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Buying American Cars What Does It Mean?

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

You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires

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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#6456 of 7263
Re: american car companies' lousy performance [sidious6688] by lemko
Oct 24, 2008 (5:51 am)
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Replying to: sidious6688 (Oct 23, 2008 4:20 pm)

My experience is the polar opposite of yours. I've had excellent experience with American cars - especially Buick and Cadillac. Why should I abandon them for the unknown (Japanese) especially when I find the Asian offerings bland, soulless, grotesque, or simply alien?
#6457 of 7263
Re: If GM gets rid of Buick... [cooterbfd] by captain2
Oct 24, 2008 (5:55 am)
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Replying to: cooterbfd (Oct 23, 2008 2:26 pm)

the Big 3, who are downsizing to the equivalent of their market share, yet still employ SEVERAL TIMES more people in this country than than the foreign companies,
you know this may all be true, it may indeed take 10 UAW employees to do what one employee can do in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and Alabama (to name a few) - a really sad commentary on an industry that the US (and the so called Big 3) dominated not that many years ago. Sure all those ludricrous pensions and free healthcare that the US makers count - for whatever portion of the overall economic pie that really is BUT when GM, for example, is spending $2500.00 PER CAR to fund these programs and that also happens to be about what they lose on every car they sell - there is something definitely wrong with this picture.
Ford, closes dozens of plants in recent years, buys out the contracts of many of those employed at these plants, so they too can reap the rewards of these negotiated pension programs AFTER they spend their unemployment checks that you and I both funded. And after they do all that to us, then they seek some justification for injecting so more pesos down south of the border? Gimme a break.
Ford is a Mexican car manufacturer, Buick will shortly be a Chinese one and then, they expect me to spend my hard earned $ on generally inferior products, watch that money disappear into other economies - and all because the brand names don't happen to end in a vowel??? Thanks anyway, I think I know a way to get some real value for my money and most importantly put more of that money back into the pockets of genuine Americans - where it belongs.
#6458 of 7263
Re: If GM gets rid of Buick... [imidazol97] by lemko
Oct 24, 2008 (5:56 am)
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Replying to: imidazol97 (Oct 24, 2008 3:04 am)

Heck, if they want to sell 'em here they should BUILD 'EM HERE! That goes for the Domestics as well. I'll believe Toyota really cares about America when they build a huge car plant in North Philly.
#6459 of 7263
Re: If GM gets rid of Buick... [tlong] by circlew
Oct 24, 2008 (10:07 am)
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Replying to: tlong (Oct 23, 2008 4:44 pm)

That's because the American makers are far less efficient with labor (and THAT is largely due to the union). What company can long endure while not trying to be efficient when its competitors are doing better? Do you really believe that maintaining inefficiencies is the path to prosperity for this country?
 
Well said...and you can't buy your way into prosperity on credit. Things balance out. The big 3 or undergoing the re-balancing that is a long time coming.
 
Regards,
OW
#6460 of 7263
Re: If GM gets rid of Buick... [tlong] by circlew
Oct 24, 2008 (10:09 am)
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Replying to: tlong (Oct 23, 2008 9:28 pm)

However, some articles say the formula is flawed and favors domestic makes.
 
Sounds like the formula is as complex as the risk aversion on CDS's!
 
Regards,
OW
#6461 of 7263
Re: american car companies' lousy performance [lemko] by fezo
Oct 24, 2008 (10:54 am)
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Replying to: lemko (Oct 24, 2008 5:51 am)

I've said it before and I'll say it again - with the kind of experience you've had with American cars you'd be nuts to buy anything else. Of course it doesn't hurt that your tastes run exactly where American cars excel.
 
Last Caddy i drove was my dad's last DeVille. Probably a 2001. I actually enjoyed that one. Had that one ended up as dad's last car I probably would have bought it just to have his last car. Unfortunately he went from that to a Buick Century that he never liked and didn't do much for me either. It got turned back in about a year ago.
#6462 of 7263
Re: american car companies' lousy performance [fezo] by lemko
Oct 24, 2008 (11:02 am)
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Replying to: fezo (Oct 24, 2008 10:54 am)

It would be quite a drop from going to a Cadillac DeVille to a recent Buick Century. Recent Centuries had such austere interiors, they made a 1960s Chevrolet Biscayne look luxurious in comparison.
 
The Buick LaCrosse was a vast improvement over the Century/Regal. I've seen recent pictures of the next LaCrosse based on the Invicta concept that makes me want to consider a LaCrosse for myself if my '88 Park Ave ever dies. So far, I'm extremely happy with my new Cadillac DTS Performance.
#6463 of 7263
Factory Closures? by lemko
Oct 24, 2008 (11:03 am)
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Not in America, but China of all places!
 
http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/sns-ap-as-china-factory-woes,0,5598442.story
#6464 of 7263
Re: american car companies' lousy performance [fezo] by andre1969
Oct 24, 2008 (11:23 am)
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Replying to: fezo (Oct 24, 2008 10:54 am)

Unfortunately he went from that to a Buick Century that he never liked and didn't do much for me either. It got turned back in about a year ago.
 
I think that's the kind of car where, if I needed a car and the price was right, I'd be willing to put up with it. A few years back, when my Dad was looking for a car, and we found this used '03 Regal LS for something like $10,995, I told him that if he didn't buy it, I would! I mean, I still prefer my Intrepid to it, but at the time the Trep was pushing about 86,000 miles, while this thing only had 19,500 on it.
 
I think Buick firmed up the suspension a bit on the Regal though. I've never driven a Century from the '97-05 generation, but I heard they're really sloppy and vague.
 
Dad doesn't drive a whole lot, and after 5 years, I think he FINALLY hit the 50,000 mile mark. The last time I saw him, for some reason he was complaining about the sloppy build quality of the car, like how the panels fit together and such. I didn't say anything but here I'm thinking wait...you've had this car for HOW long now, and you're just noticing that?! I was tempted to ask him if he's started hanging out with Honda and Toyota owners, because that was the first time I ever heard him mentioning build quality/fit and finish on a car!
 
Still, he's happy with it, and doesn't regret buying it. I think it was actually a pretty decent car that was "almost there". If GM had just paid a bit more attention to build quality, and maybe threw an extra 50 bucks per car at the interior, they could've had a really nice car.
#6465 of 7263
Re: american car companies' lousy performance [andre1969] by fezo
Oct 24, 2008 (12:02 pm)
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Replying to: andre1969 (Oct 24, 2008 11:23 am)

The Century wasn't awful but it just cried out for better attention in the interior. Dad wanted something smaller than the DeVilles he'd been leasing and after a long time poking finally pulled the trigger on the Century and almost immediately regretted it. Until he stopped driving he'd keep saying how he should have bought that last DeVille at the end of the lease. Oh, well.
 
He probably would have liked the LaCrosse which was just coming out.

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