCo as we speak...
#3821 of 7263 Re: Ford name changes [shadow99688] by kc_flynn Feb 25, 2007 (5:56 pm)
Replying to: shadow99688 (Feb 25, 2007 3:25 pm) The decision by Ford to rename the Five Hundred the Taurus is one of the stupidest things I've heard coming out of the auto industry in a long time. The most recent generation of Taurus was synonymous with rental cars and poor resale value. The Five Hundred is a good car! Granted the styling is bland (it's certainly not ugly), but it's huge, safe, and other than the mediocre power, has gotten solid reviews. Ford just needs to put 3.5 engine in the Five Hundred instead of the 3.0 with 203 horses. Replies to this message: shadow99688 (Feb 25, 2007 10:47 pm) gee35coupe (Mar 03, 2007 9:17 am)
#3822 of 7263 Re: Ford name changes [kc_flynn] by shadow99688 Feb 25, 2007 (10:47 pm)
Replying to: kc_flynn (Feb 25, 2007 5:56 pm) ford dealer here has had new ford 500 die on test drive, I took one for test drive and it was garbage , brand new car and check engine light wouldn't shut off and pulled really hard to the right every time the brakes where applied. Replies to this message: gee35coupe (Mar 03, 2007 9:17 am)
#3823 of 7263 Re: Ford name changes [shadow99688] by gee35coupe Mar 03, 2007 (9:17 am)
Replying to: shadow99688 (Feb 25, 2007 10:47 pm) While I would never own one, I like the 500. I'm sure ever new car dealer has had a few cars die on them during test drives. While I was Accord hunting, there was a brand new EX-L NAV 5MT that wouldn't start. Granted the car had been sitting on the lot forever because no one wanted a NAV 5MT Accord, but that's beside the point.
#3824 of 7263 It'll All End In Tears by alltorque Mar 03, 2007 (11:42 am)
Over here in Europe we've seen Daewoo cars now being re-badged as Chevrolet with their own Chevy showrooms, (usually attached to a Vauxhall showroom. Vauxhall is main GM brand in UK = Opel in Europe). Quite why that was done is a mystery. Chevrolet really has no history here - other than for us petrol heads and we don't buy Daewoo's. So, could this have been a cynical ploy to try and regain the lead from Toyota ? Daewoo now = Chevy = GM sales ? 'Time the General stopped faffing about and addressed his real problems..........poor design, poor execution, poor materials, too many brands/models.variants and overmanning. Some dear soul in an earlier reply suggested that it was time for your government to help out GM. Why for heavens sake ? The Japanese manufacturers are in the ascendant now but, the ones to watch are the Chinese. Just scratching about at present but they have a potentially huge internal market that will give them a real edge on economies of scale. Want to do your children a real favour ? Get them to start learning Mandarin. Replies to this message: gee35coupe (Mar 03, 2007 7:21 pm) grbeck (Mar 05, 2007 11:09 am)
#3825 of 7263 Re: It'll All End In Tears [alltorque] by gee35coupe Mar 03, 2007 (7:21 pm)
Replying to: alltorque (Mar 03, 2007 11:42 am) Yeah....The Chinese are gonna rule the world one day. But then again, a mediocum of wealth reaching the masses there may collapse that communist government...Wait wrong topic. My bad.
#3826 of 7263 Re: It'll All End In Tears [alltorque] by grbeck Mar 05, 2007 (11:09 am)
Replying to: alltorque (Mar 03, 2007 11:42 am) GM wants to make Chevrolet a global nameplate...rebadging Daewoo's as Chevrolets will enable GM to compete at the bottom of the market, while "protecting" Vauxhall and Opel. While in the United Kingdom, I watched an episode of Top Gear where the reviewers were performing some sort of ridiculous test with a Chevrolet Lacetti (spelling?). I quickly got the impression that the Lacetti, and Chevrolets in general, are not looked upon favorably by the British.
#3827 of 7263 alltorque by marsha7 Mar 05, 2007 (11:28 am)
I would not rush to learn Mandarin, altho one should keep their eyes open...in the 1980s, when Japan was buying up everything, (aka, Japan, Inc.), the word was for everyone to learn Japanese as we would eventually become a virtual colony...and then 1989, Poof!!!, the Nikkei Dow fell from 40,000 to around 17,000, Japan liquidated many of their US holding for 10 cents on the dollar, and it took over a decade and a half for them to come back in terms of national wealth, altho their auto industry continues to grow here... While I do not wish economic hardship on anyone, when (not if) the US suffers their next major recession, and when unemployment breaks 10%, I truly believe that the Chinese will suffer 10 times as much as WalMart will suffer, and makers like Mercedes, Audi, Lexus and Infiniti will suffer greatly...hence, while learning Mandarin, like any foreign language, is always a worthy endeavor, I question whether China will really own the world, because their entire economy's growth is a reflection of ours...when we sneeze, I believe they will suffer the flu and pneumonia, from an economic standpoint... Spanish may be better, simply because the foreigners you will most likely interact with over here will be Hispanic, legal or illegal... Just some random thoughts... Replies to this message: scape2 (Mar 13, 2007 4:47 pm) rockylee (Mar 13, 2007 6:12 pm) kdhspyder (Mar 14, 2007 8:18 am) and 2 more...