CARS & IMAGE - - lets have some feedback :)

Living is Southeast Michigan, I can only recommend American brands. My husbands family are GM retiries, and my brother in-law is in tool and die. We are all feeling the brunt of the massive trouble our Big Three are having. Detoit is the number one city in the country for bankruptcies and home foreclosures! My husband and I both work in auto-unrelated industries, but believe me it trickles down. We are both so slow at work, and are soon going to have to consider moving. Which, we REALLY don't want to do. It's a complicated problem,but buy American if you can find it in your heart.

Sally
 
I have a Honda Pilot and love it!!!
That said my husband has a Lincoln Navigator and has never had a problem with it. We are downsizing that one becauses of gas and size etc. We have had many Fords in the past and never had problems with them. They were always good cars. His next car will be a Volvo XC90.
Jen
 
My husband loves his Subaru.

I hate my Ford Ranger and will never buy another Ford vehicle. I like having a truck, but not a Ford. Like previous poster said - just dig a hole and toss in your money. You'll be better off.

I hope my next car will be Subaru (although I wonder if the Forester is the new minivan - image-wise) or a Honda Element.
 
Many, many years ago, I had a Ford.....was a lemon!

Now, since my brother works for GM, I have a bright red, 2-door Pontiac Sunfire....absolutely love it....especially in the summer! My mom's buying a Pontiac G6 on Monday.

I would definitely recommend buying American.


Patti
 
Buying American isn't as cut-and-dry as it use to be. For example, the Toyota Camry is built in Kentucky, the Ford Fusion is made in Mexico (with half of its parts coming from the US or Canada), and the Honda Accord is built in Ohio (w/mostly American parts) .
 
We had a Toyota pickup for ever and ever and ever and never had any trouble with it and now my BIL has it and it has 180,000 miles on it and is still going strong. We had a Volvo (S80) that we loved but expensive to fix. My MIL has it now and loves it - still expensive to fix. We also had a Nissan Maxima - great car but we have dogs and it's just not dog friendly. We now have a Toyota FJ Cruiser that I LOVE b/c it's an SUV so it works for the dogs, but it's a small SUV so the gas mileage isn't terrible and it's just not that big. And it doesn't look like every other SUV out there. We've also had the cute VW New Beetle - seems inexpensively made but adorable and with the back seats down 3 dogs (one big Rottie) could fit in the back!), Nissan XTerra - very basic no matter the model you buy, Nisaan Pathfinder - that was nice and had it for about 4 years with no trouble. Yup, we've had a lot of vehicles, but we're going to keep the FJ Cruiser for a long, long, long, long time. It's perfect for our needs. And it's a Toyota.

Suz

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." - Anatole France

http://www.picturetrail.com/dogs2birds
 
Another Subaru owner here. My second one and I love it. My first was a Forester - had it for 6 years, 90,000 miles, and never had a problem. A guy ran a red light and hit me broadside on the expressway, spinning me around and flipping the car on it's side. I walked out without a scratch but the Forester was totalled. Those safety testing scores mean something to me now. I'm Subaru brand loyal and now own a Legacy Outback. I live on mountain roads that get icy in the winter. The Subarus hold the road like nothing else I've ever driven.

Diane
 
I have to chime in here.
I am a firm believer in buying american to keep us working, but.
My 2007 ford explorer sport trac is a different story.
I just went throught the lemon law people to get a heated windshield taken out that glared like crazy. I in no way should have had to do this.Ford would not back it up.

When i went shopping , i looked at Honda and Toyota. To me the interiors looked cheap.There was no comparison to me. The Ford rode better.

I in general love my truck;. This is my 2nd sport trac, but, due to the problem, i do not know if i will buy another one...

No wonder why the american companies are in trouble..

Now, our Sony plant is moving to Mexico.... Cheaper wages...Taxes...
We have around 900 loosing jobs...Volkswagon did this when their tax breaks were up. Same plant....Won't buy one of them either...

I probably won't be buying Sony again...

This is JMO... Before long i may be walking....
 
It's funny that this came up - just yesterday I was on the highway, bored, thinking about what everyone's car around me said about them. Like the guy passing me at 85mph in a Prius - "wants to appear environmentally concerned but failing miserably".

I think the best thing you could do is talk with a mechanic. My BIL is a mechanic, has been for 24 years, and he sees the cars that come in with the same problems over and over again. He recommended my current car, 1998 Ford Escort, based on my budget at the time and the cars I was considering. He knew that that year's model had been greatly improved from past models, etc. Almost 10yrs later and close to 100k miles I can say that I've only had to replace the brakes. He told me to under no circumstances buy a VW - he knows the mechanics at the VW dealership and NONE of them drive VW's, their quality has really plummeted in the last 10+ years. My DH has an '05 toyota tacoma that he bought last year and we like it but it has a very basic interior - you get much more bang for your buck w/ American cars as far as interior options are concerned.

Have fun car shopping!
 
I would not buy a Vw I have had three and they are just problem cars, you would have thought I would learn. Two were used and One was brand new. The brand new Cabrio I had to take back the day after I drove it off the lot and had to get an new (SP) catilitic converter. Then the clear coat started coming of the the car at less then a year old had to fight with VW for three months to fix it. Then I had my son and got rid of it after two years. I have had three Hondas 2 Civics (95&96) The 95 got totaled someone rearend me. Then the 96 we just gor rid of 2 years ago my hubby was tired of driving it he got a Mazda 6 which he loves. After the Cabrio I got a Honda Accord which we had for 6 years no problems at all. I got tired of driving it. It only had 33,000 miles on it. We traded it in an got $10,000 for it. Now I drive a Lexus IS 300 which I love. My dream car.

If I had to choose from your list it would the Honda. Forgot to add I really like the new Camrys they are nice looking cars so I think I would have to add that to the list also:)

Steph
 
Sure they have Toyota and Honda plants in America. But, the CEO's, engineers and car designers live in Japan. The profits go to Japan.

To each is own. My GM cars have been very reliable. We live in a free society, buy whatever you love. I just get tired of hearing friends complain about the ever-growing trade deficit while foreign cars are parked in their garages!
 
I bought a Ford Ranger n 1996 (it was a 92) and still have it. It runs fine. I did have to get a new transmission for it in 2004 and a new clutch 2x, but I mean it is 15 yrs. old. We hardly drive it though. I got a Toyota Forerunner new in 2004 and I absolutely love it. When we were shopping, the dealer told us to take the forerunner to lunch, so we went 30 minutes away to the Nissan dealership and pulled it right up to a Pathfinder and told the Nissan dealer to start selling! We definately liked the Toyota better, hands down. Nissan would not give us a better deal either! I'm glad we got the forerunner.

Ashley
 
I don't know about other VWs but I've had NO problems with my Passat. It's a 2002 and like I said NO problems! I'd buy another one in a second. And for those who don't want their money to go to foreign countries, you may want to consider where you buy your clothes and food as well.

Carolyn
 
I inherited my little Saturn from my MIL when she died. It's a 1999 and the only problem I had with it was when my fuse box melted because of my five-hour (usually 15-minute) drive home in flooded streets during Hurricane Gaston a couple of years ago. I've had absolutely no other problems.

As far as car and image go, maybe I'm weird, but I like that it's so non-descript; I really don't care about standing out in traffic...
 
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