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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#6212 of 7263 Financial Advice by 1stpik Sep 25, 2008 (6:01 am)
"I would love to live in your neighborhood where value isn't important. How do I get into that country club?" Move to Texas. We never had a housing bubble here. We had a few slow years in '06 and '07, where inventory grew. But now everything's humming along. You can buy new tract homes here for $75 per sq. ft., and semi-custom homes for $100 per sq. ft. " the values fall on Crown Vics, as in three years time sold for less than a three year old Civic" I've said for years that if you're going to buy an American car, buy it used. If you're going to buy a Japanese car, buy it new. Resale value works in your favor in both cases. Although the liquidation prices that Ford and GM are offering now on new cars certainly make them attractive. Overall, the guiding factor should be how long you plan to keep the car. If it's only 2 or 3 years, reliability isn't really a factor, so buy whatever car you want. If it's longer than 5 years. the Japanes still have the edge in reliability and resale price. . Replies to this message: andres3 (Oct 03, 2008 2:16 pm)
#6213 of 7263 Resale value... by grbeck Sep 25, 2008 (6:27 am)
...is usually taken as a sign of a car's reliability and desirability. Cars that are wanted when new tend to be wanted when used. And if a car has a good reputation for long-term durability, people will seek it out as a used car. GM cars generally had good resale value in the 1950s and 1960s. Until the early 1970s, a used full-size Chevrolet was worth about $200 more than a comparable full-size Ford. And Cadillacs had the lowest depreciation rate of ANY car sold in America during the 1950s. In the 1960s, VW Beetles matched Cadillacs for depreciation rate, but Cadillacs still held their value best among all domestic cars. The Dodge Dart and Plymouth Valiant/Duster with the slant six and Torqueflite were also sought-after used cars. Today the domestic passenger cars are hammered by a reputation for subpar reliability and too many fleet sales to rental car companies. (Although I don't know if the Crown Victoria is a good example of poor resale value among domestic cars - Ford has not sold the car to retail customers for a few years, and those taxi and police cars that show up on the used car market have been pretty well thrashed. The Ford Panther cars have a very good reputation for durability.) But since this reputation tars some otherwise good cars, there are good values to be had among domestic used cars. This may have changed with the recent run-up in gas prices, but I do know that people did seek out the full-size GM trucks and SUVs on the used vehicle market. Replies to this message: dieselone (Sep 25, 2008 2:50 pm)
#6214 of 7263 Re: Quality [m1miata] by dave8697 Sep 25, 2008 (11:41 am)
Replying to: m1miata (Sep 24, 2008 9:09 pm) A lower resale value is a function of many things besides quality. MPG, fleet sales, miles on it, care it received, availability, to name a few. The recent drop in truck values since the $3-4 gas is not a reflection on quality. There are some that desire the cramped quarters and road noise of a 7 year old Civic and will pay $10k for one with 90,000 miles. Maybe a truck weighing twice as much and getting half the mileage can be had for less money with lower miles. They both have different values to two people who might commute vastly different amounts of miles. Replies to this message: grbeck (Sep 25, 2008 11:47 am) bumpy (Sep 25, 2008 11:58 am)
#6215 of 7263 Re: Quality [dave8697] by grbeck Sep 25, 2008 (11:47 am)
Replying to: dave8697 (Sep 25, 2008 11:41 am) That's why it's best to compare resale values of similar vehicles. What is the resale value of a seven-year-old Civic versus the resale value of seven-year-old Cavalier with the same mileage and in the same condition?
#6216 of 7263 Re: Quality [dave8697] by bumpy Sep 25, 2008 (11:58 am)
Replying to: dave8697 (Sep 25, 2008 11:41 am) So, the money saved by paying less for some gasoholic vehicle goes to Saudi Arabia or Venezuela instead of the pockets of an American.
