Last week, the Free Press had a story about the domestics’ eroding SUV market share; turns out that, given the choice, more Americans are choosing gas-guzzlers made by Japanese and European automakers. But the bombshell was buried within, a quote from a woman whose husband works for Chrysler, claiming that her recently purchased Toyota was “the best car I’ve ever owned.”
Ooh, that was the wrong thing to say. I don’t have to come up with an analogy, do I? Didn’t think so.
Well, they’ve been duking it out on the Freep letters page ever since. My favorite single quote:
I used to own a Toyota and was razzed by my buddies for putting 10 Americans out of work, so I bought an American-made car and put 10 American auto mechanics back to work.
Colleen said on November 15, 2003 at 9:27 am
Snrk. I like that mechanics line. I dunno about you, but my foreign car was purchased through an American dealer, and I buy it gas at American stations, etc, etc. The Nissan I had several years ago was made in TN. My Subaru was made in IN (I think). I don’t think saying “Buy American” is as simple as it was years ago…
My husband had a Buick with 120,000 miles on it. We’re not sure how that happened….it was certainly not like all the other Buicks I’ve known. We just retired it in favor of a Chrylser.
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alex said on November 15, 2003 at 10:53 am
My best car yet was a Honda Prelude. Drove it 205,000 trouble-free miles over twelve years. The body and interior still looked good as new and everything still worked when I finally decided it was time for a new car.
My worst? It’s a tie between three GM products I’ve owned: a Camaro, a Cutlass and a Regal. Each disintegrated in record time and I swore, after driving the Honda for a couple of years, that I’d never give GM another dime of my money long as I live.
Each of those cars had cheezy interiors that fell apart when relatively new. The Camaro was especially memorable for its integrated interior armrest/door handle design that would break off under normal use from the long, sagging doors that never closed properly.
The Regal, as I recall, went through about six digital dashboards, the first two covered under warranty. When those would go out I’d be helpless�there was no way to see the speedometer, how much gas was in the tank, anything. Those sonsabitches were ridiculously expensive too�and just the sort of thing that should never fail during the entire life of the car.
The Cutlass went through a couple of engines and transmissions.
I have no qualms about not buying American. I’ve had much better luck with Japanese, and now German. The American brand loyalists who piss and moan about people buying foreign ought to thank us�it’s only because American makers have lost so much market share that they’ve bothered to improve quality over what it was.
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ashley said on November 15, 2003 at 12:21 pm
So my last 2 Chryslers were made, respectively, in Canada and Mexico.
Most Accords are made in Ohio, BMW and Mercedes minivans are made in the South, and the new Nissan Quest is made outside of Jackson, MS.
Hell, the engine for my Audi A4 was made in Hungary.
The unions, like the rest of the populace, need to realize that due to globalization, the US has given up on the idea of producing anything, and now we just provide services.
Chrysler is German, Ford was run by an Australian until the Firestone debacle, and GM makes Saabs. All Converse shoes are now made in China, and you can’t buy US made Levi’s anymore.
Because of laissez-faire capitalism, the loyalty of the corporations is no longer dedicated to the consumer or the employee. It is strictly to the stockholder. The filthy rich are getting filthier and richer, and everybody else is going to hell in a bucket. And nobody cares.
Hasta la victoria siempre. Viva Che. Viva la revolucion.
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ashley said on November 15, 2003 at 12:23 pm
…oops…
Change that BMW and Mercedes minivans to SUVs. I forgot, nobody else in the world wants SUVs, so they have to build them here. In other countries, they see the use of a minivan, and they also realize that an SUV is the equivalent of a brutal assault on the environment.
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mtk said on November 15, 2003 at 12:40 pm
few thoughts…even the automakers’ dedication to shareholders doesn’t amount to much, with lousy profits and/or big losses in recent quarters, so the shareholders don’t even make much…what’s really scary is talking with engineers, designers, factory workers, and salespeople (away from the showrooms at community events, etc.) who are affiliated in some way with the Big 3, and you hear an almost universal distaste for the Big 3 products TOO. They’re some of the biggest critics because they know the horrifically flawed processes that are currently leading to the dog domestic vehicles of the next 2-5 years or the junk piles on the lots right now. I have yet to meet 3 people in any way affiliated with the domestic automaking process who are *upbeat* about what they do and what they produce. … and about us providing services, it has been a real bummer watching even the higher paying service jobs such as engineering services and computer programming and systems analysis going to India, Singapore etc…. no rational nation sends virtually all its manufacturing AND its intellectual services offshore…. trouble now is guiding my own kids’ career paths toward something that absolutely has to be done domestically and can’t be made or performed overseas and shipped back here…maybe (gasp) they’ll have to be local journalists too…
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Vince said on November 16, 2003 at 12:06 am
I’m proud to say I bought American: I bought a Subaru.
My purchase kept thousands of Americans in work building my car in Indiana.
Virtually every single “American made” car is filled with foreign parts now and “Foreign made” cars are built here.
“Buy American” holds no meaning any more.
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beth said on November 16, 2003 at 4:04 am
My best car, and I will swear by it, was a 1995 Chevy Corsica. I absolutely HATED it, until one fateful evening when I left my waitressing job. I was bringing a friend home, and some asshole blew a red light, and nailed my car dead on, on the passenger side. Three phone calls later to the police, well after the asshole had hit me again to flee the scene, with my friend crawling over my lap to exit the car… I will never doubt the lasting power of American cars. If I ever get into another accident, I hope its a Chwvy.
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ts said on November 17, 2003 at 12:10 pm
Argghhh, Michigan!
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