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Automotive News & Views Buying American Cars What Does It Mean?
7263 messages, Last post on May 27, 2009 at 4:31 AM
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With parts coming from everywhere, does "Buying American" have much meaning anymore? Is quality and price the bottom line?
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Replying to: lilengineerboy (Sep 24, 2008 7:24 pm) The US currently charges a 2.5% tariff on all (non-NAFTA) imported cars and a 25% tarif on all (non-NAFTA) imported light trucks. |
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Replying to: grbeck (Sep 26, 2008 7:23 am) I don't know, the dash on my '07 is 3 or 4 different colors, the panels are mismatched, you can see the mold release lines across the top of the IP over the radio. I would say it is average in fit and finish. If you are comparing an '03 Accord to an '03 Taurus, I am right there with you, but I think with the Fusion the gap shrank alot. The Accord still bests the domestic competition in handling, refinement and reliability. Eh reliability is arguable. Even handling, where the 3 year old Fusion was within 4 tenths of a second of the brand new just introduced boat from Honda, or where it beat it in skidpad lateral grip implies that its not the case. And no domestic company offers anything like the Accord V-6 six-speed coupe. Hmmm an oversized "personal luxury coupe" makes me think T-bird and Monte Carlo, but if people like 'em, its fine with me. they still rely on fleet sales for a fair amount of their total sales. Don't confuse "fleet sales" with "rental car fleets." Businesses buy them because they are inexpensive to buy and maintain, and they are reliable to support the needs of a business.
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Replying to: lilengineerboy (Sep 26, 2008 6:27 am) It amazes me how people complain about the dynamics of an automobile after they have purchased it - did you even bother to test drive the car? If so, then why did you buy it? Oh, and let me guess, you have the LX model with a slushbox and the hard as nails OEM Michelin tires that are good for only one thing - fuel economy. As for me, I thoroughly enjoy my 5-speed '03 Accord EX-L. It doesn't handle like my previous BMW, but then again, no other car that I have driven handles like a BMW. But it's not bad, and the 4 banger with a stick really give it some zip and make it more fun to drive. My parents Camry can't compare. And I get great gas mileage too. |
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Replying to: m1miata (Sep 26, 2008 7:56 am) Its price range was what got it in trouble. Every hot hatch would spank it, and then it couldn't compete with the 10k less expensive Scion tC, which by every account I have read, is no sport anything. The Prelude didn't fair much better and apparently got morphed into a Monte Carlo, I mean Honda Accord Coupe. At least the Civic SI is a legitimate entry, with a 6 spd and limited slip differential like the Nissan Sentra SER. |
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Replying to: m1miata (Sep 26, 2008 8:19 am) Yes because people in places other than the central coast love to drive RWD vehicles in this white stuff that falls from the sky, much like rain, in the months between November and March or so. Every rear drive platform that has come out in the last 4 years has an AWD version because people don't like RWD in snow. It wasn't that it was too expensive, its just that its a bad idea. |
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Replying to: pmomtv (Sep 26, 2008 9:28 am) Also, where are the inspiring US cars? SILENCE. There is nothing that inspires me and many others as well. I might as well buy an Asian brand because nothing the US makes comes close. The Malibu is the only sedan under $30K that competes. Other than that, boring cars. Regards, OW
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Replying to: dave8697 (Sep 26, 2008 8:59 am) The best part of that is come November, my responses, views and opinons are worth exactly the same as yours. You admit the media runs down the country. News reports News. They don't "run down" things, they say what happened. Fox, which isn't news, is more of a reality show following the President. Houses down by 20%? Miami is still double of the 1-1-01 values I am glad you are continuing to enjoy the bubble...what is the forclosure rate down there? On my map it doesn't look so good. I know someone who paid $22,200 for a new 1998 Civic with hand crank windows. I wouldn't admit that to too many people, or I would get them credit counseling. We woke up and realized we needed a military on 1-1-01. No, we didn't. If we had, the US citizens would've bought war bonds and supported their military just like every other war we needed to be involved in, instead of selling the country to China to pay for it.