#6217 of 7263 Re: Quality [lemko] by m1miata Sep 25, 2008 (12:01 pm)
Replying to: lemko (Sep 25, 2008 4:54 am) Oh really now, they can't sell them new for anything close to retail, as per the latest " Everyone Pays Employee Prices" ads, so how then the high resale values? I would say they are one notch above Ford and Chrysler, but we are talking pretty piss poor at that. If I was buying a new car from GM I would expect Hyundai like bargaining, if ya know what I mean. The fall continues.
#6218 of 7263 Re: CTS vs Honda??? [lemko] by m1miata Sep 25, 2008 (12:08 pm)
Replying to: lemko (Sep 25, 2008 5:27 am) I would always recommend paying cash. Well I suppose some zero finance + discount combo could be better, but remember the dealers have sharp pencils. For a Caddy, something like a three year old should be a bargain. Of course $8K or more off a new ones may be nice too, but do they deep discount the CTS like that? Maybe the DTS still has some super discounts. That is for those buy and hold people. Sell that Caddy in three years would hurt big time. Well most every car does, unless you are making money on a Mini Cooper sell. In this area of the country, that little car is like some sort of god, or something. Strange -- extremely strange what people pay. It is a nice little car, worth say $18K new, but that's about the extent of it. If only some US cars could catch on. I did hear of $59,999 Dodge Challengers -- true worth around $37K or less, I think it is. So yea, some other idiot deals going on with US cars too! Replies to this message: lemko (Sep 25, 2008 3:06 pm) m1miata (Sep 25, 2008 8:51 pm) andre1969 (Sep 26, 2008 5:10 am) andres3 (Oct 03, 2008 2:19 pm) fezo (Oct 03, 2008 2:47 pm)
#6219 of 7263 Re: Resale value... [grbeck] by dieselone Sep 25, 2008 (2:50 pm)
Replying to: grbeck (Sep 25, 2008 6:27 am) This may have changed with the recent run-up in gas prices, but I do know that people did seek out the full-size GM trucks and SUVs on the used vehicle market. Best deals out there. I bought my 07 Expedition for 1/2 what a new one cost. It drives nice, plenty of room, tows our boat/camper, and is a great family vehicle. 14-19mpg doesn't bother me. I had budgeted to spend $40-50k this year for a new SUV. The $20k I saved will buy a lot of gas for the SUV and the boat. During the week I might put 50 miles on it with just me in it. Most of the miles are on the weekends with the boat in tow and/or a weekends worth of gear to the lake where we keep our travel trailer.
#6220 of 7263 The Slide continues... by circlew Sep 25, 2008 (3:01 pm)
I would not feel comfortable buying a US car right now. Here is one development we might see repeated all over the US. Biggest Chevy Dealerships Close Down Scary stuff. Regards, OW Replies to this message: lemko (Sep 25, 2008 3:10 pm) lilengineerboy (Sep 25, 2008 5:43 pm) imidazol97 (Sep 25, 2008 5:51 pm) dave8697 (Sep 25, 2008 6:23 pm) lilengineerboy (Sep 26, 2008 3:43 am) and 49 more...
#6221 of 7263 Re: CTS vs Honda??? [m1miata] by lemko Sep 25, 2008 (3:06 pm)
Replying to: m1miata (Sep 25, 2008 12:08 pm) I keep my cars a lot longer than three years. I kept my last Cadillac - a 2002 Seville STS for nearly six years. The previous 1994 Cadillac DeVille for over eight. I intend on keeping my DTS Performance at least that long or longer. Come January, I'll have my 1989 Cadillac Brougham for 20 years. I've always wondered if these "high resale" cars are so fantastic, why is everybody willing to dump them in such a short time? Do they really believe their Camcord is all that or do they really secretly fear their ride will fall apart if they keep it longer? If a Camcord really is that awesome, I should get one to last for 50 years. And here's my oft-repeated answer to the whole resale value argument: Buying a car I don't like just because it has better resale value is still throwing money away in my book. Replies to this message: m1miata (Sep 25, 2008 8:51 pm) andre1969 (Sep 26, 2008 5:10 am) andres3 (Oct 03, 2008 2:19 pm) fezo (Oct 03, 2008 2:47 pm)