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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#6649 of 7263 Prius Owners, "The caring crowd" by motorcity6 Dec 03, 2008 (10:05 am)
With gas $4++++, the eco crowd was paying big bucks to "feel good", shelling out 3-6 grand over MSRP just to drive the second ugliest car ever made..Now with petrol under $2.00, your local Toy dealer will kiss your backside and throw in the store to get them off the lot. Some owners are probably upside down 10 grand, and probably not too happy, wishing they had bought the 30mpg car with some comfort and lots of protection from SUV collisions..The Kool-Aid crowd no doubt stepped up to plate and shelled out hard earned bucks to drive an Asian rickshaw.. Awful cold here in Fla, maybe we should start up our big internal combustion engines and heat up the air... Don't worry about all the Global weather worries, for Mother Nature trumps Politics every time.. You crave a retro-car, gas loving critter, great time to buy. Looking for a 2005 LS V-8, 2005 T-Bird or 2007 Dodge Hemi wagon, under 10k miles..May unload the 2006 GPGT for I am running out garage space at 3.. I was impressed after reading several articles on the Chevy COBALT SS with the 260 hp 4-banger, it would probably cream my Bullitt..Maybe a 4dr w/sunroof for around 19k... Hope everyone is enjoying the Big3 bailout hearing before Congress, lots of hot air from our esteemed Congressional experts, after everyone gets through belittling Detroit and scoring points with their constituents with their screaming babble over business plans which our $160,000yr folks really don't understand, they will dole out the cash, pat themselves on the back and hit the UAW up for more contributions.. Folks, it's a sad day for American industry when our life takes a big hit and the Motorcity has to agree to build crap that nobody wants except the Kool-Aid crowd.. Replies to this message: circlew (Dec 03, 2008 1:30 pm)
#6650 of 7263 cooter by marsha7 Dec 03, 2008 (10:06 am)
"...someone in India doing legal work (I don't care how sublime it is) somehow is just plain WRONG. I mean, if they miss something YOU are still liable, as you would sign off on their work..." I must be missing your point...if someone in India is doing legal work for a client, I am not going near it with a ten foot pole...I don't care what THEY miss, as I am not liable for any of it...that is the other side of outsourcing---caveat emptor... How much did I miss your point??? Remember, I do bankruptcy and personal injury...bankruptcy is a one-to-one type of situation, often highly emotional for the client...I do not see that being done in India, and besides, if you have ever dealt with Indians or Pakistanis (try 7-Eleven) there is a culture barrier where they cannot come across as sympathetic...plus, their cultures still see women as low class chattel, and their condescending attitude to women is, frankly, repulsive to me... Replies to this message: steve_ (Dec 03, 2008 10:53 am)
#6651 of 7263 Re: cooter [marsha7] by steve_ HOST Dec 03, 2008 (10:53 am)
Replying to: marsha7 (Dec 03, 2008 10:06 am) My understanding is that it's not the client interaction or even pulling simple boilerplate together. It's trying to find out how the court would handle a certain situation and having the Indian lawyer research past cases and write up a memo. It's up to the lawyer in the states to interpret the memo, review the work and apply the research to the case in the office. And you get the memo for lots cheaper than having an associate do it. The HP story rings true too - there's two HP engineers on my block. One deals with counterparts in India and Japan and the 12 hour time difference is a hassle. But a request gets emailed out and the next morning, there's some code in the inbox waiting to be reviewed. If it passes muster, it may go into the firmware of the printer under development. GM could have a design group sending off problems to China or India - like, how do we make the Sierra 1500's drive train fit into a compact SUV and get a magic seat to fit. Then, if gas remained cheap, parts could be manufactured offshore for final assembly somewhere. Freight and currency issues will probably limit that. But all the paper stuff like dealer warranty claims could be processed offshore. Not to mention lots of engineering. There must be CAD stuff going on now involving engineers on different continents.
