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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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#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.
#6466 of 7263
Re: If GM gets rid of Buick... [captain2] by cooterbfd
Oct 24, 2008 (1:02 pm)
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Replying to: captain2 (Oct 24, 2008 5:55 am)

If GM does away with the Buick nameplate in NA, that's one thing, but what makes you think they would be Chinese built if they keep the nameplate here?? The next gen Lacrosse will be built here on the Epsillon II platform.
 
I agree with the issue of Mexican built cars, but not Canada, for the simple reason that while neither country has their own auto mfr., at least Canadians BUY our cars, while the old Beetle was for years Mexico's most popular car.
 
As far as the money the Big 3 spend on benefits, the new contract signed makes the difference in costs under $700 per car, so close that Toyota is looking at ways of cutting costs in this country to keep their advantage. Imagine that; the union negotiates AWAY something, and automatically non-union companies look to take things away.

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