Reason being that a large percentage of American-brand cars just fucking suck. Ford and Chrysler come to mind. GM makes quality cars, though.Quote:
Originally Posted by sphere79
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Reason being that a large percentage of American-brand cars just fucking suck. Ford and Chrysler come to mind. GM makes quality cars, though.Quote:
Originally Posted by sphere79
Actually, a surprisingly large number of Japanese and German cars are being built over here (actually, mostly SUVs, but some cars).Quote:
Originally Posted by sphere79
As far as I know, BMW X5s, X3s, and Z4s are built in South Carolina. Nissan's trucks and SUVs are built here, Toyota is building Lexuses in Canada. Ford Focuses are built in Mexico. The old Camaro used to be built in Canada. Pontiac's new GTO is built in Australia by Holden, GM's Australian imprint.
Lexus, which is a Toyota brand that was designed and has been made exclusively for Americans, is now being reintroduced to Japan. (The Japanese used to buy our Lexuses badged as Toyotas. A lot of them would then replace the Toyota badges with Lexus badges, I guess because they liked the Japanese-Americanness of Lexus.)
Ford owns Volvo, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Land Rover. GM owns Saab, and has a good-sized stake in Subaru. Chrysler is owned by DaimlerChrysler which owns Mitsubishi.
Mazda may be a Japanese marque, but it's owned by Ford. Chrysler is an American marque, but it's owned by the Germans and they build the Crossfire in Germany (I believe), and a lot of new Chryslers are going to use something like 35%-50% Benz parts.
If you support unions, then you've got a reason to buy American. The Japanese car/truck manufacturers all use non-union plants in the south. The American car makers have enormous, stifling deals with the UAW.
Nationalism when it comes to cars is pretty stupid - most car manufacturers are really international.
The only car company I dislike is Volkswagen, because of the Hitler thing. Fuck the people's wagon.
No, Bandit, the 90s Toyota Corolla and the 90s Chevy/Geo Prizm were absolutely identical. They're the exact same car, made at the exact Toyota-GM joint venture plant, NUMMI.Quote:
If you say its identical. Corolla and Civic is more like identical in my opinion
I dont think anyone has brought this up yet but always do a price check at www.kbb.com and try not to pay anymore that whats listed. Blue book value is very legit and is what a lot of buyers use as their source for talking someone down from their asking price.
Bishop's got a point here...when I bought my car the asking price was $5000. KBB value on it was something like $3300. I didn't get it for 3300, but it did help bring it down.
On the flip side, the bank would only give me $3500 for the loan because of that, but the car really was worth more than 5k because of the work that was done to it. That sucked.
Good post, but a couple points. Mitsu isnt owned by DCX, they have a stake in the company, and are planning to share some platforms, but Mistsubishi is still on thier own.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stone
Most Car companies are international these days, but where do those profits ultimately end up?
Being a Mopar guy since I was about 9, the Dahmler takeover of Chrysler really irks me. And things currently arent looking very good, as there are reports of Germany killing possible new Chrysler designed cars becuase they out-perform the Mercedes equilivent cars, and do it for a lot less $$$. If Chrysler was still an american company we wouldn't have to miss out on some potentionaly great cars becuase of some nationalistic pride.
I also have issues with people who Instantly Write off an "American" nameplate becuase of mistakes in the past. I always see complaints like, "I had a '86 chevy nova and it was a piece of crap, now I have a '97 Toyota and its great" when in reality the Chevy they were driving WAS a Toyota and they are comparing Cars 10 years apart from each other.
The gas guzzling super-boats of the 70's and Dodge Colts(A mitsubishi)/Ford Escort(A mazda)/and the chevy metros(a suzuki) of the 80s are long over folks.
You forgot Lincoln.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stone
I see.Quote:
No, Bandit, the 90s Toyota Corolla and the 90s Chevy/Geo Prizm were absolutely identical. They're the exact same car, made at the exact Toyota-GM joint venture plant, NUMMI.
Anything in that price range will be high mileage regardless, but nevertheless, I suggest you look on Autotrader for used 1995-98 Maximas. I found a '97 Nissan Maxima with 117,XXX miles for only $5900 near where I live. Don't worry, the engine itself (it's known as the VQ) has proven to be very reliable. In fact, the Maxima has proven itself to be just as reliable as the Accord, but unlike the Honda, used Maxima's are far from overpriced. But more than that, it's a very nice car, with a sporting personality not to mention that it is one of the fastest V6 midsize sedans on the market at the time. The general fit and finish of this car match the best selling competitors from Toyota and Honda, but at a much cheaper price used. Most of all, the car's quality will make it feel that the car is worth more than you paid for it, and that's a huge bonus for any used car.
--Benjamin
My dad had a Maxima...mid 90's. It broke down all the time.
American cars have come a long way since the 80s, but they are still not up to the quality standards of Japanese models (even those made in the US). American car makers are still using antiquated technology. The mustang has been built on the same platform for the last 25 years! It finally is getting an all new platform next year and guess what, same old crappy live axle suspension in back. It's more than that stuff though, all one needs to do is look at the gaps between the body panels and the quality of materials used on interiors. Compare any $20k american family sedan to an Accord and it's not even close. It almost always comes up in any Car & Driver comaprison test, the american car's interior feels "cheap" and the import's interior will get praised. Interiors are just an example, but it applies to the whole car. Amrican companies cut too many corners and are not assembled as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wildkat
The V6 Stang and the GT will both get the solid live-axle rear suspension. The designers kept these intact because these are still "muscle cars", aka, 2 seats, 4 doors, big V8, and a live-axle. The live axle has shown to be better for the straight line, and guess what, not many people take their fast cars to the tracks. The Cobra, however, will keep the trend from the 03, and will continue to have IRS (independent rear suspension). However, it will be a much more refined job than the 03.
I think that the American "fun" car line-up has been drastically improving lately. Dodge brought out the SRT-4 last year, and the SRT-10 should be in dealerships this year. The Corvette has been unveiled a few months ago, and definitely shows a more "supercar" design, and it will have a much nicer interior. The Solstace is bound to come out in a year or two, and with its ~170 hp 4-cyl, it should give the Miata some competition. The GTO was just released, and its competitive performance is available for much less than its German competitors. All in all, I'm glad to see that performance is finally back on American automakers' agendas.
To be honest, I've never had any heart-felt dedication to any continent's car output. It's just that American cars appear to be the nicest ones coming out. The Supra, RX7, as well as the older Z cars (before the uber-expensive '90's models) were performance gold-mines, but nowadays, Japanese manufacturers are really lacking in terms of competitive sport tourers (to me, the RX8 and 350Z are both pretty "blah"). Nowadays, the most respectable numbers have been coming out of the rally-inspired sedans. The STi and Lancer Evo both perform with excellence, although the Evo's tendency to be rusting on the dealer lot kind of goes against typical Japanese quality.