#6652 of 7263 Re: Big Day Coming Up!!!!!!!! [62vetteefp] by gagrice Dec 03, 2008 (12:59 pm)
Replying to: 62vetteefp (Dec 03, 2008 9:27 am) Hybrid buses not all that was expected. What they don't tell you is they cost about $300,000 more than a conventional bus. Most cities that have bought them are finding they Never pay back the higher cost. They would be better off with a CNG bus. Replies to this message: 62vetteefp (Dec 03, 2008 1:09 pm) gagrice (Dec 03, 2008 2:18 pm)
#6653 of 7263 Re: Big Day Coming Up!!!!!!!! [gagrice] by 62vetteefp Dec 03, 2008 (1:09 pm)
Replying to: gagrice (Dec 03, 2008 12:59 pm) What they don't tell you is they cost about $300,000 more than a conventional bus. Most cities that have bought them are finding they Never pay back the higher cost. Little closer to $100,000. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-01-21-masstransithybrids_N.htm Mass-transit systems across the USA are accelerating orders for diesel-electric hybrid buses, despite an extra cost of more than $100,000 per bus. Four U.S. cities recently ordered more than 1,700 hybrid buses, General Motors, one of two major manufacturers of hybrid bus systems, plans to announce today. The orders include 950 for Washington, D.C., 480 for Philadelphia and 300 for Minneapolis and St. Paul. Last month, New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority — which began experimenting with the buses in 1998 — ordered 850 with systems from GM competitor BAE Systems, MTA spokesman Charles Seaton said. Hybrids are becoming the buses of choice for public transit systems trying to improve efficiency and reduce environmental damage, despite the fact that better fuel mileage won't necessarily recoup the extra costs, according to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). "Hybrids would appear to be what's coming into favor," APTA President William Millar said. This was the analysis when gas was at $3. So perhaps at $5 it may break even or better? (not sure what diesel cost was but I assume the delta was comparable to gas) Replies to this message: gagrice (Dec 03, 2008 2:18 pm)
#6654 of 7263 Re: Big Day Coming Up!!!!!!!! [62vetteefp] by anythngbutgm Dec 03, 2008 (1:13 pm)
Replying to: 62vetteefp (Dec 03, 2008 9:27 am) And this one too Replies to this message: 62vetteefp (Dec 03, 2008 1:20 pm) circlew (Dec 03, 2008 1:34 pm) joshuag (Dec 04, 2008 1:11 am) and 37 more... m1miata (Dec 03, 2008 6:04 pm) anythngbutgm (Dec 04, 2008 9:14 am) andre1969 (Dec 04, 2008 9:17 am) 62vetteefp (Dec 04, 2008 10:53 am) and 1 more...
#6655 of 7263 Re: Big Day Coming Up!!!!!!!! [anythngbutgm] by 62vetteefp Dec 03, 2008 (1:20 pm)
Replying to: anythngbutgm (Dec 03, 2008 1:13 pm) 20 mpg city and highway. Pretty amazing vehicle. Too bad gas is going below $1 again. Paid $1.50 today. Hey thats a good question. When do we think gas will go below $1? Many here said it would be up to $5 by now. Replies to this message: circlew (Dec 03, 2008 1:34 pm) joshuag (Dec 04, 2008 1:11 am) gagrice (Dec 04, 2008 5:57 am) and 36 more... m1miata (Dec 03, 2008 6:04 pm) anythngbutgm (Dec 04, 2008 9:14 am) andre1969 (Dec 04, 2008 9:17 am) 62vetteefp (Dec 04, 2008 10:53 am) gagrice (Dec 05, 2008 7:42 am)
#6656 of 7263 Re: Prius Owners, "The caring crowd" [motorcity6] by circlew Dec 03, 2008 (1:30 pm)
Replying to: motorcity6 (Dec 03, 2008 10:05 am) Now with petrol under $2.00, your local Toy dealer will kiss your backside and throw in the store to get them off the lot. Considering GM sales in November during the Red Tag Event, I'll bet we will see a lot of smooching with the customers in December for those trucks and SUV's hanging around the lots! There are thousands of 'em just rotting!! Regardless of the vehicles produced by the D3(or 2 or 1), if they are crap going forward, people will never buy them. If they are class leaders in build quality and dependability and are super efficient, they will sell. Hybrid or ICE. Regards, OW
#6657 of 7263 Re: Big Day Coming Up!!!!!!!! [62vetteefp] by circlew Dec 03, 2008 (1:34 pm)
Replying to: 62vetteefp (Dec 03, 2008 1:20 pm) $12-15K premium for the Hybrid Escalade. Like I said, very bad value proposition. The thing will be rusting before break even is reached at $5.00/gallon. Nice attempt but it's still an overblown Tahoe. Regards, OW Replies to this message: joshuag (Dec 04, 2008 1:11 am) gagrice (Dec 04, 2008 5:57 am) andre1969 (Dec 04, 2008 6:09 am) anythngbutgm (Dec 04, 2008 6:14 am) and 2 more... bumpy (Dec 04, 2008 8:38 am) and 31 more...
#6658 of 7263 Re: Big Day Coming Up!!!!!!!! [62vetteefp] by gagrice Dec 03, 2008 (2:18 pm)
Replying to: 62vetteefp (Dec 03, 2008 1:09 pm) Last month, New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority — which began experimenting with the buses in 1998 — ordered 850 with systems from GM competitor BAE Systems, MTA spokesman Charles Seaton said. That's buying American for you. Isn't BAE a large British company? And Bloomberg is wanting to raise taxes as the city is going broke. This whole country is run by lunatics.