Somehow I don't find Gap insurance as a bad investment. That $200 can do well if the need arises. My brother just bought a new car. He was drilled by a driver towing another truck who ran a red light and this totaled his car. If it weren't for Gap insurance, he would still owe thousands to the bank since he would have owed more than what the Blue Book said it was worth. As for the OP, I haven't owned an American made car since the 90's, and I never plan to again. Ever. Pretty happy with my foreign vroom vroom's.
I am thinking once my kids get a little older, that I'll buy an Escalade or something similar...so yes, I'll buy american...pre-owned of course...
Honda/Toyota for life or until their reliability drops four feet under. I'm not sure if ya'll know....but most Honda/Toyota sold here are manufactured in USA. Some domestics vehicles are made in Mexico/Canada. Kinda funny when people tell you to buy American, yet the American cars are manufactured in different countries while the imports are manufactured here at home.
one of these things is not made by the other. I have been perfectly satisfied by my Monte Carlo, its been a fine dependable car, wish I could get a new one but GM quit making them. Im pretty much with CrazyDave, when its time to buy another car, Ill check and see what is out there and make my decision....I wont make my decision based on a old bias against a car-maker like some seem to. In order to survive, the Big 3 will have to improve the way they do things...which can only benefit us as consumers. Hopefully my SS holds out(133K and going strong) till then....Id hate to break my streak of American car ownership, but will if they dont stack up to the others.
it could be your age range....... we bought 5 Dodge 2500 work trucks in 04, that will never happen again. and then 2 Chevy 2500 HD trucks in 06, they aren't as bad as the Dodge W/T's, but we are goin back to Ford after this round of W/T's die out, most of our clients have expressed the same sentiment.
i'm hoping more people go this direction. we've sort of accepted that everything must new because easy credit makes everything finance-able. i'd like to see our culture ditch that mindset. i'm hoping this economic turndown is the impetus for that.
I understand why they did the bailout, but I just don't see how this will solve anything in the long run. GM just make crap cars and they're simply just a POORLY RUN BUSINESS. Their business model sucks, their management from the top down is incompetent, employees are overpaid due to unions (way above market equilibrium), technology is years behind competitors, and their excessive brand proliferation makes the company very inefficient. From a consumer standpoint, their cars have a reputation for being unreliable, warranty is not comprehensive nor long, gas mileage is less than Japanese counterparts, and resale value is low. The only way I see this bail out "loan" working, is if the government places additional tariffs on foreign automakers. This will allow American automakers the chance to "compete". So what happens if this is the case? The consumers ultimately suffer because we will be force-fed domestic cars. We will have to pay more for an inferior product, it will reduce consumer surplus, and it'll create an inefficient allocation of resources; mainly how we spend our money. All of this, in order to feed people in Michigan. Why do we do this? So we can keep jobs in Detroit? Because Michigan has the highest unemployment rate? Maybe they need to find a new industry since this obviously isn't working for them.
Most foreign cars, besides BMW, MB, Jaguar, etc., are made in the US. So whatever you buy, you will be helping out the economy regardless.
I read somewhere that when a customer buys a car with cash, the dealership only makes about $75. But when you finance one, they make about $2K. I don't think those figures are exact, but I was shocked at the difference. And extended warranties, man, don't get me started. Such ripoffs. You pay thousands of dollars now so you might not have to pay $200 later. Where is the logic in that?
Latest car is a Lincoln...not sure what next one will be...will be based on what I feel like/value, not so much the name plate as I've had good/bad experiences with so many of em. It will probably be american b/c the deals are just too good to pass up I think...
I think this round of Buy American is a little different from the one we had in the '90s. The sentiment in the '90s was that we wanted to support workers in the USA. Now, it feels like people want to support companies in the USA. (Nevermind the fact that shares in those companies (besides private Chrysler) can be and are owned by foreigners.) Which is another reason this whole thing is dumb. If it was Toyota and Honda that was about to go under, would they get a bail-out? The impact of US jobs lost, suppliers bankrupted, etc, would probably be as bad. Worse, we'd lose some of the best and cost-efficient cars on the market. But, the government would let them go under anyway. I think what it really is is simple nationalism. We would lose face if the symbol of US manufacturing were to disappear and other countries wouldn't think we were quite so dominant.
When purchasing my import this past time around, I looked at the sticker because I was curious of its origins - Made in Japan. The car to the right of it - Made in Mexico. (What really sold me between the two was the color of the interior.)
or you can buy the same model, used but a year older for 14-19 years. the out-of-lot drop in value, plus the interest on a new car really doesn't make sense for financing a new car. you can save the payments on a new car you would buy and in half the time of fully paying it off, you'd have enough for a decent car.
Definitely. Of course this is bad news for the American companies if they can't turn their reputation around with the younger generations unless they're banking their futures on selling F-150's to grannies.
Because.... (1) Toyota and Honda don't need to: their cars speak for themselves. Chances are, if you buy a Camry, you're going to have a car that will be free of major problems for 10 years... and everybody knows it. Even if you had a 10-yr-warranty on your Camry, you probably won't need to use it. (2) Toyota and Honda don't need to: they don't need to give potential customers an incentive to buy. Demand for their cars is already high, because the public knows that they're damn good cars. GM needs to incentivize people like me. Why should I risk buying a GM car, when I know for a fact that a Camry is a great car? Give me an incentive that tells me that GM believes in the quality of their cars. Don't tell me. Show me. A 10-year bumper-to-bumper warranty is a direct statement from the manufacturer that says, "We have so much confidence in the quality of our cars, we'll foot the bill for any major problems for 10 years". Conversely, a 3-year warranty says to me, "Even though we believe that our car is as good as a Camry (a car that will give you at least 10 years of great service), we're only going to back our car with a 3-year warranty." Nope. Give me an incentive to consider a GM product. If a GM car is truly as good as a Camry, GM has nothing to fear from a 10-year bumper-to-bumper warranty, right? That might get me interested in buying a GM.
Ford could probably take half off one of their cars and I would still pass for a Toyota or Honda. I just don't trust the quality or longevity of their cars. I had one before and I might as well of pitched a tent at their service dealer and lived there. Yea...it left a bad, bitter taste in my mouth.