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Replying to: pmomtv (Sep 26, 2008 9:28 am) Actually, it is an EX 4 door 5-speed manual with Bridgestones, and because I got $4000 off, I thought the deal would compensate for its lack of driving dynamics. My '93 Accord EX 4 door 5-speed manual was much more fun to drive. Was it a mistake? Definitely. Do I have buyers remorse? Certainly.
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Replying to: grbeck (Sep 26, 2008 9:00 am) Yeah, the great ideal of a forced submission to globalization, stigmatizing or even banning national and/or cultural pride and identity, an EU with an appetite for power wildly exceeding the original claimed intentions, ridiculous forced shame and guilt that enables low birthrates and unsustainable immigration levels - things are just awesome! Road to destruction before 1945, road to destruction after 1945 - no progress. " But such feelings are, in the long run, hardly productive." Neither is a submission to said powers, as today and tomorrow will prove for Europe...when the next war comes there. "Being jaded and skeptical generally comes from having too many things handed to a person" I don't know...the inheritance elite I see in society are generally pretty content and upbeat. But those seeing the true dumbed down dim future of the western world in light of globalization do not lack the right to be cynical. I'd also hardly pin it on "young" people, as the apple seldom falls far from the tree, and it is not the young who have created the irresponsible policies.
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Replying to: lilengineerboy (Sep 26, 2008 9:27 am) If you are comparing an '03 Accord to an '03 Taurus, I am right there with you, but I think with the Fusion the gap shrank alot. The Fusion and the Malibu are the best of the new domestics, and they still lag the Accord in interior fit-and-finish, including the dasbhoards. And my original post dealt with more than dashboard - or even interior - fit-and-finish. It dealt with the entire car, and, taken as a whole the Accord is still one of the gold standards for its class. lilengineerboy: Eh reliability is arguable. It's measurable, and according reliable sources like Consumer Reports and truedelta.com, the Accord still beats the Fusion and Malibu for reliability. lilengineerboy: Even handling, where the 3 year old Fusion was within 4 tenths of a second of the brand new just introduced boat from Honda, or where it beat it in skidpad lateral grip implies that its not the case. The Fusion has a very nice chassis and suspension tuning, but I've not seen an indication that, overall, it's better than the Accord in this area. And please note that the automotive history is littered with vehicles that were great on the skidpad and so-so in the real world (although, in all fairness, I wouldn't put the Fusion in the category). lilengineerboy: Hmmm an oversized "personal luxury coupe" makes me think T-bird and Monte Carlo, but if people like 'em, its fine with me. No Monte Carlo built in the 1990s or since the turn of this century could ever match the Accord coupe for refinement, performance and reliability. And, unlike the Monte Carlo, the Accord coupe BOOSTS the parent company's reputation. The Thunderbird? The Turbo Coupes and Super Coupes of the 1980s and 1990s were nice cars with very handsome styling. But they were aimed at a more upscale market segment than the Accord coupe. lilengineerboy: Don't confuse "fleet sales" with "rental car fleets." Businesses buy them because they are inexpensive to buy and maintain, and they are reliable to support the needs of a business. For the first half of the 2008 model year, the Fusion sold a total of 32.1 percent of its production to fleet customers. Of the 24,379 vehicles that went to fleets, 13,335 - or slightly more than half - went to rental car companies. In the Chevy camp, a total of 33 percent of Malibu production went to fleet customers. Of the 21,974 vehicles that went to fleet customers, 17,187, or well over half, went to rental car companies. Of total Accord production, a whopping 2.5 percent went to fleet customers. Yes, corporate customers and governments buying fleet vehicles will look at the factors you cited, although many of them - especially governments - are operating under "buy American" edicts. And that doesn't include transplant vehicles, so the playing field isn't entirely level. But rental car companies are looking for the deal, and nothing more. A few sales to rental car companies aren't a bad thing (it gets the product before potential customers), but done on a large scale, it's nothing more than a way to dump vehicles that retail customers don't want.
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